New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is facing criticism after appearing in a Netflix documentary about the renewed investigation into seven men accused of sexually assaulting a woman at Cornell University and sharing her views on the allegations.
None of the seven men has been criminally charged. In October, Hochul signed an executive order appointing New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to oversee the investigation.
In the recently released film, “Instadocs: Jane Doe v. Cornell,” Hochul appears roughly 13 minutes in and discusses her reaction to the case.
“My first reaction was how disgusting, not again. You feel like, not again,” she told the interviewer.
Hochul also recalled her experiences as an undergraduate at Syracuse University in the late 1970s.
“There were a series of rapes our first week on campus and there was a sense of anxiety all around,” she said.
She denounced what she described as a longstanding “culture” that “has never changed.”
“The number of people involved and the repugnancy of her allegations would’ve drawn you to local police department fairly quickly,” she said.
The case drew national attention after Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit against seven Cornell Chi Phi fraternity members, the university, her sorority and other parties. She alleged that she had been drugged and gang-raped at a fraternity house in 2024.
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Jane Doe brought the lawsuit nearly two years after first reporting the allegations to local police. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said that “multiple prosecutors and criminal investigators reviewed Jane Doe’s statement and correctly determined the alleged facts as set forth in the statement do not constitute a crime.”
During the Netflix interview, Hochul addressed questions about how authorities handled the allegations.
“In a situation like this, you want to make sure that people believe in the process,” she said.
Donna Rotunno, a criminal defense attorney, Fox News contributor and host of the “Crime and Justice with Donna Rotunno” podcast, criticized Hochul’s participation in the documentary. She argued that the governor’s comments could deepen concerns about whether the investigation and any potential prosecution are being handled impartially.
“The governor can say anything she wants about anything. The question is, should she?” Rotunno said.
“The problem you have here is there has already been the air of impropriety,” she added.
Rotunno further called the timing of Hochul’s involvement “suspect,” questioning why the governor intervened in the case nearly two years after the allegations were first reported.
“If she was so in tune as to what was happening in Ithaca or elsewhere in the state of New York, this is probably something that should have been on her radar,” Rotunno said.
Asked by Fox News Digital why Hochul chose to appear in the documentary, a spokesperson for the governor said: “Governors routinely speak to news and media organizations about matters of significant public interest.”
