New York’s Republican lawmakers are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to nominate a particular prosecutor to analyze state Legal professional Common Letitia James’ dealing with of the sexual harassment case involving ex-chief of employees Ibrahim Khan.
“We write to specific our sturdy concern relating to the sexual misconduct of Ibrahim
Khan, chief of employees to Legal professional Common Letitia James, and the mishandling of the next
inner investigation Ms. James’s oversaw into the incident. To revive public belief, we ask that
you instantly appoint a particular prosecutor to analyze each the sexual harassment claims in addition to Legal professional Common James’s mishandling of the incident and subsequent inner inquiry,” mentioned the letter upstate Rep. Claudia Tenney despatched to Hochul Tuesday.
The letter was co-signed by Rep. Elise Stefanik, the highly effective Home Republican Convention chairwoman and Congressman Chris Jacobs.
A timeline put out by James’ workplace confirmed she was conscious of the allegations on October 2, employed an out of doors agency to analyze on Oct. 4. Khan tendered his resignation on Nov. 22 — efficient December 31 — earlier than the investigative report was concluded and substantiated misconduct complaints involving two ladies on December 2, when it lastly grew to become public.
One among James’s most impactful actions as legal professional common was hiring exterior attorneys to analyze a slew of sexual harassment accusations leveled towards ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The devastating report final 12 months concluded Cuomo was a serial harasser and he resigned underneath the risk of impeachment regardless of his denials.
James, throughout an interview with The Publish final week, mentioned the Cuomo probe was a public referral and he or she was required to launch a public report, not like the Khan case.
“We’re defending the rights of people and it’s necessary to grasp this was a non-public investigation, which is separate and aside from the investigation we did into the previous governor — which was a governmental investigation and a lawful investigation pursuant to a referral,” James advised The Publish exterior her Brooklyn brownstone.
She additionally mentioned on NY1, “We did a radical, impartial investigation with no battle of curiosity or any impropriety.”
Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays, mentioned, “We'll evaluate the letter once we obtain it.”
Final week, Hochul recommended there was no want to analyze James’ actions.
“There must be accountability and my understanding is that steps had been taken towards that,” Hochul mentioned.
One of many Khan’s alleged victims, Sophia Quintanar, mentioned James’ dealt with the investigation appropriately however botched speaking the case to the general public.
“My difficulty has by no means been with Legal professional Common Letitia James or how the investigation was dealt with. My allegations had been rapidly addressed, and an impartial investigation substantiated my claims,” Quintanar mentioned in an announcement to The Publish.
“I took difficulty with the unclear nature of the communications that adopted the conclusion of the investigation.”
However the GOP lawmakers, within the letter, mentioned Hochul shouldn’t let James off the hook.
“While you took over from disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo, you made a
dedication to alter New York’s tradition of corruption, which included tackling the
reoccurring drawback of sexual harassment,” they mentioned.
“We sit up for your dedication that the allegations towards Mr. Khan and Ms. James’s will likely be totally, independently, and transparently investigated.”
The Publish additionally reported on Monday that a former press aide within the AG’s workplace resigned “in lieu of termination” in 2019 after being accused of mistreating feminine staffers — earlier than the Khan case surfaced.
Post a Comment