First posted on Instagram · @profilopolitics
An anti-corruption group has filed a bar complaint demanding New York Attorney General Letitia James exit the Cornell 7 case over a biased social media post.
The National Legal and Policy Center, a Virginia-based nonprofit that investigates alleged corruption in government and business, filed a nine-page complaint with the Attorney Grievance Committee, the state court system's attorney disciplinary body.
The complaint argues James compromised her ability to serve as an impartial prosecutor by expressing support for the accuser before Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed her special prosecutor. On September 28, James wrote of the woman accusing the seven men: "What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable," while pledging support for survivors of sexual assault.
Three days later, on October 1, Hochul appointed James as special prosecutor in the case — the investigation of seven Cornell University fraternity members accused of drugging and gang-raping a former student in October 2024.
"It is clear that she must recuse herself from having anything to do with this case to preserve the impartiality and integrity of any investigation and prosecution," the complaint states.
The case has been a lightning rod for months. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten declined to bring charges in 2024, then reopened the inquiry under public pressure after the accuser, identified as Jane Doe, filed a 101-page civil suit on September 16, 2026. Hochul then removed the case from Van Houten's office entirely.
James is also facing a separate legal challenge: on October 9, Acting Supreme Court Justice James R. Farrell ordered Hochul and James to respond to a lawsuit by Gillio Lopes, one of the accused, seeking to disqualify James as special prosecutor.
James was asked about her September 28 post at a press conference and declined to comment on it. She has not publicly responded to the recusal demands.