By Dan Murphy
When the NY Post, NY Times, Daily News, Washington Post and Albany Times Union all question your handling of sexual harassment claims made against your Chief of Staff and long time “right hand,” maybe there is more to the story? But many are wondering what happened to this story, about NY Attorney General Letitia James, and allegations of sexual harassment made against her then Chief of Staff Ibrahim Khan? The story dropped in early December, and although covered by most of the major NY media, their focus was on AG James’ delays in not disclosing the accusations against Khan until her reelection, and not in the actual allegations made against Khan, by more than one women.
Some have called James’ actions “hypocritical” because of her strong stance and investigation against former Governor Andrew Cuomo. In fact, we found several different allegations and unanswered questions made against AG James and her handling of the Khan accusations. Khan has since left the AG’s office, but the criticisms remain.
I-The allegations against Khan were not made public until after James was reelected Attorney General on November 8. James’ office released a timeline of events which does little to show anything other than the attempts made by her office to keep the accusations quiet until after the election.
Both the timeline, and James’ interview on NY1 with Errol Louis, show that she was informed of the sexual harassment allegations against Khan on Oct. 2, five weeks before election day. James said that she told Khan to work from home on Oct. 3 and hired an outside law firm to conduct an investigation on Oct. 4.
Khan resigned on Nov. 22 and the investigation concluded on Dec. 2, both after James was reelected.
II-New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported that his office was not given a contract to review from the law firm hired to conduct the investigation. All contracts more than $50,000 must be approved by Comptroller DiNapoli. The withholding of the contract to the Comptroller adds to the allegations that nobody was to know about Khan’s alleged sexual improprieties until after election day.
III-The investigative report on Khan, from the law firm of Littler Mendelson, has not been made public, despite the fact that it was funded with taxpayer dollars. The only information released was that the firm substantiated the sexual harassment claims against Khan.
IV-None of the 63 District Attorneys in New York State have investigated the claims made against Khan to determine if a crime was committed. In the investigation of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, several DA’s conducted investigations, but Cuomo was never charged with a crime.
V-A prior allegation of sexual harassment was made against Khan, and reported on in the NY Post in 2017, detailing a 2014 incident between the woman and Khan, who was working for then Public Advocate Letitia James.
VI-When Washington Post Josh Dawsey inquired about the allegations against Khan before they were made public, the terse response from James’ office was “The rumor mill that the washington post is creating is pretty low for you guys.”
At the time of Dawsey’s inquiry, James had known about the allegation for three weeks. Did James press person also know about Khan before putting Dawey on the wrong track? And did James press person tell James that the Washington Post was calling? We don’t know the answer to either.
The following day the investigation was concluded and Khan resigned, resulting in Dawsey tweeting, “When we asked about this yesterday, we were told that we were spreading gossip and it was beneath the Washington Post by the AG spokesman. Today, they say they’ve done an investigation and he’s resigned.”
VII-In December, one of Khan’s accusers, Sofia Quintanar, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Khan and the AG’s office. In the lawsuit and the subsequent NY Times interview, Quintanar claims that Khan assaulted her at a fundraiser in Nov. 2021. The lawsuit alleges that James allowed Khan to remain on her staff despite a “propensity to sexually harass and to commit sexual assault and batteries.”
In addition to Quintanar, there is another accusation from an employee in James’ office, who has not been identified.
A spokesman for AG James said that her office, “took the (Quintanar) allegations brought to our office seriously and engaged in decisive, prompt, and appropriate action.” James also commented in December that she was “deeply disappointed” in Khan, and that she believes her accusers.
Quintanar said that she was hoping that more women of color come forward when sexually harassed or assaulted. “We are less likely to come forward in these situations because those in positions of power have historically thought less of us,” she said, adding that while she did not take issue with the investigation into her allegations, “I took issue with the unclear nature of the communications that followed the conclusion of the investigation.”
Comparisons between the zeal in which James and her office pursued sexual harassment allegations against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the delays in coming forward with the allegations made against Khan, are now the buzz in Albany and across the state.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, said James was “actively lying” about the investigation into Khan and the timing of its release to the public. “This is more proof that Tish James has corrupted the AG’s office, abusing power to further her own political ambitions through a sham report.”
“While the AG had an obligation to report an alleged crime to police, the “referral” question is a red herring to get her out of @errollouis’ interview alive. 5 DAs opened (&closed) cases based on sham Cuomo report w/ no referrals. BK DA can open now or w/o one. Some1 should ask,” said Azzopardi.
Several NY newspapers have criticized James for her handling of the Khan matter, and the juxtaposition to her handling of the Cuomo allegations. Syracuse.com wrote, “New York Attorney General Letitia James has some explaining to do about her handling of a sexual harassment scandal involving her former chief of staff, Ibrahim Khan. Contrast James’ gentle treatment of her longtime aide to her pursuit of sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The report resulting from the AG’s probe forced Cuomo to resign in August 2021. James should have disclosed Khan’s resignation when it happened and announced the outcome of the investigation when it was completed.”
Melissa DeRosa, former Secretary to Governor Cuomo, said on a recent Katz Radio Show on 770WABC, “They (James’ AG office) have politicized and corrupted the office. What about Nikki Haley and leaking her donor list? The rumor is they are sitting on that report.
“Why couldn’t they pick up the phone and ask the comptroller’s office to approve the contract? That is the smoking gun that they were covering it (Khan allegations) up. Delaney Kempter (James Press Secretary) was lying to reporters all week. That office has been so badly politicized and damaged, the legislature should hold her feet to the fire,” said DeRosa.
Cuomo insisted he did nothing wrong despite his resignation under the threat of impeachment and has filed an ethics complaint against James.
DeRosa added, “When you look at what she did with Andrew Cuomo, the leaks to the press and the sham investigation. Putting your hands on a women’s face during a wedding, or saying hi sweetheart, or putting your hand on someone’s waist during a photograph, she (James) said that was sexual harassment and then the politicians pushed Cuomo out and wanted to move up. Tish wanted to be Governor and Hochul wanted to move up.”
rich-While the AG had an obligation to report an alleged crime to police, the “referral” question is a red herring to get her out of @errollouis’ interview alive. 5 DAs opened (&closed) cases based on sham Cuomo report w/ no referrals. BK DA can open now or w/o one. Some1 should ask. twitter.com/ZackFinkNews/s…
