Four men named in a former Cornell University student's lawsuit are joining a co-defendant's effort to block New York Attorney General Letitia James from leading a reopened criminal investigation into the woman's gang rape allegations, according to court filings on Thursday.
The men's lawyers said they agreed to be added to a court petition that seeks James's removal from the case because of social media posts she made before her involvement, in which she condemned the alleged assault and expressed support for the accuser.
The development comes a day after James appointed Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw sex crimes cases against music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, as outside counsel for the investigation. Kelly and a team of lawyers and investigators will handle evidence gathering, witness interviews and other investigative steps.
A judge heard arguments last week on one of the accused men's request to remove James but said he would not rule without knowing whether the six other lawsuit defendants backed the effort. Lawyers for one of the four men joining had separately filed court papers seeking James's removal; two other defendants named in the lawsuit did not respond and had no lawyers who could speak for them.
The former student, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit in September alleging that several men raped her at a fraternity party in 2024. On Oct. 1, Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed James as special prosecutor overseeing the criminal investigation, saying she had lost faith in the local district attorney, who declined to bring charges in 2024 but said he would restart the investigation after the lawsuit.
Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer for the man leading the removal effort, said in a court filing that Kelly's appointment "changes the face of the investigation" but "does not establish any change in ultimate authority." The attorney general's office declined to comment.
