Executive Summary: This investigation documents a pattern of inconsistencies spanning Letitia James’s tenure in two major offices. Our findings show that James spent years handling sexual harassment allegations by Ibrahim Khan differently across both positions—first as NYC Public Advocate (2014-2018) and later as NY Attorney General (2019-present)—while applying vastly different standards to similar accusations against political figures like Governor Cuomo. As Public Advocate, James dismissed allegations against Khan and made him her Attorney General campaign manager despite knowing about the allegations. As Attorney General, she promoted Khan to Chief of Staff and continued protecting him even as new allegations emerged, while simultaneously weaponizing harassment allegations to destroy Cuomo. When her double standards were exposed, James hired Davis Polk—the same law firm that assisted her in the Cuomo investigation—to represent her office in related litigation.
This arrangement created a documented triangle of conflicts of interest, particularly given Davis Polk’s subsequent employment of Governor Hochul’s husband, with $7.84 million in taxpayer funds flowing to the firm since 2021. Further, as federal scrutiny mounted over James’s financial disclosures, Governor Hochul’s administration created a $10 million legal defense fund. These documented patterns raise questions about whether taxpayers are funding the defense of officials facing scrutiny for alleged personal misconduct unrelated to their public duties. This report details these patterns, which demand investigation by ethics officials and federal prosecutors.
We Didn’t Start with a Law Firm
Our investigation into Attorney General Letitia James began with questions about lavish campaign spending patterns. That led us to examine her New York State financial disclosures, where she disclosed owning two homes—one in Brooklyn, one on Perrone Avenue in Norfolk. However, certain mortgages listed in property records were not disclosed, and certain mortgages that were disclosed could not be found in property records. The next progression led us to examine the mortgage documents, where we found false unit counts on her Brooklyn home. We then searched for other properties she owned and discovered a Sterling Street property, where she falsely claimed she intended to make it her primary residence while failing to disclose the home and its mortgage on financial disclosures. We then examined her office’s expenses and discovered $41,807 in taxpayer-funded private jet travel that coincided with her campaign events.
But James’s financial irregularities were just the surface. What emerged reveals apparent double standards spanning two major elected positions: a prosecutor who, first as NYC Public Advocate (2014-2018) and later as NY Attorney General (2019-present), spent years protecting harassment allegations in her own offices while weaponizing similar allegations against political adversaries.
But James’s financial irregularities were just the surface. What emerged reveals apparent double standards spanning two major elected positions: a prosecutor who, first as NYC Public Advocate (2014-2018) and later as NY Attorney General (2019-present), spent years protecting alleged harassment in her own offices while weaponizing similar allegations against political adversaries.
Then she hired the same law firm that had helped her destroy Cuomo to defend her from similar standards. Davis Polk has now received $7.84 million from New York State since 2021—first for the Cuomo investigation, then for representing James’s office, and also for work with the State Comptroller’s Office.
The Documented Timeline: A Pattern of Double Standards
Court filings in the Sofia Quintanar lawsuit—filed by a Democratic political operative who alleged Khan sexually assaulted her at a November 2021 fundraiser, then retaliated against her career—document what appears to be a systematic pattern of double standards:
2013-2018: As Public Advocate, James Systematically Elevated Khan Despite Known Allegations
- 2013: Ibrahim Khan starts as James’s spokesman for her Public Advocate campaign
- 2014: Ibrahim Khan, serving as James’s Chief of Staff at the Public Advocate office, allegedly sexually assaults intern Angel DuBose at an office holiday party
- 2017: According to court filings, a source told Quintanar that when Khan served as Chief of Staff for then-Public Advocate James, the New York Post had published an article about Khan’s alleged sexual assault of a different woman, but the article had “subsequently disappeared under mysterious circumstances.” On December 2, 2022 New York Times confirmed: “In 2017, when Ms. James was the city’s public advocate and he was her chief of staff, The New York Post reported that a former employee of the office had accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting her at a holiday party…The article is no longer available on The Post’s website.”
- 2018: Despite these allegations from her time as Public Advocate, James made Khan her Attorney General Campaign Manager – trusting someone with known assault allegations to run her campaign for the state’s top law enforcement position
- James’s documented response during Public Advocate years: Dismissed allegations, with her office reportedly calling accusers liars
2019-2021: James as NYS Attorney General – Continues Protection Pattern While Weaponizing Against Cuomo
- 2019: James takes office as Attorney General, promotes Khan to Chief of Staff despite allegations reported to her office
- 2019: James faced similar allegations of misconduct cover-ups in her new AG office, establishing a continuing pattern of protecting allies while publicly condemning such conduct
- March 17, 2021: Assembly hires Davis Polk (Contract C600004, initially $250,000) for Cuomo impeachment investigation—around the same period James’s office began its investigation of Cuomo for sexual harassment
- July 5, 2021: Khan listed as investigator on official NYPD misconduct report – investigating police officers for misconduct while James protected him from his own allegations of sexual assault
- August 3, 2021: James releases devastating report documenting Cuomo’s harassment of multiple women, establishing the principle that powerful officials who cover up harassment must be held accountable
- November 22, 2021: Davis Polk releases final impeachment report, sealing Cuomo’s fate
Documented Result: Cuomo resigns in disgrace. James and Davis Polk successfully destroyed him using the exact standards James had been violating in her own offices for years—while Khan investigated other officials for misconduct while being protected from his own allegations of sexual assault.
2021-2022: James’s Double Standards Explode
- November 17, 2021: According to court filings, Khan allegedly sexually assaults Sofia Quintanar at a political fundraiser
- September 2022: Quintanar finally reports the assault after Khan sabotages her job application to the James Campaign
- October 2, 2022: James opens investigation into Khan
- October 3, 2022: Internal AG office email from General Counsel Larry Schimmel to Khan memorializes restrictions and protocols during the investigation, stating that “certain information and allegations related to outside activities were provided to the office, that may implicate Executive Orders” and that Khan should “Stay remote in your position” and “Refrain from socializing with any OAG staff, or anyone in any capacity affiliated with the AG.”
- November 22, 2022: Khan resigns from his position, while being paid through the end of the year, making it appear as if Khan was leaving his post naturally before the start of Attorney General James’s next term in office. Khan defends himself claiming he was “slated to leave…by Dec. 31” and that the investigation “found no official workplace misconduct.”
- December 2, 2022: New York Times reports that Khan “was accused of inappropriate touching and unwanted kissing by at least one woman” and that “One woman who filed a complaint was told on Friday that her allegation of inappropriate touching and unwanted kissing had been substantiated.” The NYT did not name this woman because they did not know her identity. However, the Times noted that “It was not clear when Ms. James was told of the allegations, or when the firm was hired”—even mainstream media couldn’t verify James’s timeline for hiring outside counsel. The Times also confirmed that allegations involved “at least two sexual harassment allegations” and that “Multiple allegations against Mr. Khan were reported to the attorney general’s office by a political consultant, not by the victims themselves.”
- December 7, 2022: James releases official statement claiming she “engaged an outside law firm within 72 hours” and that “when the process concluded, my office spoke with each individual and informed them that allegations were substantiated”—confirming that Khan’s accusers were indeed told their allegations were substantiated, likely including the unnamed woman referenced in the NYT report. This was a demonstrably false claim about the 72-hour timeline, made just 5 days after the New York Times reported uncertainty about when the firm was hired
- December 15, 2022: Quintanar files explosive lawsuit detailing James’s pattern of covering up sexual harassment while publicly condemning it
James’s Documented False Claims About Swift Action
With Khan’s resignation creating a public relations crisis, James scrambled to control the narrative. On December 7, 2022—fifteen days after Khan’s resignation—James released an official statement filled with demonstrably false claims about her response.
Even Mainstream Media Couldn’t Confirm James’s Claims
Just five days before James made her public claims, the December 2, 2022 New York Times reported:
“Ms. James made the decision to hire an outside law firm to investigate the accusations. It was not clear when Ms. James was told of the allegations, or when the firm was hired.“
Even the New York Times couldn’t confirm James’s timeline in December 2022, making her subsequent claims demonstrably suspect.
🚨 DOCUMENTED FALSE STATEMENT: James’s December 7, 2022 Claim
From the official AG press release, James’s complete statement:
“My office treated this matter as aggressively as every other matter that has come before our office. Within 24 hours, our office took disciplinary action and put Ibrahim Khan under restrictions, and within 72 hours, we engaged an outside law firm that began an impartial and exhaustive review of the allegations. Mr. Khan resigned while the process was still ongoing. When the process concluded, my office spoke with each individual and informed them that allegations were substantiated. I am confident in the steps that were taken to swiftly review the allegations and in the integrity of the investigation.”
The Timeline That Exposes Multiple False Claims
James claimed: “treated this matter as aggressively as every other matter”
Reality: She protected Khan for years while weaponizing similar allegations against Cuomo
James claimed: “within 72 hours, we engaged an outside law firm”
Contract records prove this was false:
- September 2022: Quintanar reports assault to James’s office
- December 7, 2022: James claims outside firm hired within 72 hours of learning about allegations
- February 1, 2023: Davis Polk contract actually created – nearly 2 months after her public claim
- March 24, 2023: Davis Polk first appears as counsel – over 3 months after her public claim
James claimed: “impartial and exhaustive review”
Reality: She hired the same firm that helped her weaponize harassment allegations against Cuomo—hardly impartial
James claimed: “swiftly review the allegations”
Reality: The documented timeline shows anything but swift action
Documented conclusion: James made multiple demonstrably false public statements to create the appearance of aggressive, swift, and impartial action while scrambling to arrange biased legal defense months later using the same firm that helped her destroy political enemies.
2023: James Hires Her Former Partners to Defend Her Double Standards
- February 1, 2023: Contract C106569 created between AG’s office and Davis Polk—the same firm that helped James weaponize harassment allegations against Cuomo
- March 24, 2023: Davis Polk appears as James’s counsel, now using their expertise in harassment investigations to defend the very conduct they once condemned
The documented pattern: Davis Polk knows exactly how to defend against harassment allegations because they helped James perfect the art of using them as political weapons
The Contract That Came Alive When Double Standards Became Profitable
Here’s what court records and contract documents prove—a timeline that documents the most sophisticated pay-to-play scheme in recent Albany history:
The Unprecedented Delays: This contract defied normal state contracting in documented ways:
- 401-day processing delay: Between contract creation and approved/filed date
- 455-day payment gap: Between contract creation and first taxpayer payment
Normal state contracting timelines are 30-90 days—even the complex Cuomo investigation was processed within 6 months. This extreme delay makes the James contract an unprecedented outlier in state contracting practices.
Documented Timeline:
- December 15, 2022: Sofia Quintanar—a Democratic political operative who had worked on campaigns including James’s 2021 reelection—files explosive lawsuit alleging Khan sexually assaulted her at a November 2021 political fundraiser, then retaliated against her career when she tried to apply for jobs with the James campaign. Her lawsuit exposes James’s documented pattern of covering up harassment allegations for years
- February 1, 2023: Contract C106569 “starts” between AG’s office and Davis Polk
- March 24, 2023: Davis Polk officially appears as James’s counsel
- March-October 2023: Davis Polk actively litigates—defending James from the same standards she used against Cuomo
- January 2, 2024: William Hochul Jr.—the Governor’s husband—joins Davis Polk for $949,946 per year
- March 8, 2024: Contract approved/filed date—401 days after creation, 64 days after Hochul joined the firm
- April 30, 2024: First payment hits: $228,649.91—455 days after contract creation, 118 days after Hochul joined the firm
- August 23, 2024: Contract amendment approved/filed, adding $250,000 and extending contract two years to January 31, 2026—expanding the arrangement after payments began flowing
By June 2025, $482,862.84 in taxpayer money had flowed to the firm employing the Governor’s spouse out of a total $575,000 contract—money spent defending James from the same type of allegations she weaponized against Cuomo.
The documented pattern: James spent years protecting someone facing multiple harassment allegations in her office, then taxpayer payments to defend that protection began flowing precisely when it became profitable for the Governor’s family.
The smoking gun timeline: Contract created February 1, 2023. William Hochul joined Davis Polk January 2, 2024. First payment April 30, 2024—455 days after contract creation, 118 days after Hochul joined the firm.
The $7.84 Million Protection Pipeline
These unprecedented delays become even more significant when viewed as part of a larger financial pattern. Our analysis of every payment to Davis Polk since 2021 documents how this arrangement created a systematic enrichment pipeline:
Financial Breakdown – The $7.84 Million Pipeline:
- Legislature – Assembly: $7,121,552.01
- Attorney General’s Office: $483,403.38
- State Comptroller’s Office: $235,816.56
- Total Pipeline: $7,840,771.95 from New York taxpayers
Phase 1: Cuomo Destruction Using False Standards (2021-2023)
Legislature – Assembly: $7,121,552.01
- March 17, 2021: Contract C600004 begins with $250,000
- May 12, 2021: Contract approved (56 days after start)
- October 6, 2021: First payment: $250,000 (203 days after contract start)
- November 4, 2021: First major amendment adds $4.87 million (total: $5.12 million)
- March 10, 2022: Second amendment adds $1.88 million (total: $7 million)
- June 26, 2023: Final amendment adds $125,000 and extends to March 16, 2024 (total: $7.125 million)
- Final spending: $7,121,552.01
- Purpose: Assembly impeachment investigations and other matters
Phase 2: James Protection Using Taxpayer Money (2024-2025)
- February 1, 2023: Original contract created ($325,000) but remains dormant
- March 2023-January 2024: Legal defense work with zero taxpayer payments
- April 30, 2024: First payment: $228,649.91 (455 days after contract creation)
- August 23, 2024: Contract amended and extended, adding $250,000 and two years
- Purpose: Defend James’s enabling of the exact conduct she destroyed Cuomo for
State Comptroller’s Office: $235,816.56
- First payment: June 27, 2024
- Purpose: “POL – Defense Counsel” (protecting more Albany officials facing similar scrutiny?)
The Ultimate Insider Job: Defending What They Once Prosecuted
What court filings reveal documents how Davis Polk became the perfect beneficiaries of Albany’s most cynical protection scheme. From their work on the Cuomo investigation, Davis Polk gained invaluable knowledge of how the AG’s office builds harassment cases, what evidence prosecutors consider damaging, and how to defend against such allegations. When James needed defense from the exact standards she had used against Cuomo, Davis Polk was perfectly positioned to capitalize.
While Davis Polk didn’t orchestrate James’s corruption scheme, they expertly capitalized on it. The firm positioned themselves as opportunistic profiteers, using their insider knowledge from the Cuomo investigation to create a lucrative business model around James’s double standards—and did nothing illegal.
The Documented Hypocrisy
In destroying Cuomo, Davis Polk and James established these principles: sexual harassment by powerful officials is unacceptable, covering up misconduct makes officials complicit, and officials who enable harassers must be held accountable. Now Davis Polk is being paid by taxpayers to help James escape every single one of these standards.
The Quintanar complaint documents how James “substantiated allegations” but let Khan quietly resign, then subsequently dismissed these same “substantiated allegations” as “rumors” to deflect press attention—documenting a clear contradiction in standards.
The Multi-Million Dollar Conflict Factory
Davis Polk has mastered the legal art of profiting from all sides of New York’s biggest scandals, exploiting government corruption without crossing criminal lines themselves:
Documented Simultaneous Conflicts:
- Purdue Pharma: Davis Polk represented opioid company seeking Sackler immunity while NYAG initially opposed those protections
- Galaxy Digital: Davis Polk represented Galaxy Digital in a $200 million settlement with James’s office while simultaneously defending James’s harassment cover-ups
- Cuomo vs. James: Helped destroy Cuomo using harassment standards, then defended James from identical standards
The Payment Timeline That Exposes the Scheme:
- Legislature payments end on October 27, 2023
- William Hochul joins Davis Polk January 2, 2024
- AG payments begin April 30, 2024 (despite 455-day processing delay)
- Comptroller payments begin June 27, 2024
- Two agencies replace one funding source seamlessly
The firm has perfected a system where conflicts of interest become profit centers—all while employing the Governor’s husband for nearly $1 million per year.
While these simultaneous representations raise serious ethical questions about conflicts of interest, Davis Polk operated within legal boundaries—they simply exploited existing corruption for maximum profit.
The Women They’re All Trying to Silence
While Davis Polk was billing taxpayers to defend James’s harassment cover-ups, two women found the courage to speak truth to power.
Sofia Quintanar filed the explosive lawsuit that revealed James’s years of protecting Khan despite substantiated allegations. Court filings show Khan allegedly sexually assaulted her in November 2021, then allegedly retaliated by sabotaging her career opportunities.
Angel DuBose had been silent for nearly a decade, but the Quintanar lawsuit gave her courage to speak again. According to Spectrum News reporting, DuBose made allegations about her experiences as an intern in James’s Public Advocate office in 2014, including claims about Khan’s conduct at an office holiday party. The alleged incident was investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which opted not to file charges.
Spectrum News reported that “a lot of people left Tish because of Khan. He was a bully,” and that internal processes for investigating complaints were “horrendous,” because Khan ran the office. The October 3, 2022 email from General Counsel Schimmel referenced earlier documents the AG office’s formal response process when allegations finally surfaced.
Her story was briefly reported by the New York Post in 2017, then mysteriously disappeared. According to the Frank Report, the Post removed the story about the same time Khan resigned from James’ New York attorney general’s office amid sexual harassment claims concerning other women.
She’s now raising funds for new legal action against James under the banner: “Letitia James Is Not Above The Law.”
The ultimate irony: James used similar allegations to destroy Cuomo, then hired the same law firm to defend her office against similar allegations—using the very taxpayer money that funded Cuomo’s downfall.
The $10 Million Insurance Policy for Hypocrites
Just as federal investigators were closing in on James for our mortgage fraud revelations, something remarkable happened. Governor Hochul’s administration quietly slipped a $10 million provision into the state budget—money specifically earmarked for defending state employees under federal investigation.
The timing was surgical:
May 8, 2025: The Guardian reports a federal grand jury investigating James. The New York Post reveals FBI involvement. On this exact same day, Hochul’s budget passes with the $10 million legal defense fund.
May 21, 2025: Hochul publicly defends James, telling critics “Hell, yeah” when asked if she supports the embattled Attorney General.
Let’s connect the documented dots: James directs $483,000 to the firm paying Hochul’s husband nearly $1 million—the same firm that helped her weaponize harassment allegations while covering up harassment in her own office. When James faces federal criminal investigation, Hochul creates a $10 million taxpayer-funded shield to protect her.
That’s not governance. That’s a documented protection racket where taxpayers fund both the weapons used against political enemies and the shields protecting the hypocrites who wield them.
The Triangle That Exposes the Corruption
This investigation began with questions about Letitia James’s financial irregularities. What we uncovered reveals a pattern of double standards spanning two major elected positions: a prosecutor who spent years protecting harassment allegations in her own offices while weaponizing similar allegations against political adversaries.
When her double standards were exposed, James hired Davis Polk—the same law firm that helped her destroy Cuomo—to defend her from similar allegations. This created a documented triangle of conflicts where taxpayers fund a protection scheme benefiting all parties.
The Triangle of Taxpayer-Funded Corruption:
- James → Davis Polk: $483,000 in taxpayer funds for legal defense
- Davis Polk → Hochul Family: $949,946 annual salary for the Governor’s husband
- Hochul → James: $10 million taxpayer-funded legal defense shield
- Total Pipeline: $7.84 million from New York taxpayers to Davis Polk since 2021
The documented pattern: James spent years covering up harassment allegations while using identical allegations to destroy political enemies. When exposed, she hired the same firm that helped her weaponize those allegations to now defend her from them—while taxpayers fund a system where the Governor’s family profits and the Governor protects James.
This isn’t governance. It’s documented institutional corruption—with James as the corrupt actor and Davis Polk as the opportunistic profiteers who legally monetized her misconduct.
These patterns demand investigation by ethics officials, federal prosecutors, and legislative oversight committees.
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Written by,
Sam Antar
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