Accused of Prejudging the 'Cornell 7,' Tish James Plans to Bring In an Outside Lawyer

New York Attorney General Letitia James is planning to hire an outside lawyer to help investigate the "Cornell 7" case, the New York Post reported Saturday, after weeks of criticism that she had already taken a side before she was named special prosecutor.

The seven men are Cornell University fraternity brothers accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a female classmate at the Chi Phi house in October 2024. No one has been criminally charged, and all seven have denied wrongdoing.

According to the Post's sources, James's office has interviewed several former federal prosecutors for the job. One leading candidate, the sources said, is Maggie Gandy, a former deputy chief of the organized crime and gang section in the Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office who is now a partner at Corva Law. A James spokesperson, Alexis Richards, told the Post she had not "even heard" Gandy was a candidate and added, "you should not report that."

The post that started it

Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed James special prosecutor on Oct. 1, giving her the power to decide whether criminal charges are warranted. Three days earlier, on Sept. 28, James had posted on X: "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."

On Oct. 7, lawyers for Gillio Lopes, one of the seven men, went to court to void the appointment. Their Article 78 petition in Albany County Supreme Court says the post shows James "has made clear that she has formed an opinion about the case" and has "unequivocally demonstrated a bias and presumption of guilt," NBC News reported. Lawyers for Hochul and James have asked the judge to throw the petition out, calling it "premature" and arguing the post does not stop James from running an independent investigation, CBS New York reported.

Critics, including President Trump, had called on James to step aside, the Post reported.

Even her allies say it's the right call

Norman Siegel, the former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union, told the Post that bringing in an outside lawyer was "prudent" and would "address some of the optics that have been raised." He compared James taking the case to a police commissioner commenting on misconduct cases before a probe is finished. "I say 'alleged.' We don't know all the facts," Siegel said. "Some people have convicted the men in this case."

James Quinn, a former top prosecutor in the Queens district attorney's office, went further. He told the Post that Hochul should never have appointed James and that James should have recused herself or turned the case down. "It's one mistake after another," Quinn said, calling an independent lawyer "the only thing to do."

Richards said the office was already looking for outside help "before" anyone said James "should be removed from the case." In a statement, she said the office has spoken with the Tompkins County district attorney, Jane Doe's lawyer, and "several candidates for outside counsel," and "remains committed to a thorough and independent investigation guided only by the facts and the law."

Who pays, and the race on Nov. 3

It is not clear what an outside lawyer will cost taxpayers. When James hired two former federal prosecutors to investigate sexual harassment claims against then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021, the state agreed to pick up a tab of more than $3.5 million, the Post noted.

James is on the ballot Nov. 3 against Republican Saritha Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor. Komatireddy said the move shows James "is not qualified to prosecute this case and not qualified to be the attorney general of this state." She added: "This turn of events underscores what we've been saying all along — what New York needs now is a prosecutor as attorney general."

James's campaign spokesperson, Grace Smoker, called it "unconscionable" that Komatireddy "would play politics with a sensitive criminal investigation."