The former Chief of Staff to NY Attorney General Letitia James resigned last week after several media sources learned of sexual harassment allegations made against Ibrahim Khan. NY1, the NY Times and the Washington Post have all written about the allegations, made by more than one women, that include inappropriate touching and unwanted kissing, or called James’ office to inquire before his resignation.
Khan has served as James’ key aide for more than a decade, dating back to when James was NYC Public Advocate. And while James’ office said that it hired an outside law firm to conduct an investigation, NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said that his office has no record of reviewing or approving a contact to investigate the allegations against Khan.
A spokesperson for AG James issued the following statement. “The Office of Attorney General has protocols in place to thoroughly investigate any allegation of misconduct. The office takes these matters with the utmost seriousness and this situation is no different. An independent, impartial investigation was conducted, and the employee has since resigned.”
Khan issued the following statement, “After a successful four-year term, I’ve been slated to leave the office for the private sector at the end of this year. This is unrelated to an investigation which, nevertheless, found no official workplace misconduct. I’m proud of all we have achieved over these past four years in serving New Yorkers.”
Some confusion began when Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey, inquired with the AG James’ office before Khan resigned. Dawsey Tweets, “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. What were we told earlier this week when asking about allegations? “The rumor mill that the washington post is creating is pretty low for you guys.”
Some supporters of former Governor Andrew Cuomo are pointing to the hypocrisy of James investigation into Cuomo for sexual harassment when her Chief of Staff is accused of doing the same. James’ investigation and report into 11 different sexual harassment allegations made against Cuomo let to his resignation in August of 2021.
Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing and has filed an ethics complaint against James. “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, She ‘believes all women’ when it’s in her political interest — otherwise, she attacks the accuser or covers up the complaint,” said Rich Azzopardi, spokesman for Cuomo.
The complaints filed by two women against Khan were submitted before Election Day and were not made public until last week.
