New York AG Chief Faces Misconduct Probe

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference at the office of the Attorney General in New York on Sept. 21, 2022. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Ibrahim Khan, the chief of staff for New York Attorney General Letitia James, is under investigation for misconduct and has resigned from his post.

Khan, who has been a close political adviser to James for almost a decade, said in a Dec. 2 statement that he had already planned to depart from the post by Dec. 31, which marks the end of James’ first term, according to The New York Times. James was reelected for a second term in November. The resignation is “unrelated” to an investigation that he claimed found “no workplace misconduct.”

In a statement, James’ office confirmed the resignation. “The Office of Attorney General has protocols in place to thoroughly investigate any allegation of misconduct,” the statement said.

“The office takes these matters with the utmost seriousness, and this situation is no different. An independent, impartial investigation was conducted, and the employee has since resigned.”

Before working for James, Khan had worked for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008. He worked for James from 2013 when she was the New York City Public Advocate. Khan has also worked as a government affairs and political consultant. He now intends to enter the private sector.

Alleged Sexual Harassment

The New York Times also reported that the matter of Khan’s misconduct investigation involves at least two sexual harassment allegations.

According to the outlet, Khan has been accused of unwanted kissing and inappropriate touching by at least one woman. James hired a law firm to investigate the matter.

A spokesperson for former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo blamed James for “actively lying” about her probe of Khan.

“This is more proof that Tish James has corrupted the AG’s office, abusing power to further her own political ambitions through a sham report,” spokesman Rich Azzopardi said in a statement to the New York Post.

“She ‘believes all women’ when it’s in her political interest—otherwise, she attacks the accuser or covers up the complaint.”

Cuomo was forced out of his office last year following a sexual harassment probe conducted by James. He filed an ethics complaint against the AG in September.

When investigators hired by James had found that Cuomo had sexually harassed multiple women over a period of seven years, she had insisted that “no man—no matter how powerful—can be allowed to harass women,” according to The New York Times.

The allegations leveled against Khan are now being reviewed by Littler Mendelson, a global law firm. According to a Dec. 3 tweet by reporter Zack Fink, the Comptroller’s Office has not approved any contracts to hire an outside law firm to investigate allegations against Khan.