Megyn Kelly Says Letitia James Prejudged the Cornell Case Kathy Hochul Gave Her

Megyn Kelly argued on Friday that New York Attorney General Letitia James had already prejudged the Cornell University fraternity case that Gov. Kathy Hochul assigned her the same day. Kelly pointed to a post in which James wrote that the accuser had been "forced to endure" something "horrific."

On Friday, Hochul appointed James special prosecutor in the case, ABC News reported. A former Cornell student identified as Jane Doe alleges that seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity drugged and sexually assaulted her in October 2024. No one has been charged. Two of the seven, through attorneys, and a third, directly, have denied the allegations, ABC News reported.

"You've revealed that you have chosen a side," Kelly said on The Megyn Kelly Show. "In this case, a prosecutor's obligation is to seek justice, not to choose one side or the other when we are at the allegation phase."

Letitia James's Post and the Press Conference Question

On September 28, James posted on X: "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," Reason reported.

At Friday's press conference, a reporter read the same words aloud, describing them as a post on James's Facebook page, and asked Hochul why she had appointed an official who had publicly affirmed the allegations. Hochul said she had "every confidence in our attorney general to do what she has always done. Look at the facts, examine the record, and draw the proper conclusions."

James, responding to the reporter's framing, answered in one sentence: "I will not comment on a Facebook post."

"Oh, but you'll make the Facebook post," Kelly said. She added that James had "rushed to judgment before we'd even convened a grand jury."

In her statement on the appointment, James said her office would "review the facts, gather evidence, interview witnesses and, if warranted, pursue prosecutions," ABC News reported.

How the Cornell Case Unfolded

• October 19–20, 2024: Jane Doe has a sexual encounter with fraternity members at the Chi Phi house in Ithaca. She later alleged that she was drugged and assaulted.
• November 2024: Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten declines to prosecute after reviewing her sworn statement, according to his office.
• Late September 2026: Jane Doe files a civil complaint against Cornell and the seven men, ABC News reported.
• September 28, 2026: Van Houten said he had "asked a senior prosecutor from my office to prepare the case for Grand Jury presentation," according to his office's statement. The same day, James posted her statement of support for the accuser on X, Reason reported.
• Friday: Hochul names James special prosecutor, taking the case out of Van Houten's hands.
• Next: James's office decides whether to take evidence to a grand jury.

Venue and the Disbarment Warning

Kelly first suggested that James might try to bring any case in Manhattan. She later told viewers that her team had found "the charges would have to be brought in Tompkins County, Ithaca, New York."

Kelly also warned that James "could actually be disbarred," and she cited Mike Nifong, the district attorney in the Duke lacrosse case. "He lost his law license. He served a day in jail over this," she said.

Nifong was the Durham County, North Carolina, district attorney who pursued rape charges against three Duke University lacrosse players in 2006; the charges collapsed, and in June 2007 the North Carolina State Bar disbarred him for dishonesty and misrepresentation in the case. A judge later sentenced him to a day in jail for contempt, for telling the court he had turned over complete DNA results when he had not.

The Accuser's Allegations and Hochul's Case

Hochul has argued that the first investigation failed the accuser. She said key words from the student's interview "never made it into the account that the Cornell police sent to prosecutors." Van Houten's office has said her sworn statement described her participation as "voluntary, conscious, and consensual." He now says the civil complaint's allegations are "dramatically different" and that "we were not provided the full picture by the University," ABC News reported.

Kelly, citing texts the accuser sent after the night in question, said it was "very uncertain whether any single one of them violated the sex laws in any way, shape, or form." Her complaint accuses all seven men, Kelly said.

What Happens Next

James now controls whether the case goes to a Tompkins County grand jury. Separately, Hochul is pressing lawmakers to change New York's voluntary intoxication provision. "If someone is too intoxicated to consent, it should not matter whether they chose to use drugs or alcohol," she said. Kelly opposes the change.

President Donald Trump, whom James sued for civil fraud, called her "totally corrupt" after the appointment and said those under her investigation "won't get a fair shake," ABC News reported.