{"id":65011,"date":"2018-05-08T04:27:07","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T04:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=65011"},"modified":"2018-05-08T04:27:07","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T04:27:07","slug":"eric-schneiderman-new-yorks-attorney-general-resigns-amid-assault-accusations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/eric-schneiderman-new-yorks-attorney-general-resigns-amid-assault-accusations.html","title":{"rendered":"Eric Schneiderman, New York’s Attorney General, Resigns Amid Assault Accusations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eric Schneiderman, New York’s Attorney General, Resigns Amid Assault Accusations<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York State attorney general who rose to prominence as an antagonist of the Trump administration, abruptly resigned on Monday night hours after The New Yorker reported that four women had accused him of physically assaulting them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been my great honor and privilege to serve as attorney general for the people of the State of New York,\u201d Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement. \u201cIn the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office\u2019s work at this critical time. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His resignation represented a stunning fall for a politician who had also assumed a prominent role in the #MeToo movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two of the women who spoke to the magazine, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, said they had been choked and hit repeatedly by Mr. Schneiderman. Both said they had sought medical treatment. Another woman, a lawyer, said she was slapped violently across the face. A fourth woman said she had similar experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the women in the article, who had been romantically involved with Mr. Schneiderman, said the violence was not consensual.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Schneiderman, 63, denied abusing the women, saying in a statement: \u201cIn 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 nonconsensual sex, which is a line I would not cross.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But not long after the allegations were made public, many of his allies, including Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who like Mr. Schneiderman is a Democrat, called for him to step down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy 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,\u201d Mr. Cuomo said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The call was echoed by Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, who led the charge to oust Al Franken from the Senate. \u201cThe violent actions described by multiple women in this story are abhorrent,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cBased on this extensive and serious reporting, I do not believe that Eric Schneiderman should continue to serve as attorney general.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Under New York\u2019s Constitution, Mr. Schneiderman\u2019s replacement will be selected by the State Assembly and Senate by joint ballot \u2014 effectively placing the decision in the hands of the Assembly, which has many more members.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Assembly speaker, Carl E. Heastie, planned to discuss possible replacements on Tuesday, according to Michael Whyland, a spokesman for Mr. Heastie. Whoever is chosen to fill out Mr. Schneiderman\u2019s term could then seek election in November.<\/span><\/p>\n

No Democrat had declared an intention to challenge Mr. Schneiderman, who was up for re-election this year, in the primary; Manny Alicandro, a corporate lawyer from New York City, is running as a Republican and officially declared his candidacy on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 2017, Mr. Schneiderman had raised his profile nationally by taking on President Trump\u2019s agenda repeatedly in the courts. He was pushing to change state law so that his office could prosecute Mr. Trump\u2019s aides even if the president pardoned them; his resignation makes the status of that effort less certain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s issues had also been a focal point for Mr. Schneiderman, who had announced, for instance, a lawsuit against the company once run by the former filmmaker Harvey Weinstein, who was accused of decades of sexual misconduct. \u201cWe have never seen anything as despicable as what we\u2019ve seen right here,\u201d Mr. Schneiderman said then.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Manning Barish, in The New Yorker account, described being slapped by Mr. Schneiderman after they had both been drinking; she and Ms. Selvaratnam said several of the attacks occurred after alcohol had been consumed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was horrendous,\u201d she said. \u201cIt 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 fiber, I felt I was being beaten by a man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Debra S. Katz, a lawyer for Ms. Manning Barish, said that it was Mr. Schneiderman\u2019s \u201cfantasy and his fantasy alone that the behavior was welcome.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Schneiderman, she continued, \u201chas made a career railing against this type of abuse. Yet apparently he intends to revictimize these courageous women who have come forward by pulling out that age old sexist trope that they wanted it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Selvaratnam told the magazine that Mr. Schneiderman routinely drank to excess during their relationship, and that the physical abuse in bed got worse the longer she was with him. \u201cWe could rarely have sex without him beating me,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The abuse was also verbal and emotional, she said. \u201cHe started calling me his \u2018brown slave\u2019 and demanding that I repeat that I was \u2018his property.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Ms. Manning Barish and Ms. Selvaratnam have in recent days repeatedly declined to comment when reporters for The New York Times asked them to address the allegations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I found out that other women had been abused by Attorney General Schneiderman in a similar manner many years before me, I wondered, who\u2019s next, and knew something needed to be done,\u201d Ms. Selvaratnam said in a statement released Monday night. \u201cSo I chose to come forward both to protect women who might enter into a relationship with him in the future but also to raise awareness around the issue of intimate partner violence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Manning Barish followed the article\u2019s publication with a post on Twitter, saying that she \u201ccould not remain silent and encourage other women to be brave for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Schneiderman\u2019s former wife said she was taken aback by the allegations being leveled against him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known Eric for nearly 35 years as a husband, father and friend,\u201d said Jennifer Cunningham, his ex-wife and frequent political strategist. \u201cThese allegations are completely inconsistent with the man I know, who has always been someone of the highest character, outstanding values and a loving father.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Schneiderman has long been regarded as one of the state\u2019s most progressive politicians, even before his 2013 lawsuit against Trump University and his subsequent suits against the Trump administration made him the darling of the political left. Last fall, Mr. Schneiderman\u2019s office proudly pointed to a segment on the late-night comedy show \u201cFull Frontal with Samantha Bee,\u201d in which the attorney general was described as \u201ca hero who stood up to democracy\u2019s nemesis,\u201d a Superman-like character known as Schneider-man.<\/span><\/p>\n

His credentials as an advocate for women, in particular, had gone unquestioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2010, as a state senator from Manhattan, he introduced a bill to make intentional strangulation to the point of unconsciousness a violent felony. That same year, the National Organization for Women\u2019s New York branch endorsed him in his successful bid for attorney general, citing his \u201cunmatched work\u201d in \u201cprotecting women who are victims of domestic abuse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For several years, his office has published a \u201cKnow Your Rights\u201d brochure for victims of domestic violence. \u201cWe must recognize that our work keeping New Yorkers safe from domestic violence is far from over,\u201d Mr. Schneiderman said in the announcement for the 2016 brochure.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the direction of Governor Cuomo, he was reviewing the 2015 decision by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., not to prosecute Mr. Weinstein after an Italian model accused him of groping her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some national Republicans were gleeful at the allegations. The Republican research shop America Rising quickly packaged Mr. Schneiderman\u2019s ties to other prominent national Democrats.<\/span><\/p>\n

And on Monday evening, Mr. Trump\u2019s son, Donald Trump, Jr., dug up an old tweet from Mr. Schneiderman in which he said \u201cNo one is above the law\u201d and tweeted at him, \u201cYou were saying???\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

By night\u2019s end, Mr. Schneiderman had retained a criminal defense lawyer from the law firm of Lankler Siffert & Wohl, a person with knowledge of the matter said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/05\/07\/nyregion\/new-york-attorney-general-eric-schneiderman-abuse.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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