New York Attorney General Letitia James has been put in charge of the "Cornell 7" investigation. As I mentioned when this happened, the problem with James is that she lets you know the outcome well before the investigation happens. That's what she did when she campaigned on prosecuting Trump. It's what she did again in this case when she put out a post on Facebook saying the woman at Cornell had been the victim of a horrific crime.
When Gov. Hochul selected James to oversee an investigation, they were both asked how her neutrality could be believed when she'd already weighed in on the case. "Why did you affirm her allegations as fact without doing your own fact-finding investigation?" a reporter asked. James refused to give an answer.
Reporter: "Attorney General, on your Facebook page three days ago, you wrote, ‘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.’ Why did you affirm her allegations as fact without doing your own fact-finding investigation? And to the governor, why did you appoint an official who made a public statement affirming those allegations as fact as someone who's supposed to be doing an investigation?” New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D): “I will answer that. 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. Attorney General, please.” New York Attorney General Letitia James: “I will not comment on a Facebook post.” Great question!
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) October 2, 2026
But the question remains and today one of the accused men being lined up for James' kangaroo court asked a judge to dismiss her on the grounds that she is biased.
One of the Cornell University students accused of sexually assaulting a female classmate at a fraternity party is hoping to convince a judge that New York Attorney General Letitia James is biased and should not oversee a criminal investigation into the allegations.
At issue are statements James made last month in response to Jane Doe’s lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped at the Chi Phi house in 2024...
Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer for Cornell student Gillio Lopes, filed a petition October 7 arguing those comments should disqualify James from leading a criminal investigation. He is asking a judge to void Hochul’s executive order.
“The appointment of Attorney General James is improper as Attorney General James has unequivocally demonstrated a bias and presumption of guilt against the defendants named in the Civil Case, including Petitioner,” he wrote in a court filing.
He's right, of course. If someone indicates the accused are guilty, they shouldn't be leading an investigation into whether the accused are guilty.
A writer for Los Angeles Magazine, Lauren Conlin, was inside the courtroom for the hearing today. She reported what happened on X:
Bernstein begins the argument. Bernstein was a former prosecutor, and he says it was an honor to represent "all people." "In this case, AG James represents 'all citizens,' and unfortunately, she has failed that obligation from the get-go." "The only one that has brought a political issue into this, is the state. We're not asking the court to supervise an investigation.. we're asking to restore confidence into an objective investigation. AG James is not that person....for this specific case. We're talking about this specific case." He brings up James' Sept. social media post.
— Lauren Conlin (@conlin_lauren) October 29, 2026
"In this case, AG James represents 'all citizens,' and unfortunately, she has failed that obligation from the get-go."
"The only one that has brought a political issue into this, is the state. We're not asking the court to supervise an investigation.. we're asking to restore confidence into an objective investigation. AG James is not that person....for this specific case. We're talking about this specific case."
He brings up James' Sept. social media post.
"What happened in this case your honor, is a perfect storm. We're not looking for a wide sweeping referendum your honor, this is a specific request. We're asking that you send this back to the governor, we're not asking you to step in and pick someone. We're not asking you to say the government doesn't have the right to supercede, we're asking you to say the person she picked doesn't work..."
Now onto the social media post, he refers to exhibit 6 in the defense papers. At 6:15pm on Sept. 28, on the official AG Facebook Page: 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. "Now your honor, that is not an empathetic statement. This is a very specific statement- 3 specific parts...what this young woman has been forced to endure...she's accepted that it happened. I'm holding HER...now AG James is making is personal. She's not saying crime is bad or sexual assault is bad... it's personal. To HER, very specific...to her and all survivors...so the AG has already made a decision that something has happened to this woman. She is one of the highest ranking officials in the state..she should not be making those statements... Bernstein also says that James herself has not made a declaration.
— Lauren Conlin (@conlin_lauren) October 29, 2026
At 6:15pm on Sept. 28, on the official AG Facebook Page: 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.
"Now your honor, that is not an empathetic statement. This is a very specific statement- 3 specific parts...what this young woman has been forced to endure...she's accepted that it happened.
I'm holding HER...now AG James is making is personal. She's not saying crime is bad or sexual assault is bad... it's personal.
To HER, very specific...to her and all survivors...so the AG has already made a decision that something has happened to this woman. She is one of the highest ranking officials in the state..she should not be making those statements...
Bernstein brings up Tompkins County DA stating he was going to reopen the criminal investigation on Sept. 28.
On Oct 1, Hochul puts forth the executive order that she's appointing James. “Concerns have been raised, both by Jane Doe and the public, that this incident cannot be fully and thoroughly investigated or prosecuted without conflict or bias, or the public perception of conflict or bias.”
Bernstein says, "SHE has shown she has bias."
He begins to read social media comments to the AG's social post, and also calls them "the public." He reads one that says, "so much for the presumption of innocence."
"Your honor, that's the public!"
Bernstein argues that the public had lost confidence in the investigation, citing the very concerns about bias and public perception that Hochul used to justify appointing James as special prosecutor.
It sounds like this lawyer for is killing it on the question of James' bias, but the judge did express some concerns, particularly about the fact that the other six accused men have not joined this case.
Bernstein says the other defendants would "reap the benefits of their work." He says they never moved to join, and Farrell interuppts and says Bernstein never served them to join.
— Lauren Conlin (@conlin_lauren) October 29, 2026
"Tompkins County is not in the 3rd judicial district...Is this case properly venued? And the other litigants...are they joined? This is a multi-suspect case, it's not just your client. They aren't part of this litigation...why?
Let's say I agree with you...and I remove her. Does she stay on for the other 6 defendants case? Multiple prosecutors for the other 6?"
A lawyer for James got up to argue but Judge Farrell didn't seem convinced.
FARRELL: Did the AG stand next to the governor during the Oct. 2 press conference when Hochul made similar statements? He reads the transcript from the presser where Hochul says, “This woman, this young woman, had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable.” FARRELL: Was James standing next to the governor when she made those remarks? VIGARS: Yes
— Lauren Conlin (@conlin_lauren) October 29, 2026
FARRELL: Was James standing next to the governor when she made those remarks?
VIGARS: Yes
The video I posted above shows the answer was yes.
Farrell brings up the social post, and how hundreds of thousands of people viewed it. FARRELL: Is that a problem? FARRELL: You'd agreed with me, that's not proper for a prosecutor to make that kind of statement? VIGARS: I'm hearing your honor that you don't think it's appropriate... but there is nothing preventing prosecutors from making public statements..
— Lauren Conlin (@conlin_lauren) October 29, 2026
At the end, the judge came back to the "joinder" issue and the attorney for the accused man asked for time to submit additional material on that. The judge gave him a week. Afterwards, attorney Andrew Miltenberg spoke outside the courthouse.
In addition to his comments about what happened during the hearing, he was also asked about a new Netflix documentary which was released today. Apparently Gov. Hochul gave an interview for this documentary but no one from the defense side of the case was asked.
WATCH🚨The FULL press conference outside Sullivan County Court, where Cornell Seven defense attorney Andrew Miltenberg addressed reporters following Thursday's heated oral arguments over the effort to remove NY Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor. Judge James Farrell pressed the defense over why the other six men had not been joined in the legal challenge, while also asking pointed questions to the state about James' social media post supporting the accuser before Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed her. Miltenberg didn't hold back: “I think the judge's questions were fairly clear that he found the statements that were made by the attorney general were in poor form.” On why the other six defendants haven't joined the challenge: “We haven't asked them candidly.” On the prospect of bringing them into the case: “I'm confident that the other six will join whether they want to or not.” And on the Netflix documentary released the same day: “I expect the documentary to be one-sided, salacious.” Farrell did not rule Thursday, giving the defense until Nov. 5 to address the joinder issue. Watch the full exchange, including Miltenberg's remarks about James, Hochul, Netflix and what comes next.@conlin_lauren reports.
— Los Angeles Magazine (@LAmag) October 29, 2026
Here's the promo for the Netflix documentary. From what I see here, this looks completely biased.
