"In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity," the attorney general said Monday in response to the allegations. "I have not assaulted anyone," he said, adding that engaging in non-consensual sex "is a line I would not cross."
Weeks ago, Schneiderman commended the New Yorker and New York Times for reporting on the #MeToo movement, which saw dozens of women speak out publicly and in confidence about their experiences being sexually violated by characters who were frequently — but of course, not always — old, white, wealthy and powerful, including most notoriously movie producer Harvey Weinstein, House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey and now-former-US Senator Al Franken. The list goes on and is too long to include here.
Without women speaking up, "there would not be a critical national reckoning under way," he said at the time.
Two of the four women have publicly identified themselves, namely Michelle Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, "because they feel that doing so could protect other women," according to the outlet.
"They allege that he repeatedly hit them, often after drinking, frequently in bed and never with their consent… They did not report their allegations to the police at the time, but both say that they eventually sought medical attention after having been slapped hard across the ear and face and also choked," the New Yorker reports.
"Schneiderman warned [Selvaratnam] he could have her followed and her phones tapped, and both say that he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him," according to the report.
While it may be pure coincidence due to the volume of President Donald Trump's Twitter history, at one point the president the president categorized Schneiderman with the likes of teenage girl sexter Anthony Wiener and former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, who spent a lot of money on sex workers while in office before eventually resigning.
Sitting NY Governor Andrew Cuomo called for Schneiderman's resignation Monday evening, in a statement he said "My personal opinion is that, given the damning pattern of facts and corroboration laid out in the article, I do not believe it is possible for Eric Schneiderman to continue to serve as Attorney General."