Internal documents released by Attorney General Letitia James’ office Monday night confirmed she knew about the sexual harassment allegations lobbed against a longtime top aide for more than a month before Election Day, but chose to keep it under lock-and-key before voters went to the polls.
James and her office first learned that Chief of Staff Ibrahim Khan, 38, was facing sexual harassment complaints from two women on Oct. 2 — long before New York’s Nov. 8 election date, according to the documents that provided a damning timeline into the scandal.
The day after, the attorney general’s office ordered Khan to switch to remote work and to stop communicating with coworkers and others close to James, according to the email provided by James’ Deputy General Counsel Serena Longley.
In the Oct. 3 email, General Counsel for the Attorney General Larry Schimmel asked Khan to “stay remote in your position” and “refrain from socializing with any OAG staff, or anyone in any capacity affiliated with the AG.”
Longley told reporters Monday night that Khan was ordered to not fraternize with the Democrat’s associates “during the course of the investigation” conducted by outside law firm Littler Mendelson, which was hired by the AG office.
A source briefed on the investigation previously told The Post that none of the allegations involved current employees.
“They really tried to keep this under wraps before the election,” the source said.
Khan submitted his resignation on Nov. 22, according to a copy of the letter, and stopped working with James’ office on Friday — the same day The New York Times reported that Littler Mendelson substantiated allegations of his unwanted kissing and touching.
James has yet to speak publicly on Khan’s resignation, though her office has claimed she followed proper procedures with the aide whose ties to her stretch back to her time serving as New York City’s public advocate.
“The Office of Attorney General has protocols in place to thoroughly investigate any allegation of misconduct. The office takes these matters with the utmost seriousness and this situation is no different. An independent, impartial investigation was conducted, and the employee has since resigned,” AG spokeswoman Delaney Kempner previously said on the matter.
Several State Republicans are calling for a probe into James’ decision to keep her staffer’s sexual harassment complaints under wraps until after she won her re-election bid.
“The Albany swamp is as noxious as ever,” said Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor (R-Fishkill). “New Yorkers have a right to know whether the top law enforcement officer in the state suborned sexual harassment, covered it up or delayed addressing it to win an election.”
“This cannot wait until the state Legislature reconvenes in January. The State Assembly Judiciary Committee must convene a formal investigation at once into what Attorney General James knew, when she knew it and why that information was withheld,” Assemblyman Colin Schmitt (R-New Windsor) said Sunday.
State Republicans also voiced concerns that Littler Mendelson, which was tapped on Oct. 4 to investigate the claims against Khan, employs a former assistant attorney general.
Longley said the AG’s office “took extra precautions to ensure a fair, impartial, and thorough review by hiring an outside firm” and added that “the investigative team did not include any former members of OAG.”
A spokesperson for Littler Mendelson said their attorney who had previously worked for the attorney general’s office “had no involvement in this matter coming to Littler and has had no involvement in the investigation.”
The attorney only learned of the investigation after reading the Times article published about it on Dec. 2.
“To assure independence in its investigation, at the time that Littler was retained by the OAG, the firm placed an ethical wall between the attorneys and staff handling this matter and all other Littler attorneys and staff,” the spokesperson said.
Khan has long worked with James, first serving as a top adviser on her successful campaign for New York City public advocate in 2013. After the win, she named him her chief of staff and first deputy public advocate.
