He issued a statement Monday night denying the allegations.
“In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me. 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. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018.”
Schneiderman, known for his aggressive support of the #MeToo movement, including the filing of a civil rights lawsuit against fallen film producer Harvey Weinstein, is accused of slapping, hitting and choking at least four women, two of whom he was dating at the time of the attacks.
Two of the women, identified by the New Yorker as Michelle Manning and Tanya Selvaratnam, said Schneiderman "repeatedly hit them, often after drinking, frequently in bed and never with consent." They both said they didn't report the incidents to the police, but did seek medical attention after Schneiderman struck them in the face and the ear and choked them. Both also said he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him.
After suing Harvey Weinstein, Eric Schneiderman, New York’s Attorney General, faces a #MeToo reckoning of his own. Four women accuse him of having subjected them to physical violence: https://t.co/JQtWo4h3no pic.twitter.com/MJRahxc4i1
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) May 7, 2018
Schneiderman also denied the allegations to the New Yorker.
“In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in nonconsensual sex, which is a line I would not cross,” he said.
Schneiderman, a Democrat, was first elected to the New York State Senate in 1998 and served until 2010 when he was elected New York’s attorney general. He was re-elected attorney general in 2014.
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