Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s defense lawyer demanded Thursday that Attorney General Letitia James immediately recuse herself from a pending probe into his $5.1 million pandemic memoir — while acknowledging the two Democratic pols could soon be squaring off over his old office.

Lawyer Rita Glavin said James’ recently announced campaign for governor made it a conflict of interest for her to investigate her predecessor and noted “widespread speculation” that Cuomo “may attempt a political comeback.”

“I don’t know what the answer to that is. But the very fact that there is speculation and people are talking about it — we have unnamed former advisors talking about it — means that it’s in the head of anyone who’s running for governor,” she said during a virtual news conference livestreamed on Cuomo’s campaign website.

“And we know that the attorney general is, and she needs to do the right thing by the public, by [Cuomo] and by her office, and recuse because of the gubernatorial campaign.”

James is conducting a criminal probe into allegations that Cuomo misused state resources by improperly having his aides help prepare and promote last year’s “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

On Tuesday, those allegations led the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics to rescind its permission for Cuomo to publish the book, raising the specter that he’ll have to forfeit the profits from his $5.1 million contract.

Cuomo announced his resignation one week after James released a blockbuster, Aug. 3 report that accused him of sexually harassing 11 women — including nine current or former state workers — during his nearly three terms as governor.

Cuomo, 63, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed he quit to avoid an all-but-certain impeachment that would “consume government,” “cost the taxpayers millions” and “brutalize people.”

The Post reported last week that sources with direct knowledge of Cuomo’s thinking said he was considering running for attorney general, a post he held from 2007 through 2010.

Glavin also called for a probe into what she alleged was a felony violation of grand jury secrecy laws by Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple over statements he made to The Post on Aug. 30 regarding the probe into Cuomo’s alleged groping of an aide last year.

Glavin said that James — who would ordinarily handle such an investigation — should be recused from it, as well.

Cuomo faces a misdemeanor charge of forcible touching over the alleged Dec. 7 incident involving administrative assistant Brittany Commisso, 33, inside the Executive Mansion in Albany, the official residence of the governor.

Glavin mentioned The Post five times during her 50-minute news conference and noted its aggressive coverage of the Cuomo scandal, including last week’s release by James of the transcripts of interviews with 10 of his accusers.

Glavin accused James of making the transcripts public in a “political” move to inflict “maximum damage” on Cuomo.

“I mean, I read The New York Post,” Glavin said.

“They’ve had a salacious story every single day based on those transcripts. And I can’t help to draw a conclusion that that’s what the release was meant to do.”

But despite all her harping on America’s favorite tabloid, Glavin didn’t call on The Post during a 20-minute Q&A session during which she took questions from just four reporters.

In a prepared statement, a James spokesperson said: “Andrew Cuomo’s schoolyard bullying and lies have gone on for long enough. New Yorkers are tired of this circus and tired of the day-to-day sideshow by a former governor who is just grasping for the spotlight.”

“Today’s embarrassing press conference was simply dramatics and faux outrage. To be clear, we stand by the report into multiple allegations of sexual harassment against Andrew Cuomo and, more importantly, we stand by the women who were brave enough to come forward and speak truth to power,” James’ spokesperson added.

“If Andrew Cuomo didn’t want to be accused of sexual harassment, he shouldn’t have sexually harassed multiple women in the first place.”

Apple declined to comment.