The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is investigating allegations of domestic abuse against New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, who resigned Monday night hours after four former romantic partners accused him of repeatedly attacking them.
The four women claim that Schneiderman slapped and choked them, often while intoxicated. The two who spoke on the record to The New Yorker — Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam — said that they sought medical attention as a result of Schneiderman’s abuse and that he threatened to kill them if they left him.
A spokeswoman for Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, said in a Monday morning statement provided to the Washington Post that his office “has opened an investigation into the recently reported allegations concerning Mr. Schneiderman.” The NYPD said it has not received any complaints about Schneiderman but vowed to “investigate them thoroughly” if any are filed.
After initially denying the allegations in a statement included in the New Yorker report, Schneiderman announced that he would resign, effective at close of business Tuesday, roughly three hours after the allegations surfaced.
“In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me,” Schneiderman said Monday night in a statement. “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.”
The New York attorney general’s office announced Tuesday that Barbara D. Underwood, the state’s solicitor general, would serve as acting attorney general.