CNN Legal Analyst: Hochul Just Turned Cornell 7 Case Into a Kangaroo Courthttps://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/10/06/cnn-legal-analyst-hochul-just-turned-cornell-7-case-into-a-kangaroo-court-n3819674The Cornell 7 case had already become a circus, and a politicized circus at that. The solution for it would have been independent, low-profile special counsels with established integrity and credibility to take over the case and determine whether a case exists at all for criminal prosecution.
Instead, New York Governor Kathy Hochul made a public spectacle of assigning the most politicized Attorney General east of St. Paul, Minnesota to take over the case and turn a circus into a kangaroo court. John wrote last Thursday about Hochul's appointment of Leticia James to personally run the Cornell 7 case, pointing out that both she and James had already decided that the allegations were true and sided with the accuser in her public comments. A reporter at the presser challenged Hochul and James to explain, and neither did:
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... . CNN legal analyst Elie Honig rips into both Hochul and James in a New York Magazine essay this morning for pouring gasoline on a fire with the appointment of James, one of the most political state AGs in the nation. New York Magazine has this outside the paywall, too, to their credit as well:
But on Friday, Hochul somehow made it worse when she announced her decision to appoint James as special prosecutor on the Cornell case. Ordinarily, the New York AG has limited criminal jurisdiction, not including sexual-assault matters. But the law empowers the governor to specifically task the AG with investigating and, if appropriate, charging any particular case, as Hochul has done here.
James is a deeply problematic selection for the most basic of reasons: She has already publicly prejudged this case. In a September 28 social-media post — four days before her appointment — James declared, “What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable. I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers. To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone. We stand with you.”
The single most indispensable trait in any prosecutor — especially here, in a politically and emotionally charged case under a national spotlight — is impartiality. Yet James drew her conclusion and announced it to the world before she had access to an iota of evidence.
As I posted back on the 2nd in a daily thread post, I'm not sure what to make of this case, and have no reason to dig into. Right now, it looks like the female chose to go to a frat party she knew would be boozy and worse - i.e. a personally risky situation, and possibly directly relevant under current NY law - intending to drink/drug herself more or less senseless. On the male side, seven scumbag males decided that @#$%^ing a woman who may or may not have been flirty or may have simply shown poor judgment was a way to display their manhood status. IOW, I think the possibilities range from seven scumbags getting the woman senseless with alcohol and drugs to gang-rape her to the female more or less fully intending to get sloshed and @#$%^ every willing male at the party, and having morning-after regret. I see no "good guys/gals" in this and a pox o' all their houses.
