NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — In a rapid turn of events, Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York State attorney general, announced his resignation after the New Yorker reported on allegations from four women who accused Schneiderman of physical assault.
Schneiderman announced his resignation on Tuesday, just hours after news of the scandal broke, marking a stunning fall from grace for the noted prosecutor.
“It’s been my great honor and privilege to serve as Attorney General for the people of the State of New York. In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me. 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. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018,” Schneiderman said in a statement published on the Attorney General’s website.
Schneiderman stands accused of physically assaulting four women, including Ms. Manning Barish, who described being slapped and choked by Mr. Schneiderman during a romantic encounter.
“It was horrendous,” she said. “It just came out of nowhere. My ear was ringing. I lost my balance and fell backward onto the bed. I sprang up, but at this point there was very little room between the bed and him. I got up to try to shove him back, or take a swing, and he pushed me back down. He then used his body weight to hold me down, and he began to choke me. The choking was very hard. It was really bad. I kicked. In every fiber, I felt I was being beaten by a man,” Barish told the New Yorker.
Schneiderman denies abusing women and maintains that the alleged assaults were a form of sexual play. In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in nonconsensual sex, which is a line I would not cross,” he wrote in a statement to the New Yorker.
Schneiderman has been at the forefront of a number of high profile cases, including the investigation of former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein over alleged sexual misconduct, an investigation of secondary market ticketing practices, and had been publicly known as an advocate for domestic violence victims.
