NY GOP wants special prosecutor to probe how AG James handled aide’s sexual harassment case

New York’s Republican lawmakers are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate state Attorney General Letitia James’ handling of the sexual harassment case involving ex-chief of staff Ibrahim Khan.

“We write to express our strong concern regarding the sexual misconduct of Ibrahim
Khan, chief of staff to Attorney General Letitia James, and the mishandling of the subsequent
internal investigation Ms. James’s oversaw into the incident. To restore public trust, we ask that
you immediately appoint a special prosecutor to investigate both the sexual harassment claims as well as Attorney General James’s mishandling of the incident and subsequent internal inquiry,” said the letter upstate Rep. Claudia Tenney sent to Hochul Tuesday.

The letter was co-signed by Rep. Elise Stefanik, the powerful House Republican Conference chairwoman and Congressman Chris Jacobs.

A timeline put out by James’ office showed she was aware of the allegations on October 2, hired an outside firm to investigate on Oct. 4. Khan tendered his resignation on Nov. 22 — effective December 31 — before the investigative report was concluded and substantiated misconduct complaints involving two women on December 2, when it finally became public.

One of James’s most impactful actions as attorney general was hiring outside lawyers to investigate a slew of sexual harassment accusations leveled against ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The devastating report last year concluded Cuomo was a serial harasser and he resigned under the threat of impeachment despite his denials.

James, during an interview with The Post last week, said the Cuomo probe was a public referral and she was required to release a public report, unlike the Khan case.

“We’re protecting the rights of individuals and it’s important to understand this was a private investigation, which is separate and apart from the investigation we did into the former governor — which was a governmental investigation and a lawful investigation pursuant to a referral,” James told The Post outside her Brooklyn brownstone.

She also said on NY1, “We did a thorough, independent investigation without a conflict of interest or any impropriety.”

Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays, said, “We will review the letter when we receive it.”

Last week, Hochul suggested there was no need to investigate James’ actions.

“There needs to be accountability and my understanding is that steps were taken toward that,” Hochul said.

One of the Khan’s alleged victims, Sophia Quintanar, said James’ handled the investigation appropriately but botched communicating the case to the public. 

“My issue has never been with Attorney General Letitia James or how the investigation was handled. My allegations were quickly addressed, and an independent investigation substantiated my claims,” Quintanar said in a statement to The Post.

“I took issue with the unclear nature of the communications that followed the conclusion of the investigation.”

But the GOP lawmakers, in the letter, said Hochul shouldn’t let James off the hook.

“When you took over from disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo, you made a
commitment to change New York’s culture of corruption, which included tackling the
reoccurring problem of sexual harassment,” they said.

“We look forward to your commitment that the allegations against Mr. Khan and Ms. James’s will be fully, independently, and transparently investigated.”

The Post also reported on Monday that a former press aide in the AG’s office resigned “in lieu of termination” in 2019 after being accused of mistreating female staffers — before the Khan case surfaced.