The war of words over government transparency between New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Democrats in the state Senate is turning nasty.

Cuomo, himself a Democrat, has been criticized by good-government groups for his administration’s policy of routinely deleting most of its official emails after 90 days.

After Democratic state Sen. Liz Krueger announced legislation to end the practice, Cuomo’s spokesman accused lawmakers of hypocrisy, sarcastically noting that they exempted themselves from state open records laws.

On Monday Cuomo’s office wrote to Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins urging those who supported Krueger’s bill to voluntarily subject themselves to the law.

In response, Stewart-Cousins’ spokesman said the Cuomo administration would be “the last people” Senate Democrats turn to for advice on government transparency.

(AP)