Cornell defense fights to boot Letitia James from fraternity probe, warning she cannot be fair to client

A Cornell fraternity member’s defence attorney is asking a judge to invalidate New York Attorney General Letitia James’s appointment as special prosecutor in a sexual assault investigation. He argues that James’s public expression of support for the woman who made the allegations raises doubts about her impartiality; James says her remarks showed empathy and that politics will not affect the probe.

The woman alleged in a civil lawsuit that two men had sex with her without consent at a Chi Phi fraternity party on 19 October 2024. Campus police investigated, but local prosecutors initially declined criminal charges, saying the evidence did not meet the threshold under New York law. The defence disputes her account and cites messages and earlier statements it says support its position; the motion challenging James’s appointment was also filed by a lawyer for another defendant.