The feds tapped state Sen. Dean Skelos’ cellphone for more than two months before busting him and his son in a pay-to-play scheme, it was revealed Monday — news that’s sure to make Albany squirm.
The former Senate majority leader, 67, and his son, Adam Skelos, 32, both pleaded not guilty at a brief Manhattan federal-court proceeding in which prosecutors revealed the 2¹/₂-month wiretap.
Prosecutors have charged the men with selling the powerful Republican’s clout in exchange for jobs and payments for the son, in just the latest instance of alleged Capitol corruption.
Insiders say the wiretap has lawmakers nervous because of its potential to rip the lid off the sleazy — and possibly illegal — way deals are made in Albany.
Adam Skelos’ phones also were tapped: one for four months and the other for a month.
Roughly 2,400 recorded audio files and additional text messages from the pair, as well as “millions of pages” of discovery — mostly e-mails — will be turned over to the defense, prosecutors said.
Some of Adam Skelos’ calls have already been published in court papers.
“You can’t talk normally because it’s like f- -king Preet Bharara is listening to every f- -king phone call,” Adam whined to his dad about the US attorney March 28, according to the criminal complaint.
“It’s just f- -king frustrating,” Adam Skelos said.
Judge Kimba Wood ordered the principals to return to court July 30 to discuss scheduling a trial date.
Both Skelos declined to comment after their arraignment.
A federal grand jury indicted Dean and Adam Skelos last week on six corruption counts.
“Dean Skelos attempted to secure and did secure hundreds of thousands of dollars for Adam Skelos, including . . . over $100,000 in payments and health benefits from a medical-malpractice insurer who provided Adam Skelos with a no-show job while actively lobbying Dean Skelos on legislative matters,” read the 22-page indictment.
The indictment also divulged for the first time that Dean Skelos allegedly threatened to punish real-estate companies that didn’t pump cash into his campaign coffers.
The indicted pol resigned from his leadership position a week after he was arrested last month, but still remains in the Long Island seat he’s held for 30 years.
The feds charge Dean Skelos wielded his power to obtain about $320,000 for his son, including $100,000 in payments and health benefits from the Long Island medical malpractice insurance firm, $200,0000 from AbTech Industries in Arizona and $20,000 from the Glenwood Management realty firm in Manhattan.