NY Gov. Kathy Hochul Says She Has ‘Lost Faith’ in Cornell Rape Investigation

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she no longer has confidence in the local investigation into the alleged Cornell University rape case as she moved to place the matter under a special prosecutor.

The Democratic governor announced Thursday that she had signed an executive order naming Attorney General Letitia James to oversee the investigation. The case involves a woman who says she was gang-raped by seven fraternity members.

“New information has raised serious questions about how this case was handled, and I’ve lost faith in the Tompkins County District Attorney’s ability to fairly oversee it,” Hochul said.

She added that the woman at the center of the allegations “deserves to know that every fact will be examined and justice pursued.”

Hochul’s decision followed the release of an interview transcript in which the alleged victim told Cornell police she was “100 percent” certain she had been assaulted.

According to the transcript obtained by CBS New York, the woman told a campus police investigator that she had consumed alcohol and used drugs on the night in question. She also said her memory of the evening was incomplete.

Despite those memory gaps, she said she could differentiate between consensual sexual activity earlier in the evening and what she alleged occurred later at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house.

Asked whether she had been comfortable with the initial encounter, the woman—identified in court filings only as Jane Doe—said: “Yeah, as much as I can be, because again, I was super drunk when I got there… But I was pretty OK with all of this.”

“And then, of course, I was being hit at the same time,” she continued.

Doe said she could not recall the final part of the night, which she described as the time “where I was raped.” She also said she did not know precisely how many men had sex with her.

However, when asked to describe what she believed had happened, she told the investigator: “I can say with 100 percent confidence I was raped.”

The transcript indicates that the campus investigator questioned Doe throughout the interview while helping her prepare a written statement.

As he began asking what she had said when the men requested sex, the investigator cautioned that some questions might seem accusatory. He explained that he needed precise answers to determine what charges could potentially be pursued.

Doe said she pushed one man’s hand away and told him she was uncomfortable. She also recalled telling another man “no” several times—or saying that she was too tired to have intercourse.

“Was it ‘no,’ or was it ‘eh, I’m tired?’” the investigator asked.

“I think it’s ‘I’m tired,’” Doe replied.

Later on in the interview, the police officer asked Jane Doe whether she became tired of answering the men’s questions and ultimately gave in to them.

‘Yes. It was coercion, yes,’ she replied, according to the transcript, adding that she was ‘completely and totally incapacitated.’

The transcript also shows that the investigator documented her account, read it back to the accuser and asked her to clarify or correct it, according to CBS News.

Then, on the second day of the interview, Jane Doe reviewed the revised six-page statement.

When she then went to sign it, the transcript shows, the alleged victim said: ‘I’m very confident about this.’ 

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has said his decision not to bring charges against the seven alleged perpetrators was based on the contents of that signed 2024 statement. 

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But he told CBS News on Tuesday he had never before seen the transcript showing what Jane Doe told campus police. 

The District Attorney said he will now seek a copy of the transcript and follow up with Cornell police.

‘Nobody knows this information about the transcript and that gives me something to really dig into because that changes the landscape for me,’ he said.

Cornell officials, meanwhile, said its police department provided the results of the school’s investigation to the District Attorney’s Office as prosecutors reconsider whether to bring charges against the alleged rapists.

University officials have also said it agreed to undertake an independent investigation into its handling of the matter.

The case gained renewed attention after Jane Doe filed a civil suit on September 16.

It alleges that Doe, then 20, arrived at the fraternity house on October 19, 2024, already heavily intoxicated following a night of drinking in Ithaca.

She alleges she was pressured to take ketamine and given marijuana and high-proof alcohol before being repeatedly sexually assaulted as additional fraternity members entered the room.

The complaint alleges seven men eventually participated and that Doe became ‘completely incapacitated.’ She says the ordeal continued until around 5.45am, when she lost consciousness.

It also claims that during the assault, one fraternity member posted to a ‘Chi Phi Actives’ Snapchat group that there was ‘free p***y’ upstairs, referring to Doe. 

‘Like you can walk in and whip it out,’ another member allegedly responded, according to a screenshot described in the filing. 

Doe reported the allegations to Cornell University Police on November 8 after friends encouraged her to come forward, according to the lawsuit.

Cornell temporarily suspended the fraternity and seven students that day.

The defendants have not all publicly responded to the allegations, but at least two have denied wrongdoing.

Jeremy Saland, an attorney for defendant Scott Kretzschmar, said the alleged incident ‘did not happen.’

‘At bottom, Scott never sexually assaulted or even touched the plaintiff in any way. Period,’ Saland said.

‘We look forward to confronting the plaintiff in a court of law for her selfishly false claims with both the evidence and her own words.’

Defendant Scott Norris separately denied participating in sexual activity or drug use, while acknowledging sending one message cited in the complaint.

‘I did not participate in any sexual activity or drug use,’ Norris said. ‘I thoughtlessly engaged in Snapchat and briefly stopped in the room where misconduct happened but not when it happened.’

For Doe, her attorney says the consequences have stretched far beyond the night at the center of the lawsuit.

He has claimed his client continues to suffer from anxiety, depression and sleepless nights and stopped attending Cornell following the alleged attack.

‘She is basically stalled, and her life is devoted to dealing with the trauma,’ Giuffra previously told Our News Outlet. ‘It’s like a constant, constant reminder.’

‘You could give her all the money in the world; nobody wants to have this as their story. Nobody wants to have this in their lives.’