NY Attorney General Resigns After Women Accuse Him Of Abuse

NEW YORK, NY – New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would resign after he was accused of abusing four women in a report published by The New Yorker. He will step down at the end of the business day on Tuesday.

"In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me," Schneiderman, a Democrat, said in a statement. "While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time."

Schneiderman, a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement who spoke out on behalf of the alleged victims of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, was accused of beating and psychologically abusing four women that he was in relationships with.

Manhattan's District Attorney Cy Vance opened an investigation into the allegations Tuesday, his spokesman told Patch. Solicitor General Barbara Underwood was appointed as acting attorney general, officials said Tuesday.

Schneiderman's resignation came just hours after The New Yorker published its report detailing the abuse allegations, which prompted Gov. Andrew Cuomo to call for him to leave office.

The women told The New Yorker he "repeatedly hit them, often after drinking, frequently in bed and never with their consent."

Two of the women also said that he had choked them, the magazine reported. Two of the women making the allegations were named by the New Yorker, with the other two remaining anonymous.

“All of a sudden, he just slapped me, open-handed and with great force, across the face, landing the blow directly onto my ear,” one of the women told the New Yorker, describing an evening at Schneiderman's Upper West Side apartment.

“It was horrendous. It just came out of nowhere. My ear was ringing. I lost my balance and fell backward onto the bed. I sprang up, but at this point there was very little room between the bed and him. I got up to try to shove him back, or take a swing, and he pushed me back down. He then used his body weight to hold me down, and he began to choke me. The choking was very hard. It was really bad. I kicked. In every fibre, I felt I was being beaten by a man.”

Another woman, who was born in Sri Lanka, told the New Yorker: "Sometimes he'd tell me to call him Master, and he'd slap me until I did. He started calling me his 'brown slave' and demanding that I repeat that I was 'his property.'"

She said that, after attacking her, Schneiderman threatened to have her followed and wiretapped.

In a tweeted statement Monday, Schneiderman, a Democrat, said, "In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in non-consensual sex, which is a line I would not cross."

The NYPD said no criminal complaints against Schneiderman had been received.

Cuomo, who preceded Schneiderman as attorney general, said he would ask a district attorney to investigate the allegations. “No one is above the law, including New York's top legal officer,” he said.

“My personal opinion is that, given the damning pattern of facts and corroboration laid out in the article, I do not believe it is possible for Eric Schneiderman to continue to serve as Attorney General, and for the good of the office, he should resign,” Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Some of Schneiderman's alleged abuse occurred in Manhattan, putting it potentially under the jurisdiction of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Cuomo had directed Schneiderman to investigate Vance's handling of sexual assault allegations against Weinstein in 2015.

Jennifer Cunningham, Schneiderman's ex-wife and political strategist, said the allegations did not square with her relationship with the attorney general.

"I’ve known Eric for nearly 35 years as a husband, father and friend," Cunningham said in a statement to The New Yorker. "These allegations are completely inconsistent with the man I know, who has always been someone of the highest character, outstanding values and a loving father."

Lead image by Spencer Platt/Getty Images