New York Attorney General Names Former Federal Prosecutor to Lead Cornell Sexual Assault Investigation

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on November 4 that former federal prosecutor Jacqueline Kelly will serve as outside counsel leading the state’s criminal investigation into sexual assault allegations involving Cornell University. Kelly previously led the Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. She is now a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner and a Cornell alumna.

Kelly will lead a team of lawyers and staff from the attorney general’s office and the law firm. The team is expected to gather and analyze evidence, review earlier investigative records and reports, interview witnesses and assess the facts under applicable law. The appointment does not mean the allegations have been proven, and it does not mean any person named in the civil lawsuit has been convicted of a crime.

Former federal prosecutor Kelly takes charge of the inquiry

The New York Attorney General’s Office said Kelly will lead a team that combines staff from the state office with lawyers and investigators from Boies Schiller Flexner. Her work will include reviewing previous investigative material, conducting interviews and determining what the evidence supports under the law. Kelly will report to the attorney general’s office.

Before entering private practice, Kelly spent nearly a decade at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. She served as the inaugural chief of its Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division and oversaw investigations and prosecutions involving civil rights offenses, sexual exploitation and abuse, hate crimes and voting rights violations. She joined Boies Schiller Flexner as a partner in 2025.

The Associated Press reported that Kelly previously worked on high-profile sex-crimes prosecutions involving music executive Sean “Diddy” Combs and fashion executive Peter Nygård. Her experience as a federal prosecutor and her connection to Cornell were among the qualifications cited by James when announcing the appointment.

The attorney general was appointed special prosecutor in October

The appointment follows an October 1 executive order signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, which designated the attorney general’s office as special prosecutor in the Cornell case. The order authorizes the office to investigate the conduct described in the complaint and, if the evidence warrants, present material to a grand jury and prosecute offenses.

Hochul said she had lost confidence in the way Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten had handled the matter. Van Houten had previously said that the initial statement received in 2024 did not indicate a clear violation of criminal law. The attorney general’s office said it began searching for outside counsel on October 1, the same day the executive order was signed.

The reopened criminal investigation is separate from the civil lawsuit filed by a former Cornell student in September 2026. The plaintiff, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, alleges that several men sexually assaulted her at a fraternity gathering in October 2024. The allegations have not been established in a criminal trial, and the appointment of an investigative team does not determine whether charges will be filed.

Defendants challenge the special prosecutor’s impartiality

The case has also raised a dispute over whether James should remain the special prosecutor. Two men named as defendants in the civil lawsuit have asked a court to remove her, arguing that a social media post she made before her appointment showed that she had prejudged the allegations. In the post, James expressed support for the accuser and for survivors of sexual assault.

A judge has not issued a final ruling on the request to remove James. She has not stepped aside, and the attorney general’s office says the investigation will be guided by the facts, evidence and law. Kelly’s appointment as outside counsel does not mean a court has found that James was biased or that the defendants’ request is justified.

The legal challenge is important because it could affect who oversees the investigation, but it has not stopped the appointment of Kelly or the work of the investigative team. The court’s decision remains pending.

Cornell is conducting a separate internal review

The case has prompted wider questions about campus safety, university disciplinary procedures and the response of local law enforcement. Cornell separately hired former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to conduct an independent review of how the university handles sexual assault and harassment complaints, its disciplinary process and the role of campus police.

That review is distinct from the state’s criminal investigation. The university’s review concerns institutional procedures, while Kelly’s team is responsible for examining evidence and determining whether criminal offenses can be established. The two processes may examine overlapping events, but they have different responsibilities and outcomes.

The confirmed development is that Jacqueline Kelly has been appointed outside counsel to lead the state investigation. The allegations remain unproven, and the people named in the civil lawsuit have not been convicted in connection with them. Whether investigators will present evidence to a grand jury, whether criminal charges will follow and whether James will remain special prosecutor are questions that have yet to be resolved.