Judge Presses State Lawyers Over Letitia James's Posts in Fight to Remove Her From Cornell Probe

New York Attorney General Letitia James built her career going after President Trump. Now she is the one facing tough questions in a courtroom, over whether she can be trusted to run a fair investigation.

Lawyers for men accused in an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University are trying to remove James as special prosecutor, arguing she made up her mind before ever looking at the evidence.

The Posts at the Center of the Fight

On September 28, James posted about a civil lawsuit filed by a former Cornell student identified as Jane Doe. James called the allegations "horrific and unacceptable" and referred to the woman as a survivor.

Three days later, on October 1, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed James to review the case, directing an objective investigation free of conflict or bias.

Defense lawyers say her earlier posts show she already accepted the accusations as true before reviewing a single piece of evidence.

'Is That a Problem?'

At a hearing Thursday, Judge James R. Farrell pressed state lawyers on why Hochul appointed James despite knowing she had already spoken publicly about the allegations.

"Is that a problem?" the judge asked.

Assistant Attorney General Kaitlin Vigars argued that removing a prosecutor requires actual prejudice, and that there can be no harm because no criminal charges have been filed. She noted charges may never be filed at all.

Farrell then asked whether a prosecutor should have made those statements in the first place and pressed Vigars again when she did not answer directly. He did not rule from the bench, so James remains in place for now.

The Underlying Case

The civil lawsuit alleges that several men raped the woman at a fraternity party in 2024 after some of them pressured her into taking ketamine, leaving her unable to consent. Those are allegations in a civil case, not criminal findings.

The local district attorney declined to bring charges in 2024, before Hochul handed the matter to James.

Defense: Find Someone Else

The state argued Hochul has the authority to choose special prosecutors and picked James for her experience with sensitive, high-profile cases.

Defense attorney Andrew Miltenberg countered that plenty of other people could handle the investigation, including retired judges or other district attorneys' offices. Another defense lawyer, Stuart Bernstein, said James has shown bias and lacks the objectivity the job requires.

James Defends Herself

James skipped Thursday's hearing. During an October 8 debate with Republican challenger Saritha Komatireddy, she defended her posts as empathy and promised her review would follow the facts and the law. "Politics stops at the door in my office," she said.

Hochul has also said she trusts James to reach the right conclusions.

More Challenges Ahead

Lawyers for two men named in the lawsuit filed separate challenges within days of her appointment. Thursday's case was filed in Albany but heard in Monticello, where Farrell sits. The other is in Ithaca, home of Cornell, and has not been scheduled.

Farrell also raised the possibility that any ruling could apply to just one man, which could leave different prosecutors overseeing different parts of the same case.

For a prosecutor who has spent years accusing others of abusing power, the irony is hard to miss. This time, it is James whose fairness is on trial.