Letitia James's office is close to adding outside lawyers to the Cornell Chi Phi criminal investigation, CNN reported.

Hiring outside lawyers is staffing. It is not a charging decision, and no one has been charged with a crime in connection with the allegations. CNN reported the attorney general's criminal authority is normally limited by law to police-related deaths, financial crimes, and organized crime, and that the office does not have a history of investigating sex-based crimes. Jane Doe's lawyer said he expected the office to bring in experts from outside.

CNN reported Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, citing officials close to the investigation, that the New York attorney general's office is close to naming external lawyers to handle the investigation into the sexual assault allegations at Cornell University, and that it has reached out to several experienced attorneys to bolster its team. CNN reported the search began Thursday, after Gov. Kathy Hochul named Attorney General Letitia James special prosecutor and said she had "lost faith" in Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten. "On Thursday evening, after the Governor appointed the Office of the Attorney General as a special prosecutor, Attorney General James and her team began a comprehensive investigation led by OAG's Criminal Justice Division," a spokesperson for James said in a statement Tuesday, according to CNN. "Since then, OAG has spoken with the Tompkins County District Attorney, Jane Doe's attorney, and several candidates for outside counsel to support the investigation. The DA has agreed to cooperate, and OAG remains committed to a thorough and independent investigation guided only by the facts and the law." No outside lawyers had been named as of CNN's report.

CNN reported that James spoke with Van Houten on Friday and that lawyers from her office also spoke with him and met in person in Ithaca on Monday. Hochul signed an executive order giving the attorney general criminal authority to investigate the allegations, present evidence to a grand jury, and bring charges if warranted, CNN reported. The network reported the office's criminal justice division is staffed with attorneys who have experience at federal agencies and local district attorney offices. An executive order sets who investigates. It does not decide what the evidence shows.

Thomas Giuffra, the attorney for the woman identified in court papers as Jane Doe, told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that he had an initial call with the attorney general's office last week and believed it would bring in experts from outside the office, CNN reported. "She's bringing in a lot of people who are experienced prosecutors and investigators to look into these things," Giuffra said. "And they will get everything, and finally we will get what was done, what was said." ABC News has reported that Jane Doe's civil lawsuit, filed in late September 2026, alleges she was drugged and assaulted by seven former and current members of the Chi Phi fraternity on Oct. 19, 2024. Those are allegations in a lawsuit. They have not been proven in any court.

CNN reported James is under scrutiny herself over a Sept. 28 social media post, four days before her appointment, that critics said was biased in favor of Doe: "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." Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer for one of the seven former fraternity members, has called for James to recuse herself. "The concern is that her statements could reasonably be understood as accepting that the alleged conduct occurred before she assumed responsibility for determining what the evidence establishes," Miltenberg said, according to CNN. Van Houten declined to bring charges in 2024 after saying Doe had described her actions that night as "consensual," then said he would reopen the case after her lawsuit was filed, CNN reported. After he was replaced, he said, "The focus has been and should continue to be on the victims. My office will cooperate fully with the attorney general." No one has been charged. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.