Nassau County District Attorney To Investigate Schneiderman

NEW YORK, NY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo named a special prosecutor Tuesday night to investigate accusations of assault and abuse against former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Cuomo directed Madeline Singas, the Nassau County District Attorney, to probe the allegations published Monday in The New Yorker that forced Schneiderman to resign, "as well as any matters that may arise from this investigation."

The investigation will cross into Manhattan and Suffolk County. The New Yorker detailed accusations of abuse by four women, some of which took place in Schneiderman's Upper West Side apartment and in the Hamptons on Long Island.

Singas' jurisdiction will supersede that of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who had opened an investigation into Schneiderman's alleged conduct despite the fact that the attorney general's office was examining his handling of a 2015 case involving the disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Cuomo, who directed Schneiderman to investigate Vance's office, said the two probes gave "an appearance of a conflict of interest."

"There can be no suggestion of any possibility of the reality or appearance of any conflict or anything less than a full, complete and unbiased investigation," Cuomo wrote in a letter to Singas and Barbara Underwood, the acting attorney general. "The victims deserve nothing less."

Singas will also investigate the possible use of Schneiderman's staff and other public resources in facilitating the "alleged abusive liaisons," Cuomo wrote.

Singas, a Democrat, was considered among several potential replacements for Schneiderman following his resignation Tuesday. But in a statement on her assignment from Cuomo, she said she wouldn't run for or accept an appointment to the post.

"Pursuant to the Governor's executive order, we will vigorously investigate the allegations for which jurisdiction has been granted," Singas said.

The Schneiderman case lies at the intersection of two areas of the law with which Singas is familiar: sexual crimes and public corruption. She previously led Nassau County's Special Victims Bureau and has prosecuted corruption cases against several politicos and public officials.

Vance, though, was not pleased with her appointment. In a letter to Cuomo, he said the potential conflict of interest was "one of (the governor's) creation" that no longer exists because Schneiderman resigned.

"The fact that this earlier directive has now caused you to intrude further into the criminal process by 're-assigning' the Schneiderman matter away from my office to a different elected prosecutor — however skilled — only compounds the mistake of that earlier action," Vance wrote.

Cuomo's counsel, Alphonso David, fired back, calling Vance's remarks "both inappropriate and misguided." He said the governor appointed Singas to "ensure both the integrity of the investigation and the public's confidence in the process."

(Lead image: Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas will investigate allegations against former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Photo from the Nassau County District Attorney's Office)

Story by Noah Manskar