Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday called the allegations that now-resigned State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman physically abused multiple women shocking and disturbing.
Cuomo made the remarks while speaking with reporters on a tour of the new bridge named after his late father in Tarrytown, New York.
"These women should have their day in court. They should have the opportunity to tell a district attorney the facts and circumstances and then let the district attorney or district attorneys make the decision as to whether there is any criminal liability," Cuomo said.
Four women accused Schneiderman of abusive behavior and excessive drinking in an article published online by the New Yorker on Monday.
The allegations were so damning that top Democrats, including Cuomo, immediately called for his resignation.
About after the article appeared online, Schneiderman released a statement which read, "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."
Schneiderman officially resigned Tuesday.
Cuomo said that he didn't know about the allegations until he found out from media reports.
A former attorney general himself, Cuomo said Schneiderman could be prosecuted in more than one county. Vaguely, he talked about conflict of interest precautions:
"I want to make sure the district attorneys have no conflicts whatsoever with the attorney general's office, either institutionally or personally," Cuomo said.
The state legislature is charged with replacing Schneiderman — until a statewide election. Subtly, the governor is shaping the search; in this case, by suggesting a search isn't needed, at least not soon.
The political season already upon us, Cuomo sounded like Acting Attorney General Barbara Underwood can keep going until voters decide.
And then, what about a woman attorney general for a full term?
"I think a qualified woman would be great, especially in this time," the governor said.
By all accounts, Cuomo didn't like Schneiderman, seeing him as being an impediment to his national ambitions within the Democratic Party. Now that Schneiderman is gone, it can be argued that that Cuomo has opportunities. For one, appearing above the fray as political horse-trading begins.
"Everybody's going to have an opinion, and that's the democratic process, especially on the Democratic Party side — everybody has an opinion about everything, and nobody agrees about anything," Cuomo said.
The governor has opinions, too, about who the next attorney general should be. He's seen as not wanting someone who would investigate or outshine him.
Diversity would also help balance the ticket, perhaps deflecting a potential liability in his own primary against Cynthia Nixon.
It was all the fallout of four women who have had romantic relationships with Schneiderman — whose office has taken on a high-profile role in the fight against sexual misconduct — accusing him of physically abusing them.
Two of the women spoke on record to The New Yorker, which published their claims against Schneiderman on Monday around 6:50 p.m.
Those women said Schneiderman repeatedly hit them during the course of their relationships with him in recent years, and never with their consent. Neither woman filed any police complaints, but both said they sought out medical attention and confided in people close to them about the abuse. The NYPD said it has no complaints on-file but would investigate thoroughly if it receives any.
A third woman who also was involved with him told her story to the other two women, but said she was too frightened to come forward. A fourth woman said Schneiderman slapped her when she rebuffed him, but also asked to remain unidentified. The New Yorker said it vetted the third woman's allegations, and saw a photo of what the fourth woman said was her injury.
The two women who spoke on the record, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, both said the physical abuse escalated over time, including choking and hitting, and that Schneiderman also was a heavy drinker. The Associated Press and Spectrum News are identifying the women because they agreed to tell their stories publicly.
Manning Barish said she was involved with Schneiderman from mid-2013 through the end of 2014; Selvaratnam said she was involved with him from the summer of 2016 until fall 2017.
Manning Barish said Schneiderman started getting violent a few weeks after they began dating, slapping her one night after an evening out and escalating to choking her. She said she confided in friends, including novelist Salman Rushdie.
Selvaratnam said Schneiderman warned her he could have her followed or her phones tapped. Both said he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him.
Asked for comment before he announced he would resign, Schneiderman, a Democrat, issued a statement saying, "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 non-consensual sex, which is a line I would not cross.''
Schneiderman has been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement. He filed a lawsuit in February against movie producer Harvey Weinstein and the Weinstein Co. following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, saying the company broke New York law by failing to protect employees from "pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation and discrimination.''
He launched a civil rights probe into the New York City-based company in October after The New York Times and The New Yorker exposed allegations of sexual assault and harassment spanning decades. The company later fired Weinstein.
The women accusing him said seeing him speak out on sexual misconduct issues was part of the impetus in them coming forward.
"This is a man who has staked his entire career, his personal narrative, on being a champion for women publicly,'' Selvaratnam said. "But he abuses them privately. He needs to be called out.''
Schneiderman, who won a state Senate seat representing a Manhattan district in 1998, became attorney general in 2010 and is running for re-election this year. He has a history of recognition for activism on behalf of women's causes, including reproductive rights.
The 63-year-old also has been a longtime critic of President Donald Trump, and had been part of several efforts to push back against some of his actions in the White House, like the rescinding of protection for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
Last month, he urged state lawmakers to close a loophole that he said could be used to fight state charges by anyone who has received a federal pardon for similar federal charges.