By now the story has gripped the nation: A former Cornell student, known as Jane Doe, has accused seven frat members of raping her two years ago. Nobody was initially charged because Doe told school officials she consented to the sexual acts, but two years later, Doe has changed her account of the events and claims she was incapable of consenting.
Days after the Cornell 7 story broke, New York’s sitting Attorney General Letitia James weighed in on the allegations, treating them as though they were fact.
In a tweet on September 28, James wrote: “What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable. 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.”
Days after this post, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul tapped James to look into the case.
But during a press briefing on Friday, a reporter asked why Hochul appointed “an official who made a public statement affirming those allegations as fact as someone who’s supposed to be doing an investigation?”
Hochul disregarded the very legitimate concern that James is already a biased party in the story and instead said she is confident that James will “do what she has always done. Look at the facts, examine the record, and draw the proper conclusions. That’s exactly what’s going to happen in this case.”
But if James is doing “what she has always done,” then the Cornell 7 aren’t going to get a fair and impartial trial. They’re going to get (metaphorically) the gulag.
James spent months using lawfare to try and kneecap then-candidate Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election. James accused Trump of inflating his personal wealth to get more favorable loan terms. Notably, there were no victims in the case and a court later found the judgment against Trump to be unconstitutional. The case was so political that even CNN political commentator Jonah Goldberg called the “prosecution … a mistake” and “very political.”
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo argued the case was also the result of political lawfare.
“If his name was not Donald Trump, and if he wasn’t running for president, I’m the former AG in New York, I’m telling you that case would have never been brought, and that’s what is offensive to people,” Cuomo said during a June 2024 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher: Overtime.
But it was no surprise that James brought the case, having campaigned on using lawfare to target Trump and calling him an “illegitimate president.” As The Federalist’s Matt Kittle reported, a prosecutor in James’ office even said he was ordered to target Trump, which is why Hochul’s assurance that James will “do what she has always done” is problematic.
James declared Trump illegitimate, campaigned with a promise to target him, and then brought a case so obviously political that even prominent Democrats questioned it. James has already publicly treated the Cornell allegations as fact being tasked with investigating it. If her past is any indication, the Cornell 7 have every reason to fear an investigation will seek not justice, but to validate James’ prejudgment.
