Newly Appointed To Oversee the Cornell Rape Case, Letitia James Appears To Have Already Decided Who’s Guilty

New York Attorney General Letitia James expressed staunch support for the woman accusing seven former Cornell University fraternity members of rape in a Facebook post made just days before Governor Kathy Hochul put her in charge of investigating the case.Ms. James told reporters she “will not comment on a Facebook post” at a press conference Friday, after Ms. Hochul announced she was replacing the district attorney who previously dismissed claims regarding former Chi Phi members.The Facebook post, authored by Ms. James on Tuesday, expresses clear support for the former Cornell student who brought a civil case last month alleging that in 2024, when she was a 20-year-old sophomore, she was offered drugs and alcohol and then raped by multiple men. While she reported the events to the Cornell University police, no criminal charges were ever brought.“What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable. I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers,” Ms. James wrote in a Facebook post that linked to a news story announcing the Tompkins County district attorney’s reopening of the case. “To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone. We stand with you.”A reporter quoted that post back to Ms. Hochul and Ms. James at Friday’s press conference, asking why the governor appointed an official who had already “made a public statement affirming those allegations as fact” to investigate what occurred back in 2024 and whether the case was indeed mishandled.Mr. Hochul elided any mention of the attorney general’s outspoken support for the young woman at the center of the case in her response, instead expressing her “confidence in our Attorney General to do what she has always done. Look at the facts, examine the record, and draw the proper conclusions.”In her 2018 bid, Ms. James’ campaigned on the promise to shine a “bright light” into President Donald Trump’s real estate dealings in New York. That investigation eventually led to $500 million fraud verdict against the president, two of his sons, and his business. The penalty was later overturned as unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment’s protection against excessive fines, but the fraud finding was left intact, leading both Ms. James and the president to file subsequent appeals. Governor Hochul doubled down on her view of the Cornell case following Friday’s press conference.“Every parent who sends a child to college expects them to be safe. And if something terrible happens, they deserve to be heard, protected and supported,” she wrote in a post on X. “This young woman deserved that in 2024. She deserves it now.”

Newly Appointed To Oversee the Cornell Rape Case, Letitia James Appears To Have Already Decided Who’s Guilty

Newly Appointed To Oversee the Cornell Rape Case, Letitia James Appears To Have Already Decided Who’s Guilty

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