New York opens criminal probe against former AG

champion of women and a liberal foil to President Donald Trump and who pledged to use his office to hold others accountable for abusing their power.

The women described being slapped and choked, verbally abused and threatened by Mr. Schneiderman. Some also described him as a heavy drinker.

The abuse often happened during what were supposed to be romantic encounters, but the women said the violence was not consensual.

Mr. Schneiderman, 63, implied in a statement that his conduct was either welcomed by the women or was not as they described.

“In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in roleplaying 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,” he said.

Danny Frost, a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., said in a statement late Monday that prosecutors would look into the claims.

It’s an unusual twist: Mr. Schneiderman’s office had been tasked with investigating the Manhattan District Attorney’s office over its handling of a 2015 sex assault probe involving Harvey Weinstein that resulted in no criminal charges.

NYPD officials said they had not received any complaints, but would investigate thoroughly should anyone come forward.

The state’s Solicitor General, Barbara Underwood, will serve as acting attorney general. She has a long history of legal work including serving in the Eastern District of New York and in the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens district attorney offices.

Mr. Schneiderman capitulated quickly after fellow Democrats in New York, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, called for his resignation.

“In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me,” Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement late Monday. “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.

Mr. Cuomo on Tuesday praised Mr. Schneiderman’s accusers for having the “courage” to “take on an attorney general they believe threatened them not to go public.”

He added that multiple district attorneys may become involved in the Schneiderman probe.

“These women should have their day in court,” Mr. Cuomo said. “They should have the opportunity to tell a district attorney the facts and circumstances and then let the district attorney or district attorneys make a decision as to whether there was any criminal liability.”

Two women who spoke to The New Yorker on the record, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, both said the physical abuse escalated over time. The Associated Press is identifying the women because they agreed to tell their stories publicly.

“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. I could not,” Ms. Manning Barish wrote on Twitter after the story was published.

Ms. Manning Barish said she was involved with Mr. Schneiderman from mid-2013 through the end of 2014. Ms. Selvaratnam said she was involved with him from the summer of 2016 until fall 2017.

Ms. Manning Barish said Mr. Schneiderman became violent a few weeks after they began dating. She said she confided in friends, including novelist Salman Rushdie.

Ms. Selvaratnam, who was born in Sri Lanka, said Mr. Schneiderman started calling her his “brown slave” and made her say that she was “his property.”

“After I found out that other women had been abused by Attorney-General Schneiderman in a similar manner many years before me, I wondered, ‘Who’s next?’ and knew something needed to be done,” Ms. Selvaratnam said in a statement to the AP.

Mr. Schneiderman has been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement. He filed a lawsuit in February against Mr. Weinstein and the Weinstein Co. following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

The women accusing Mr. Schneiderman said seeing him speak out on these issues was part of what prompted them to come forward.