New York Governor Kathy Hochul says the woman at the centre of the Cornell University rape case was “failed” at “every turn” – watch live updates above
The case was reopened after the woman filed a civil lawsuit last month, alleging she was drugged and raped by seven men at a fraternity house in 2024
Speaking yesterday, Hochul appointed James as special prosecutor in the case after she “lost faith” in the local prosecutor’s ability to oversee the investigation
Hochul is asked what made her lose confidence in the local prosecutor’s ability to investigate this case, leading her to appoint Attorney General James to take over.
“I’m deeply disturbed at Cornell University’s police and how they handled this,” she says, adding: “Them sending a partial record over…is, in my judgement, a failure. We’ll have the attorney general and others find out if this was actually the case of what happened.
“But somebody knew more than they were letting people know and this is what shocks me so much.”
Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James are now taking questions from the media.
The first question is to Hochul about a social media post by James that appears to affirm the young woman’s statements “as facts” – and why Hochul thought it appropriate to appoint her after that.
Hochul say she has “every confidence” in the attorney general to “look at the facts, examine the record and draw proper conclusions”.
James says she “will not comment” on the post.
