DOI at City Council sessions

The city Department of Investigation has been quietly attending City Council hearings without informing members, The Post has learned.

'SIT-INS' STIR $LUSH-POL PROBE FEAR

Council members, already on edge over the ongoing probe into a secret slush fund, were startled by the presence of a prober at a routine Finance Committee hearing this week.

Speaker Christine Quinn, committee Chairman David Weprin (D-Queens) and other members at the hearing told The Post afterward they were unaware an investigator was in attendance.

"I've been involved in [city] government since 1997, and I've never heard of this being the case," one council member who attended the hearing said.

"I just think it's a not-so-subtle intimidation factor to send the message to all members that Big Brother is watching."

A City Hall source who confirmed the investigator's presence said DOI employees typically sit in on council hearings without announcing their presence. A DOI spokeswoman declined comment.

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