Barbara Underwood, New York's Solicitor General, will become the state's Attorney General after the sudden resignation of Eric Schneiderman. AG press secretary Amy Spitalnick Tweeted this morning:
This morning, I’m grateful to work with the best colleagues in the business - including Barbara Underwood, who will be acting NY AG. She’s argued 20 cases before SCOTUS, clerked for Thurgood Marshall, & much more. The work continues.
— Amy Spitalnick (@amyspitalnick) May 8, 2018
Update: Underwood said in a statement, "I am honored to serve the people of New York as acting Attorney General. The work of this office is critically important. Our office has never been stronger, and this extraordinarily talented, dedicated, and tireless team of public servants will ensure that our work continues without interruption."
Schneiderman decided to resign after The New Yorker published accusations of assault from four women, including ex-girlfriends. The allegations were detailed and graphic, depicting Schneiderman as an alcoholic and pill popper who would slap and/or choke the girlfriends. One friend was so alarmed by what she heard, the New Yorker reports, "that she wrote down the details and e-mailed the account to her husband, so that there would be a dated copy of it should any harm come to her friend."
[Danzy] Senna’s document, which she shared with The New Yorker, is dated September 16, 2017, and says, in part, “She told me that her boyfriend of a year, Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York, has been choking, beating, and threatening her for the entirety of their relationship, and that several times he threatened to have her killed if she ever tried to leave him. She said he knows that she has a lot of really damning information about him, his alcoholism, sexual deviance, and drug use, and she worries about her safety.”
Schneiderman told 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."
However, less than three hours after the article published, he resigned, releasing a statement, "It’s been my great honor and privilege to serve as Attorney General for the people of the State of New York. 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 championed himself a leader for women's causes, introducing legislation to make strangulation in domestic violence situations a felony, speaking at the Women's March, and trying to find justice for Harvey Weinstein's victims, while crusading against President Trump's policies. An acting Attorney General will now be appointed by the State Legislature, where Democrats hold a solid majority through the Assembly:
A good history lesson from @coopnytimes on how the legislature filled a vacancy for State Comptroller; Constitution calls for same process for NY AG https://t.co/FBnJHkIj9d
— Brigid Bergin (@brigidbergin) May 8, 2018
Attention will quickly shift to State Assembly Carl Heastie — who essentially has the power to name the next Attorney General who would then likely face a September primary.
— Bob Hardt (@bobhardt) May 8, 2018
Here are some initial floats for #nyag: Tish James, Helene Weinstein, Kathleen Rice, Kathy Hochul (Cuomo’s looking for a new running mate…), Joe Lentol (caretaker), Mike Gianaris, Todd Kaminsky, Stephanie Miner
— Jimmy Vielkind (@JimmyVielkind) May 8, 2018
Other prominent lawyers in the #nyassembly include Danny O’Donnell and Jeff Dinowitz. O’Donnell would be the first openly gay statewide official in New York.
— Jimmy Vielkind (@JimmyVielkind) May 8, 2018
A source said that Sen. @bradhoylman is also looking at a bid for #nyag
There will be lots of people interested. As Oliver Koppell told me, “For someone who’s a lawyer and a politician, it’s the greatest job in the world."— Jimmy Vielkind (@JimmyVielkind) May 8, 2018
NEW: Source close to Kathleen Rice tells us this a.m. that she is DEFINITELY planning to run for Attorney General.
Other names people are now bandying about: DFS Superintendent Maria Vullo, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney and former City Council Member Dan Garodnick— Laura Nahmias (@nahmias) May 8, 2018
Assembly Democrats are conferencing at 9 am this morning. They will play pivotal role in deciding who fills AG post.
— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) May 8, 2018
Source: Assembly may advance Helene Weinstein as their appointment for AG. They are meeting at 9am.
— Susan Arbetter (@sarbetter) May 8, 2018
Of course, some of this tea leaf-reading is just for fun.
As @PreetBharara fans know, there is zero chance the legislature would consider naming him interim AG. (He would promptly investigate half of them.)
— Errol Louis (@errollouis) May 8, 2018
The Times Union reports that acting AG Underwood "could theoretically hold the post until voters choose a successor in November, but state law allows the legislature to fill a vacancy in the job." Here's her bio:
Barbara D. Underwood was appointed Solicitor General in January 2007. Prior to her appointment she served as Counsel and as Chief Assistant to the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. From 1998 to 2001 she was the Acting Solicitor General and Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. She has held executive positions in the Queens and Brooklyn District Attorneys’ Offices, and served as a trial attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She has argued 20 cases in the United States Supreme Court, as well as many cases in the state and federal courts of appeals.
She has served as Chair of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Council on Criminal Justice of the New York City Bar Association. She was Professor of Law at Yale Law School, Visiting Professor at New York University School of Law, and Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School. She was a law clerk to Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court. She received a B.A. from Harvard University (Radcliffe College) and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Scneiderman had been running unopposed in a Democratic primary for AG; Manny Alicandro, a Wall Street lawyer, was running in the Republican primary.