Brooklyn’s prospective new District Attorney Ken Thompson got back on the campaign trail exactly where he left it — slamming Charles Hynes for “lying” to the public.
The former federal prosecutor planned to spend the weeks before the general election on his transition after he beat the veteran Hynes by 10 percentage points in the Sept. 10 primary.
But that all changed when Hynes suddenly recanted his announcement that he was bowing out gracefully and decided to abandon the Democratic party to run on the Republican and Conservative lines in a last-ditch effort to stay in office.
He’ll make a formal announcement to that effect on Tuesday.
Hynes initially promised a “smooth transition” by assisting Thompson in the months before he took control — but then scoffed when Thompson tried to set up a meeting to discuss ongoing cases.
“He lied,” Thompson said Monday, as he accepted the hardly newsworthy endorsement of Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer at Brooklyn Borough Hall Monday. “The people of Brooklyn deserve better. We deserve him to keep his word.”
Hynes supporters say the six-term prosecutor changed his mind because of Clarence Norman Jr.’s alleged involvement in the Thompson campaign. Norman, the former Brooklyn Democratic Party boss and state Assemblyman, was convicted of accepting illegal campaign contributions in a high-profile case led by Hynes.
Thompson strenuously denied Norman led his campaign’s get-out-the-vote effort.
“It’s a desperation move by DA Hynes,” Thompson said.
A source close to Thompson counterslammed the Hynes campaign for employing Taharka Robinson, who was convicted of assault and robbery in 1987 and was a known Norman protege.
Political pundits give the 78-year-old Hynes little chance of winning the Nov. 5 general election in a borough with seven times more Democrats than Republicans.
rblau@nydailynews.com