Man accused in Cornell rape lawsuit wants Letitia James removed from investigation over her posts

Oct. 29, 2026, 7:49 PM ET

MONTICELLO, N.Y. (AP) — Should the New York attorney general’s social media posts condemning an alleged gang rape at Cornell University disqualify her from leading a criminal investigation into the matter?

That’s the question a judge is weighing after hearing arguments Thursday in one accused man’s effort to have Attorney General Letitia James removed from the probe.

The man’s lawyers say James’ posts, made before she took over the case, show she had already made up her mind and believed the woman’s allegations were true. James, had described the allegations as “horrific and unacceptable” and referred to the woman as a “survivor.”

There are “thousands of people in this state — retired judges, mediators, retired law enforcement, other district attorneys’ offices — that could handle this investigation,” the man’s lawyer, Andrew Miltenberg, told reporters as he walked into court.

James, a Democrat, didn’t attend Thursday’s hearing. She has said her investigation will be “guided only by the facts, the evidence, and the law.”

The state’s lawyers sought to put a quick end to the challenge, arguing that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has wide latitude to appoint special prosecutors and picked James because of her track record handling sensitive cases in the national spotlight.

The former Cornell student, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit in September saying several men raped her at a fraternity party in 2024. She said some of the men pressured her into using ketamine that left her too intoxicated to consent.

Judge questions whether Letitia James’ posts were improper

Judge James R. Farrell didn’t immediately rule, but he pressed state lawyers about Hochul's decision to appoint James, knowing she had commented on social media.

“Is that a problem?” Farrell asked.

Assistant Attorney General Kaitlin Vigars said “there has to be actual prejudice” in order to disqualify James from overseeing the investigation. The man challenging James’ appointment can’t argue he’s been harmed because there are no criminal charges — and might never be, Vigars said.

“You would agree with me,” the judge said, “that it’s not proper for a prosecutor to make those statements?”

When Vigars did not directly answer, he pressed again: “You wouldn’t agree with me?”

Farrell gave the man’s lawyers a week to address why the other men named in the lawsuit hadn’t joined this effort to remove James.

James often reacts online

James often comments on news stories on social media. Some posts have criticized people her office later sued, including President Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association.

In the Sept. 28 post at issue at Thursday’s hearing, James linked to a news article about Jane Doe’s lawsuit and wrote: “I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers. To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone. We stand with you.”

Hochul appointed James to the case Oct. 1, taking it away from the county district attorney who declined to bring charges in 2024. In her order appointing James, the governor called for an "objective review” without conflict or bias.

Stuart Bernstein, a lawyer for the man fighting James’ appointment, said the attorney general "has shown she is not objective. She has shown that she is biased.”

Within days of James’ appointment, lawyers for two of the men named in Jane Doe‘s lawsuit took legal action seeking to undo it.

The case heard Thursday was filed in the state capital, Albany, and argued in Monticello, where Farrell is based, about 72 miles (116 kilometers) northwest of Manhattan. The other was filed in Ithaca, where Cornell is located, but no arguments have been scheduled.

Farrell asked both sides pointed questions during more than an hour of arguments.

He quizzed the man’s lawyers about whether his ruling should apply to one or all of the civil lawsuit defendants — and whether multiple investigations led by different prosecutors might result.

James has said her comments ‘demonstrate empathy’

James had initially declined to comment about her social media posts but addressed them at an Oct. 8 debate in her race against Republican challenger Saritha Komatireddy.

“Those comments demonstrate empathy, and what we need now more than ever in our body politic is more empathy,” James said.

Hochul, she said, assigned her “to analyze this case and to judge it and to do it without bias. She’s requesting an unbiased investigation and a thorough investigation, and we will do that based on the facts and based on the evidence. Politics stops at the door in my office.”

Hochul has said she had no qualms about naming her as special prosecutor.

“I have every confidence in our attorney general to do what she has always done: Look at the facts, examine the record, draw the proper conclusions,” Hochul said Oct. 2 as she announced the special prosecutor appointment.