The former press secretary to Bronx state Sen. Jeff Klein unloaded on her former boss Monday, referring to him as “an accused predator” during an extraordinary exchange on social media.
Candice Giove, the former mouthpiece for Klein and the group of eight rogue Democrats he headed — the disbanded Independent Democratic Caucus — now works as a press aide for the Senate GOP majority.
In January, a former Senate staffer accused Klein of forcibly kissing Klein outside an Albany bar in 2015 — a claim he denied and now is being investigated by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
“I’m proud to join the GOP ship now. Hope you enjoy working for an accused predator. Will you be updating us on the status of that?,” Giove wrote in a tweet to Senate Democratic spokesman Mike Murphy.
“Why do Dems protect sexual harassers now? Could you explain.”
Murphy responds, “Ohhh we don’t. Thanks though! Should we comb through some of your past quotes?”
Giove fires back, “You are protecting Jeff Klein. I can pull up pieces where you’re members said he should not have a leadership position. He’s your deputy.”
Klein, indeed, is the deputy Democratic Conference Leader after he and his IDC members rejoined the Democrats and ended their alliance with the GOP majority.
Giove, a former Post reporter, doubled down on her criticism of Klein during an interview Monday night.
“He is accused of sexual harassment — plain and simple. There’s a JCOPE [Joint Commission on Public Ethics] investigation,” Giove said.
“He shouldn’t get a free pass because he rejoined the Democrats. These are very serious allegations.”
Giove insisted she never defended Klein from the sexual misconduct claim when she worked for him. She said she merely arranged a conference call where Klein and his girl friend, Staten Island Sen. Diane Savino, defended him.
“When I worked there I didn’t feel good at all.. I didn’t feel good having to represent him during the #MeToo movement, “said Giove, after the harassment claim against Klein was leveled by former Senate staffer Erica Vladimir.
Asked if Klein was guilty of sexual misconduct, Giove said, “He could be. We don’t know.”
Klein spokeswoman Barbara Brancaccio responded,“ Jeff Klein has denied the allegations and has called for a full JCOPE investigation.”
She added, “Many people worked closely with Candice when these claims surfaced and at no time did she ever express any concern that the allegations were true, in fact, she clearly stated publicly and privately that she did not believe it.”
Murphy, the Senate Democratic spokesman declined comment, other than to say that Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins called for an independent probe of the harassment claim against Klein.