Letitia James Is Accused of Pre-Judging Cornell Rape Case in Debate With Challenger Saritha Komatireddy

On the debate stage Thursday evening, New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ ready-made “empathy” for the woman alleging gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity house couldn’t hold a candle to her challenger’s commitment to putting bad guys away.Ms. James started the evening by stammering through her one-minute opening statement about her “humble beginnings” and wins against gun violence, opioids, and President Donald Trump, before moderator Susan Arbetter asked about her potential botching of the state’s investigation into a former Cornell University student’s claims that she was gang raped by seven members of a fraternity.Ms. Arbetter noted that prior to being appointed to oversee the reopened investigation, Ms. James called the woman who brought the civil suit against the university and her alleged assailants a “survivor” and wrote “I stand with the victim.” In light of those statements, Ms. Arbetter asked, could the men named in the case “have confidence you haven’t pre-judged the case” and how could Ms. James make them without looking at the evidence?“Those comments demonstrate empathy,” Ms. James replied, kicking off an hour of questioning to which Ms. James largely brought “compassion,” “holistic” views, and little indication that much would improve if she wins another term. It was a question her Republican challenger, former federal prosecutor Saritha Komatireddy, couldn’t wait to answer.The questions around Ms. James’ ability to handle the case objectively struck at her lack of “fairness, impartiality, and integrity,” said Ms. Komatireddy, highlighting her own work prosecuting sex crimes cases.Ms. Komatireddy has been closing the gap in recent polls, but still trailed Ms. James by 13 points at the end of September.“She’s never prosecuted a criminal case in her whole career,” Ms. Komatireddy said of the seven-year incumbent AG.Visibly rattled, Ms. James aimed to land a punch of her own, pointing to Ms. Komatireddy’s ties to President Trump, who endorsed her the day they met, and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, for whom she clerked before he joined the high court. Ms. James trailed off as she tried to connect Justice Kavanaugh’s pro-life politics to her opponent.But even mention of Mr. Trump, against whom Ms. James secured a landmark $530 million fraud verdict in 2024 — currently under appeal — did little to show her as a force for the rule of law. There again, Ms. James met with a question about how her grandstanding on the campaign trail in 2018 and shortly after her election gave Trump supporters “ammunition” to claim she had “weaponized” her office against the president.Ms. James’ response that “politics stops at the door” to her office, while at least delivered cleanly, carried none of the force of Ms. Komatireddy’s opening statement on the subject.“New Yorkers, you do not have an attorney general right now,” she told viewers, calling the incumbent a “political hack,” who has let crime, homelessness, and fraud grow on her watch. “When the cameras are not there, neither is Tish James,” Ms. Komatireddy charged. At every turn, Ms. James endeavored to frame herself as a stalwart opponent to President Trump — one with the experience to get things done in Albany — compared to her opponent’s fixation on criminal charges in a role she said primarily deals with civil matters.Ms. Komatireddy deftly undercut that notion, showing herself to be more knowledgeable on recent changes to the state’s law governing involuntary commitment for mentally ill people who pose a danger to themselves or others. In discussing Ms. Komatireddy’s plan to introduce an “Office of Civil Confinement” that would get people with in mental distress off the street, Ms. Komatireddy informed Ms. James appeared that the state may, as of recently, also confine people who show themselves unable to address their basic needs.Further, Ms. Komatireddy also accused Ms. James of failing to exercise her authority over criminal matters, saying she has yet to staff her Hate Crimes Unit, nor charge anyone involved in the anti-Israel protests that erupted on college campuses for harassing Jewish students.Ms. James, for her part, says she hosts black-Jewish dinners to bring those communities together.“I hope you aren’t limiting those dinners by race,” Ms. Komatireddy retorted, “because that’s illegal.”Ms. James attempted a coup de grace during the “cross-examination” portion of the debate by asking her conservative opponent if she would defend New Yorkers’ reproductive rights. It backfired when Ms. Komatireddy shared her experience confronting a potential risk to her own life during her second pregnancy with twins.But Ms. James struck her lowest note of the evening at the very end. During “rapid fire” questioning, she could not name a single former attorney general she admired.“Tick tock,” moderator Errol Louis quipped. Ms. Komatireddy had an answer for that one too.“Dennis Vacco,” she said immediately. “At a time when New York state needed it, we had another former federal prosecutor become attorney general and bring law and order to the state.

Letitia James Is Accused of Pre-Judging Cornell Rape Case in Debate With Challenger Saritha Komatireddy

Letitia James Is Accused of Pre-Judging Cornell Rape Case in Debate With Challenger Saritha Komatireddy

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