Former attorney general won’t face abuse charges
NEW YORK >> The special prosecutor appointed to investigate allegations that former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman physically abused women said Thursday that she has closed the case without bringing criminal charges.
Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced her decision in a brief statement. She said investigators did an “exhaustive review” and she personally interviewed each woman who had accused Schneiderman of assault.
Investigators also spoke with members of Schneiderman’s security detail.
She concluded that statutes of limitations and other “legal impediments” made it impossible to charge Schneiderman. The probe found no misconduct by Schneiderman’s staff in the attorney general’s office, she said.
Schneiderman said he didn’t consider the decision an exoneration.
“I recognize that District Attorney Singas’ decision not to prosecute does not mean I have done nothing wrong,” he said through a publicist. “I accept full responsibility for my conduct in my relationships with my accusers, and for the impact it had on them.
“After spending time in a rehab facility, I am committed to a lifelong path of recovery and making amends to those I have harmed. I apologize for any and all pain that I have caused, and I apologize to the people of the State of New York for disappointing them after they put their trust in me.”
Schneiderman, a Democrat, resigned from office in May hours after The New Yorker published an expose saying that four women had accused him of slapping or choking them. Some of the women said Schneiderman was a heavy drinker.
Schneiderman at the time didn’t deny the allegations, but implied in a statement that his conduct was either welcomed or was not as the women described.
His accusers included Michelle Manning Barish, a Democratic activist and writer, who was romantically involved with Schneiderman from mid-2013 through the end of 2014.
She tweeted Thursday that she wanted an admission of wrongdoing, an apology and for Schneiderman to donate millions of dollars left in his campaign coffers to women’s shelters and domestic abuse programs in the state, “or I will fight.”
Schneiderman’s campaign fund had about $7.4 million as of July, according to a campaign finance report filed with the state. He had even more money stockpiled, but his campaign refunded about $1 million in donations in the two months after he quit.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed Singas as a special prosecutor, bypassing Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. because of a potential conflict of interest. At the time, the attorney general’s office was investigating how Vance’s office had handled a sexual misconduct allegation against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
“I accept full responsibility for my conduct in my relationships with my accusers, and for the impact it had on them.” — Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman