Massive Cornell 7 Panic! Letitia James DODGES Questions
Things just got even messier in the Cornell Seven case. New reporting says New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office has interviewed former federal prosecutors as it looks for outside counsel to help with the investigation. James is facing a court challenge over comments she made before Governor Kathy Hochul appointed her special prosecutor. When reporters confronted James on the campaign trail Sunday, she repeatedly redirected the conversation to early voting, saying only that the Cornell situation was very serious and that her office would have more to say. Her office confirmed it has spoken with several outside-counsel candidates, but says those discussions began before the public demands for James’s removal.
That distinction matters, because James has not recused herself and no replacement special prosecutor has been announced. Her office is actively fighting Gillio Lopes’s petition seeking to remove her, arguing that her earlier statement expressed empathy rather than a finding of guilt. Oral arguments are currently scheduled for October 29, but that hearing concerns James’s appointment—not whether the underlying allegations are true. No criminal charges have been filed against the seven men, and all have denied wrongdoing. The outside-lawyer story creates another serious optics problem for James, but it is not yet proof that she has surrendered control of the investigation or admitted that she cannot conduct it impartially.