A former federal prosecutor who led the corruption case against disgraced former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been tapped by the City Council to prosecute a Queens lawmaker accused of being too affectionate to a female staffer.
Carrie Cohen will be responsible for drafting formal charges against Councilman Barry Grodenchik, 59, and presenting the case against him to the Committee on Standards and Ethics, officials said Tuesday.
Her fee has yet to be set.
The Democratic pol is accused of making an unnamed staffer uncomfortable for about a year by talking about her weight, repeatedly greeting only her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek while in the presence of co-workers, and making her uncomfortable at a work meeting attended by several other people by blowing a kiss across the table.
He will be entitled to a lawyer during the committee proceedings and faces fines and other penalties.
Cohen, now in private practice, helped win a 2015 conviction against Silver on federal corruption charges. Silver got a reprieve when the decision was overturned, but he was found guilty again in 2018 and remains free pending an appeal.
The decision to hire a big-name lawyer shows just how serious the Council is taking the charges, said a spokesman.
“The Council takes these allegations seriously and believes hiring an outside expert is the best way to achieve the Council’s goal of handling this matter as quickly, fairly, and independently as possible,” the spokesman said.
Grodenchik declined to comment through a spokesman about Cohen’s hire. But he previously invoked the Joe Biden defense — saying it was never his “intention to make any person feel uncomfortable” and now that he knows hugs are out will be “more sensitive to that in the future.”