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AG Schneiderman Resigns in Disgrace, Charges of Physical Abuse of Women Emerge

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New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigned only a few hours after the bombshell report The New Yorker released to the public alleging that that four women have accused him of physical assault and death threats.

Schneiderman denied the reports but still resigned.

“It’s been my great honor and privilege to serve as attorney general for the people of the State of New York,” Schneiderman said in his resignation statement. “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.”

According to a shocking report in the New Yorker, investigative journalist Ronan Farrow, revealed that the now former Attorney General has been accused by several women of nonconsensual physical violence.

None have spoken to the wide cross section of the media as of yet, with some saying that they fear pushback.

Two of the women, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, have talked to The New Yorker on the record, according to Farrow’s report “because they feel that doing so could protect other women.”

According to the New Yorker report, the two women have alleged that they were repeatedly hit by Schneiderman while he was in a drunken rage, frequently in bed and never with their consent. They have termed the physical violence as “assault.” The magazine stated: “They did not report their allegations to the police at the time, but both say that they eventually sought medical attention after having been slapped hard across the ear and face, and also choked. Selvaratnam says that Schneiderman warned her he could have her followed and her phones tapped, and both say that he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him.” (Schneiderman’s spokesperson said that he “never made any of these threats.”)

In one shocking passage of the report Barsish described in detail the abuse she suffered:

“It was horrendous. 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 fibre, I felt I was being beaten by a man.”

She finally freed herself and got back on her feet. “I was crying and in shock,” she says. She recalls shouting, “Are you crazy?” To her astonishment, Schneiderman accused her of scratching him. At one point—she can’t remember if it was at this moment or in a later conversation—he told her, “You know, hitting an officer of the law is a felony.”

In a statement made a few hours before he resigned Schneiderman said “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.”

In a different matter, the Washington Free Beacon has reported that a New York appellate court again ordered that state’s top cop to pay thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees for improperly denying a request for documents under the state’s Freedom of Information Law.

The unanimous decision from a panel of judges last Thursday supported two previous losses in the same case for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in which the free-market think tank the Competitive Enterprise Institute sought documents related to a multi-state effort to investigate energy companies for allegedly profiting by “creating misperceptions” about climate change.

Schneiderman announced in March 2016 a cooperative effort with other state attorneys general to investigate fossil-fuel energy companies for their speech related to climate change, shortly after which CEI requested related documents.

Schneiderman’s office originally withheld those documents requested, prompting the original lawsuit, which Schneiderman lost. When the think tank sought attorney’s fees, the AG lost for a second time.

The panel of judges rolled back slightly the amount the AG’s office would have to pay to CEI’s lawyers, but nevertheless concluded that they “did not establish a reasonable basis for denying this [Freedom of Information Law] request,” and agreed on an award of just over $16,000.

“Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us that the ringleader of a group dedicated to closing off public debate was himself not too keen on following the state freedom of information law,” said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman in a statement. “The court upheld CEI on the merits and let most of the award stand.”

As Kazman’s statement illustrates, critics of the Schneiderman-led investigation say he’s using his law enforcement powers to try and police debate and shut off free speech from corporate actors about climate change. The AG has rebutted that by saying the First Amendment does not protect fraud.

The developments come at a time when the New York AG’s office is also fighting off an open records lawsuit from another free-market outlet, E&E Legal, which is seeking emails also related to other parts of Schneiderman’s climate investigations.

By: Fern Sidman & Jared Evan
(Washington Free Beacon)

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