The civil lawsuit brought forth by a Jane Doe has put seven men in the national spotlight over an alleged rape at Cornell University that was purportedly mishandled by police and local prosecutors.
Then an unusual thing happened: New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed perhaps the most inappropriate attorney imaginable to handle the reopened criminal investigation.
Attorney General Letitia James.
Her reputation precedes her far and wide as an ethically challenged political operator whose penchant for reckless verbiage has garnered her a reputation for garrulousness. And that "big mouth" of hers has apparently drawn the ire of one of the defendants in the civil case.
His lawyer is moving to have her dismissed, as was reported by podcaster Lauren Conlin.
SCOOP🚨 CORNELL SEVEN: Gillio Lopes, one of the seven men accused in Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit, has filed an Article 78 challenge looking to REMOVE NY Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the criminal investigation. His attorneys argue James showed bias toward Jane Doe in a Sept. 28 social media post, three days before Gov. Hochul appointed her to lead the reopened criminal investigation. Lopes wants the appointment overturned and a different prosecutor assigned. A judge has not yet ruled. More details via @lamag shortly.
— Lauren Conlin (@conlin_lauren) October 8, 2026
As Conlin reported in her "scoop":
Gillio Lopes, one of the seven men accused in Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit, has filed an Article 78 challenge looking to REMOVE NY Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the criminal investigation. His attorneys argue James showed bias toward Jane Doe in a Sept. 28 social media post, three days before Gov. Hochul appointed her to lead the reopened criminal investigation. Lopes wants the appointment overturned and a different prosecutor assigned. A judge has not yet ruled. More details via @lamag shortly.
Here is James' social media post in question.
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. https://t.co/az4ViQwgy1
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) September 28, 2026
"What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable," James wrote. "I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers."
"To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone," she added. "We stand with you."
No bias there at all. But even worse, she is using politicized language when referring to "survivors."
The social media post implies that those defendants she is suing are guilty. This is reckless, to say the very least.
When NBC News asked James for comment on the Article 78 filing, she declined.
But in a statement Monday, James said: “My office enforces our state’s laws to protect all New Yorkers. I am committed to leading a comprehensive investigation they can trust, guided only by the facts, the evidence, and the law.”
Hochul's office also made a general statement: "I have every confidence in our Attorney General to 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."
Well, that's reassuring.
Hochul tapped James after criticizing Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten’s handling of Doe’s allegations. Van Houten previously declined to file charges, saying investigators had found insufficient evidence of criminal conduct. However, he reopened the investigation following the national backlash generated by the lawsuit.
Doe filed the civil complaint last month against Cornell University, the Chi Phi fraternity and seven fraternity members. None of the accused men has faced criminal charges.
Conlin also broke down more of the legal developments in a recent video post:
What really happened during Cornell’s “Cornell Seven” investigation? A newly public 99-page internal decision reveals the extensive evidence Cornell reviewed, including more than 50 interviews, Snapchat messages, recorded phone calls, ketamine research and a negative drug test. As a civil lawsuit and criminal investigation continue, the documents offer a rare look at how the university reached its findings in the controversial case. Read more by @conlin_lauren at the link below. https://t.co/x8CJVMhRD6 Watch more of the video below here: https://t.co/mLmAN56MH5
— Los Angeles Magazine (@LAmag) October 8, 2026
Matt Vespa of sister site Townhall detailed some other legal developments that have caused this Cornell case to take a sharp turn.
We don’t know whether the re-review of the evidence in the Cornell gang rape allegation will be quick or lengthy, but what we do know is that whatever happened at the Chi Phi house in October 2024 was a mess. Drugs and alcohol were involved, and consent was offered. Was it rescinded at any point during the sexual activity? It’s either regrettable sex that’s been processed as rape, which happens, though that’s not the case, or these guys raped Jane Doe and they should get what’s coming to them. This is a civil suit, so the standard is preponderance of the evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt, since the punishment is less severe. That could also lead to sloppy investigative work, and New York Attorney General Letitia James being QB1 on [the reopened criminal investigation] is a nightmare.
But as we warned at RedState earlier, having Big Tish at the center of the reopened criminal investigation is a massive misstep.
Her own partisan rhetoric has ranged from bombastic to inflammatory. During one political event, she charged that the Trump administration is "too male, too pale, and too stale."
This does not inspire confidence that the New York attorney general will be impartial when it comes to prosecuting male defendants who are accused of rape.
Letitia James' big mouth is an undesirable characteristic for a top-ranking law enforcement official. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's lack of judgment is equally as big a problem.
If there is any common sense left in the state of New York, James will be removed from the case. Then again, if there were any common sense in New York, Kathy Hochul and Letitia James wouldn't be in charge today.