Albany, NY — Assemblyman Colin J. Schmitt (R,C,I,LBT,SAM - New Windsor) renewed his call for the State Assembly’s Judiciary Committee to immediately begin an investigation into Attorney General Letitia James’ handling of sexual misconduct allegations involving her longtime Chief of Staff following concerning new media reports about the OAG’s contract with an outside law firm to handle the matter.
While the press is reporting that the Attorney General’s office retained the law firm Littler Mendelson before the election to review the sexual assault allegations involving Ibrahim Khan, the State Comptroller's office has indicated that it has not approved any contracts as required to conduct the investigation. Moreover, the law firm has direct ties to Attorney General Letitia James after it hired James’ former Assistant Attorney General, Johane Severin, in September.
Assemblyman Colin J. Schmitt stated, “As more details emerge about Attorney General Letitia James’ handling of the sexual misconduct allegations against her longtime Chief of Staff, the more suspect the entire situation has become. By going outside the State Comptroller’s legally-required contracting process to hire a law firm directly connected to her own office, the Attorney General has clearly compromised the public’s trust. These developments raise even more alarm bells requiring the Assembly Judiciary Committee to immediately use its oversight authority and take the actions necessary to uncover the truth.”
Schmitt concluded, “At first blush, it clearly appears that Letitia James failed to take the appropriate steps to protect women from a serial predator in the highest ranks of the Attorney General’s office and acted to conceal this information from the public before the election. Now, her failure to follow the state’s standard contracting process to hire an outside law firm also connected to her own inner circle indicates that we are just scratching the surface of what happened and what was covered up.”
Colin Schmitt is committed to public service. Colin is a member of the U.S. Army National Guard and Assemblyman for the 99th NYS Assembly District which includes the Town of Stony Point in Rockland County and The Towns of Wawayanda, Goshen, Hamptonburgh, Chester, Blooming Grove, New Windsor, Cornwall, Highlands, and Woodbury in Orange County. Colin lives in the Town of New Windsor with his wife Nikki and their beloved adopted Catahoula Quincy!
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Office of Assemblyman Colin J. Schmitt