Manhattan DA Pledges Cooperation In Schneiderman Probe

NEW YORK, NY — The Manhattan district attorney pledged to cooperate Thursday with a state-appointed special prosecutor's investigation of alleged abuse and assault by former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Cyrus Vance Jr. said he has faith in Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas' ability to probe the accusations The New Yorker published earlier this week, despite his vocal objections to Gov. Andrew Cuomo giving her the case.

"An extended back-and-forth about process does not serve survivors of the incidents that have been alleged," Vance said at a joint news conference Thursday with Cuomo, Singas and Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini.

Cuomo appointed Singas, a Democrat, Tuesday to investigate the report that Schneiderman hit, choked and psychologically abused four women in recent years. Some of the alleged abuse reportedly occurred in Schneiderman's Upper West Side apartment and in the Hamptons.

Sini will help examine any incidents involving Schneiderman in the Hamptons, Cuomo said, but Vance will not be directly involved with Singas' probe.

The move drew immediate fire from Vance, also a Democrat, who had already opened his own investigation into Schneiderman's alleged conduct. He implied in a letter that Cuomo was meddling with the independence of his office by reassigning the case to Singas.

The Democratic governor said he appointed Singas to dispel any perception of a conflict of interest, given that Schneiderman had launched an inquiry, at Cuomo's direction, into Vance's handling of a 2015 sexual assault case involving the disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein.

"Not only in reality, but also in perception, the resolutions will be inarguable, and that’s what’s most important," Cuomo said.

Vance said he was initially concerned with the lack of communication from the governor's office about the decision to appoint a special prosecutor. He sent the letter to make known his worries about the process, he said, but they were assauged after he talked with Cuomo and Singas.

Cuomo had effusive praise for Vance just a day after the governor's counsel, Alphonso David, sent the DA a letter saying his missteps in the Weinstein case created "distrust" among women's organizations.

Singas was tight-lipped about what her investigation would entail. She confirmed she would look into whether Schneiderman used his government office to facilitate the alleged abuse, but did not say whether any victims had formally come forward, or whether their cooperation would definitely be necessary.

She pledged to take the probe "wherever the facts lead me."

"We will treat this case the same as we do all cases. There will be no stone left unturned," she said.

Schneiderman pledged to step down just hours after The New Yorker published its story Monday and officially resigned Tuesday.

Cuomo, himself a former attorney general, said he thinks Schneiderman has "disgraced the office."

"Do I believe he has dishonored elected office? Yes," Cuomo said. "Do I believe he has dishonored public service? Yes. And as a human being, as a citizen, as a person, do I believe that type of conduct is reprehensible? Yes."

(Lead image: Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. appears at a news conference Thursday. Photo from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Office/Flickr)