N.Y. Attorney General's Top Aide Resigns After Sexual Harassment Claims - The New York Times

New York|N.Y. Attorney General’s Top Aide Resigns After Sexual Harassment Claims

The longtime main of unit to Letitia James, the New York lawyer general, has resigned amid an probe into misconduct, and 3 radical with cognition of the substance said it progressive astatine slightest 2 intersexual harassment allegations.

The erstwhile main of staff, Ibrahim Khan, had been 1 of Ms. James’s closest governmental advisers for astir a decade. He was accused of inappropriate touching and unwanted kissing by astatine slightest 1 woman. Ms. James hired a instrumentality steadfast to analyse the allegations, 2 of the radical with cognition of the substance said.

One pistillate who filed a ailment was told connected Friday that her allegation of inappropriate touching and unwanted kissing had been substantiated.

Mr. Khan defended himself successful a connection and said helium had been readying to permission his station by Dec. 31, the extremity of Ms. James’s archetypal term. She was re-elected past month.

“I’ve been slated to permission the bureau for the backstage assemblage astatine the extremity of this year,” Mr. Khan said successful the statement. “This is unrelated to an probe which, nevertheless, recovered nary authoritative workplace misconduct,” adding helium “is arrogant of each we person achieved implicit these past 4 years successful serving New Yorkers.”

Mr. Khan’s assertion that the probe recovered “no authoritative workplace misconduct” could not beryllium corroborated instantly and a spokeswoman for Ms. James did not instantly respond to a petition to corroborate it.

The allegations progressive erstwhile employees of the office, according to 2 of the radical with cognition of the matter.

The bureau confirmed the resignation successful a statement.

“The bureau of lawyer wide has protocols successful spot to thoroughly analyse immoderate allegation of misconduct,” said a spokeswoman. “The bureau takes these matters with the utmost seriousness and this concern is nary different. An independent, impartial probe was conducted, and the worker has since resigned.”

The accusations against Mr. Khan, who began moving for Ms. James arsenic spokesperson for her run for New York City nationalist advocator successful 2013 and then, aft she took office, arsenic her main of staff, were peculiarly delicate for Ms. James, who oversaw a 2021 intersexual harassment enquiry of New York’s politician astatine the time, Andrew M. Cuomo.

When investigators hired by Ms. James’s bureau determined that Mr. Cuomo had sexually harassed aggregate women implicit a seven-year period, Ms. James spoke retired forcefully against him.

‘No antheral — nary substance however almighty — tin beryllium allowed to harass women,” she said successful a statement.

Mr. Cuomo resigned soon after.

In Mr. Khan’s case, aggregate allegations were reported to the lawyer general’s bureau by a governmental consultant, not by the victims themselves, according to 1 of the radical with cognition of the matter.

Ms.James made the determination to prosecute an extracurricular instrumentality steadfast to analyse the accusations. It was not wide erstwhile Ms. James was told of the allegations, oregon erstwhile the steadfast was hired.

In 2017, erstwhile Ms. James was the city’s nationalist advocator and Mr. Khan was her main of staff, The New York Post reported that a erstwhile worker of the bureau had accused Mr. Khan of drugging and intersexual assaulting her astatine a vacation party.

The Post reported that 2 investigative agencies, the city’s Department of Investigation and the Manhattan territory attorney’s office, had investigated the substance and closed it.

The nonfiction is nary longer disposable connected The Post’s website, and the erstwhile worker could not beryllium reached for comment.