The first shoe has dropped in the email scandal surrounding former Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes.
Judge Barry Kamins, who was caught giving the then-embattled district attorney political advice, agreed to resign, officials announced Wednesday.
“By agreeing to leave and never return to judicial office, I believe Judge Kamins has acted realistically,” said Robert Tembeckjian, administrator of the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct.
The commission’s review was launched after the city’s Department of Investigation discovered misconduct when poring over emails sent and received by Hynes.
An explosive report released three months ago showed that the respected jurist and long-time friend of the ex-prosecutor dispensed near-daily advice about the ultimately failed reelection campaign last fall and other topics, including pending cases and a wrongful convictions controversy.
As the campaign planning started in July 2012, Hynes wrote to Kamins, “With a high degree of secrecy I will turn to you frequently for judgment calls.” And when they discussed the judge swearing in the DA again, Kamins called exclaimed, “My fondest wish!” according to the emails.
“I have decided to leave the bench and am considering several options in the private sector,” Kamins said in a statement. “Working for the people of the City and State has been a distinct honor and privilege.”
A successful lawyer, Kamins, 71, became a judge in 2008 and was appointed administrative judge to Brooklyn’s Criminal Courts a year later. He rose further up the ranks at the start of 2014, getting a statewide title as chief of Policy and Planning for the courts system.
But it all came crumbling down with the incriminating emails.
He took a month off when the scandal broke in June and was later demoted to serve as a Queens Civil Judge, still collecting a $174,000-a-year salary.
He could have stayed on the bench for five more years before retiring, but will now resign on Dec. 1.
His stipulation to leave office came after the commission interviewed him and other witnesses and reviewed documents, officials said.
The feds and the state’s attorney general are believed to be still probing alleged misuse of forfeiture money by the Hynes administration and each have reportedly empaneled a grand jury to look into those allegations.
