After taking heat for tapping police-defunder Brian Benjamin as her No. 2, Gov. Kathy Hochul swore “no one” on her team really supports defunding cops. Yet she just picked another defunder, Amit Bagga, for deputy secretary for intergovernmental affairs.

So what’s the truth? If no Hochul official backs “Defund,” as the gov claims, then Bagga and Benjamin must’ve been lying when they said they want NYPD cuts. Why hire liars? Or was she lying about her team?

During his failed run for City Council this year, Bagga called for cutting the NYPD budget by $3 billion, labeling New York a “police state” that needs dismantling.

The criminal-justice system is “rooted in the original sin of slavery” and “weaponized to criminalize, impoverish and murder black Americans,” he argued — winning support from defunder Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s political action committee.

Benjamin, too, in his failed bid for city comptroller, insisted he backs police cuts. After The Post noted Hochul’s decision to make him lieutenant governor anyway, she tried to dispel fears of defunders on her staff.

“We do not support defund the police. No one in my administration does,” she asserted. We must fund cops to “protect, particularly, black and brown communities, where sadly and tragically so many black and brown communities are being hit hardest.”

Hochul has veered sharply left since taking office last month, plainly fearing a primary challenge next year. She’s “paved the way for thousands of criminals to be released from jail,” charges state GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy. “She’s so desperate to stave off a primary, she’s gone full AOC.”

The gov knows “Defund the police” is a major loser with most voters but red meat for the far left — so she talks like a centrist while embracing the loons and much of their agenda. In short, Hochul is shaping up to be every bit as cynical as the guy she replaced.