AG Eric Schneiderman resigns amid abuse allegations

ALBANY - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who positioned himself as a combatant of sexual harassment and abuse in the #MeToo era and a major opponent of President Donald Trump, abruptly announced his resignation Monday after four women accused him of physical violence and illicit drug and alcohol use.

Schneiderman, a Democrat, stepped down hours after a New Yorker article was published Monday evening detailing allegations that he repeatedly slapped, choked and degraded women with whom he had been romantic with.

The article was based on similar but separate stories from four women who had relationships or encounters with the Democratic attorney general.

All four accused Schneiderman of striking them in various ways, with at least three of them saying Schneiderman slapped them forcefully across the face and two saying he choked them, according to the article.

Schneiderman denied ever assaulting anyone, but said he would step down at the close of business Tuesday. The state Legislature will eventually vote to name his successor.

"In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me," Schneiderman said in a statement around 9:45 p.m.

"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."

Two of the women — Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam — told their stories on the record, while a third spoke under the condition of anonymity and a fourth told her story to Manning Barish and Selvaratnam.

Manning Barish told The New Yorker she and Schneiderman had been clothed and getting ready for bed after drinking one night when he backed her to the edge of the bed before abruptly slapping and choking her.

She said the slap left her with ear problems for months, which led her to seek medical attention when it began bleeding one day.

"All of a sudden, he just slapped me, open-handed and with great force, across the face, landing the blow directly onto my ear,” Manning Barish says.

Selvaratnam also told The New Yorker that Schneiderman had slapped her, leading her to seek medical treatment for her ear.

In an initial statement before announcing his resignation, Schneiderman denied committing assault but acknowledged he had "engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity" in romantic relationships.

"I have not assaulted anyone," he said. "I have never engaged in non-consensual sex, which is a line I would not cross."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox and Manny Alicandro, Schneiderman's Republican opponent, had all called on Schneiderman to step down within hours of the article posted, as did UltraViolet, a women's advocacy group.

In a statement, Cuomo — a Democrat like Schneiderman and Gillibrand — said he would soon ask a district attorney to investigate the allegations.

"My personal opinion is that, given the damning pattern of facts and corroboration laid out in the article, I do not believe it is possible for Eric Schneiderman to continue to serve as Attorney General, and for the good of the office, he should resign," Cuomo said Monday night.

Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, said in an emailed statement urging Schneiderman to resign: “I find these allegations both shocking and reprehensible.”

Schneiderman has positioned himself as a champion of the #MeToo movement, suing Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Co. in the wake of the sexual-harassment scandal that spurred a national reckoning over the way men treat women.

The attorney general was also in the midst of a review of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's handling of a sexual-assault complaint against Weinstein. Schneiderman received an official referral for the review from Cuomo late last month.

"Every New Yorker has a right to a workplace free of sexual harassment, intimidation, and fear," Schneiderman said when he filed the Weinstein lawsuit in February.

It will be up to state lawmakers to fill the remainder of Schneiderman's term, which runs through the end of the year.

The state Legislature will vote to name his successor — which essentially puts it in the hands of Assembly Democrats, who control 104 of the Legislature's 213 seats.

A Manhattan resident, Schneiderman, 63, was first elected in 2010 after previously serving as a state senator.

He led the Senate's expulsion of then-Sen. Hiram Monserrate in 2010 when Monserrate was convicted of a misdemeanor after he was charged with slashing his girlfriend with glass.

Now in his second term as attorney general, Schneiderman has been a vocal opponent of Trump, often touting the more than 100 actions his office has brought against Trump's administration.

His dispute with Trump dates back to 2013, when Schneiderman sued Trump over his Trump University real-estate seminar, a case that became a major issue in the 2016 presidential race and ultimately ended with a $25 million settlement.

Trump's administration and family reveled in the news of the accusations against Schneiderman, seizing on past tweets from Schneiderman that hailed the national reckoning over sexual harassment and promised to hold Trump accountable to the law.

"Self awareness level: 0," Donald Trump Jr. tweeted. "Or substantially less than that."

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, tweeted: "Gotcha."

The women in the New Yorker article also detailed Schneiderman's frequent use of alcohol, accusing him of getting very drunk most nights of the week.

At least one woman said he used prescription drugs that didn't belong to him, a charge his spokesperson denied in the article.

Manning Barish told The New Yorker she was "crying and in shock" after Schneiderman was violent with her.

When she confronted him, asking if he was "crazy," Schneiderman accused Manning Barish of scratching him, she told the magazine.

“You know, hitting an officer of the law is a felony," he said, according to Manning Barish.

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