N.Y. official resigns amid abuse allegations
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who had taken on high-profile roles as an advocate for women’s issues and an antagonist to the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, announced late Monday that he would be resigning from office, hours after four women accused him of physical violence in accounts published by the New Yorker.
Schneiderman, 63, who had been running for re-election, said he contested the women’s accounts, but said that “while these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time.” He said he would resign at the close of business on Tuesday. Two women had spoken to the New Yorker on the record, saying Schneiderman repeatedly hit them during the course of their relationships with him in recent years, and never with their consent.
Neither woman filed any police complaints, but both said they sought out medical attention and confided in people close to them about the abuse. A third woman who also was involved with him told her story to the other two women, but said she was too frightened to come forward. A fourth woman said Schneiderman slapped her when she rebuffed him during an intimate encounter, but also asked to remain unidentified. The New Yorker said it vetted the third woman’s allegations, and saw a photo of what the fourth woman said was her injury.
The accusations had led Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to call for an investigation and for Schneiderman to immediately resign. The two women who spoke on the record, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, both said the physical abuse escalated over time, including choking and hitting, and that Schneiderman also was a heavy drinker. The Associated Press is identifying the women because they agreed to tell their stories publicly.
On Twitter, after the story was published, Manning Barish said, “After the most difficult month of my life I spoke up. For my daughter and for all women. I could not remain silent and encourage other women to be brave for me.”
Manning Barish said she was involved with Schneiderman from mid-2013 through the end of 2014; Selvaratnam said she was involved with him from the summer of 2016 until fall 2017.
Manning Barish said Schneiderman started getting violent a few weeks after they began dating, slapping her one night after an evening out and escalating to choking her. She said she confided in friends, including novelist Salman Rushdie.
Selvaratnam, who was born in Sri Lanka, said Schneiderman started calling her his “brown slave” and made her say that she was “his property.”
Schneiderman, a Democrat, had issued a statement to the New Yorker saying, “In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in non-consensual sex, which is a line I would not cross.”
Schneiderman has been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement. He filed a lawsuit in February against movie producer Harvey Weinstein and the Weinstein Co. following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.