The following is a NY Post exclusive: Eric Schneiderman, the Democratic candidate for state attorney general, voted three times as a state senator against antiterrorism bills banning the possession of biological or chemical weapons, The Post’s learned.

A little more than a month after 9/11, Schneiderman was one of only three state senators to oppose a bipartisan bill to make possession of biological or chemical weapons a crime. He sided with the New York Civil Liberties Union, which argued that antiterrorism policy should be set at the federal level.

He also voted no on Feb. 11, 2003, to criminalizing the possession of chemical weapons. That bill passed, 52-8. And when it was debated in ’04, he repeated his no vote. It passed, 51-10, on March 16, 2004.

He called the bills “fundamentally flawed” but voted for a chemical-weapon provision on July 21, 2004, as part of a broader law creating the state Office of Homeland Security.

A spokesperson defended Schneiderman’s voting pattern.

“Eric voted for this bill when it became law in 2004, along with dozens of other antiterrorism bills,” Jamie McShane said. “In terms of the earlier bill, the senator felt that chemical and biological weapons were not strictly enough defined.”

(Source: NY Post)