Schneiderman falls on his sword
Late this afternoon, The New Yorker published a shocker of a story written by two of teh best journos alive today, Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow:
As his prominence as a voice against sexual misconduct has risen, so, too, has the distress of four women with whom he has had romantic relationships or encounters. They accuse Schneiderman of having subjected them to nonconsensual physical violence. All have been reluctant to speak out, fearing reprisal. But two of the women, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, have talked to The New Yorker on the record, because they feel that doing so could protect other women. They allege that he repeatedly hit them, often after drinking, frequently in bed and never with their consent. Manning Barish and Selvaratnam categorize the abuse he inflicted on them as “assault.” They did not report their allegations to the police at the time, but both say that they eventually sought medical attention after having been slapped hard across the ear and face, and also choked. Selvaratnam says that Schneiderman warned her he could have her followed and her phones tapped, and both say that he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him. (Schneiderman’s spokesperson said that he “never made any of these threats.”)
The details are jaw-droppingly odious; if true, they paint Schneiderman as a criminal.
Schneiderman is, of course, investigating numerous matters concerning former reality-show host Donald Trump and his associates, and he does not want any harm to come to the integrity of these probes, so he immediately did the right thing.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced his resignation late Monday night, hours after he was accused of physically abusing four women in an article published by the New Yorker.
Schneiderman said he continued to “strongly contest” the allegations, which included women saying that he choked and slapped them, but felt they would prevent him from his work as the top law enforcement official in New York state.
“In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me,” he said in a statement Monday. “While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018.”
The selection of a successor falls to New York’s famously contentious and — well, controversial (google Sheldon Silver and Joseph Bruno if you don’t catch my meaning) — legislature.
