The Cornell fraternity case that was coming apart at the seams this week has a new prosecutor.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Thursday night appointing state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the alleged Cornell sexual assault case, effectively removing Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten from it.
"Tonight, I signed an executive order appointing Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the Cornell sexual assault case," Hochul posted on X. "New information has raised serious questions about how this case was handled, and I've lost faith in the Tompkins County DA's ability" to handle it.
Hochul said the newly released information "undercut my faith, and the public's faith" in the DA's ability to investigate and prosecute the case, and went further:
"Who knew what when? What did they do wrong? Why didn't they come forward? How was this woman denied justice?"
Her case against the locals rests on two claims. First, that the woman's own statement that she was raped "never made it into the account that Cornell police sent to prosecutors." Second, that the DA never interviewed her before deciding not to prosecute.
Van Houten had already reopened the investigation earlier this week, according to ABC News. And part of his stated reason pointed in the opposite direction from the governor's: prosecutors said the woman's original statement appeared inconsistent with claims in the civil lawsuit she later filed against members of the Chi Phi fraternity.
CBS New York obtained screenshots of messages sent two days after the alleged 2024 incident, in which one of the accused men apologized for being too intoxicated to "shut it down and kick people out before it got way out of hand," and the woman replied that "none of the sexual stuff was illegal". Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, acknowledged an exchange took place but could not confirm those specific texts, and said his client was traumatized and in denial at the time and had been intoxicated to the point of incapacity that night. More messages surfaced Thursday that, as Breitbart's John Nolte put it, appear to "unravel" the allegations.
Hours later, the case was taken away from the prosecutor who had just reopened it, and handed to the one whose name is guaranteed to turn it into a national political fight.
James was indicted on federal bank fraud charges in October 2025, but the case was dismissed in November 2025 after a judge ruled that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was not lawfully serving, and two grand juries then declined to indict her again. In March, FHFA Director Bill Pulte sent new criminal referrals over her homeowner's insurance applications to federal prosecutors in Florida and Illinois. She has not been charged. She has called the effort a vendetta, with her attorney Abbe Lowell accusing the administration of trying to "rename, refile, and repeat baseless allegations."
"Every New Yorker deserves to know that when they report a crime, it will be investigated fully and fairly," James said in a statement. The DA's office did not respond to CBS' request for comment.
Three days before her appointment, James had already weighed in. "What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable," she wrote in a Sept. 28 post, adding, "To her, and to all survivors: you're not alone. We stand with you."
Asked about the post at a Friday press conference, Hochul sidestepped. "I have every confidence in our attorney general to do what she's always done, look at the facts, examine the record, and draw the proper conclusions," she said, according to The Independent. James was briefer: "I will not comment on a Facebook post."
No one has been charged. Whatever happened in 2024, the question of whether the case was mishandled is now going to be answered by the most politically exposed prosecutor in the state. Duke lacrosse fans will recognize the script.