(TRIGGER WARNING) New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigns after domestic violence scandal

Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General, has announced that he will resign from office, effective "at the close of business" tomorrow.

The reason why Schneiderman is resigning from office is because four women have accused Schneiderman of physically abusing them:

Now Schneiderman is facing a reckoning of his own. As his prominence as a voice against sexual misconduct has risen, so, too, has the distress of four women with whom he has had romantic relationships or encounters. They accuse Schneiderman of having subjected them to nonconsensual physical violence. All have been reluctant to speak out, fearing reprisal. But two of the women, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, have talked to The New Yorker on the record, because they feel that doing so could protect other women. They allege that he repeatedly hit them, often after drinking, frequently in bed and never with their consent. Manning Barish and Selvaratnam categorize the abuse he inflicted on them as “assault.” 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. Selvaratnam says that Schneiderman warned her he could have her followed and her phones tapped, and both say that he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him. (Schneiderman’s spokesperson said that he “never made any of these threats.”)

A third former romantic partner of Schneiderman’s told Manning Barish and Selvaratnam that he also repeatedly subjected her to nonconsensual physical violence, but she told them that she is too frightened of him to come forward. (The New Yorker has independently vetted the accounts that they gave of her allegations.) A fourth woman, an attorney who has held prominent positions in the New York legal community, says that Schneiderman made an advance toward her; when she rebuffed him, he slapped her across the face with such force that it left a mark that lingered the next day. She recalls screaming in surprise and pain, and beginning to cry, and says that she felt frightened. She has asked to remain unidentified, but shared a photograph of the injury with The New Yorker.

The women who came forward are brave women who were treated in a disgustingly horrific manner by Schneiderman, and I completely believe their stories. No person in this country should ever be subjected to domestic violence, but, sadly, domestic violence is far too commonplace in American society. While Schneiderman has resigned from office, I find it disgusting that Schneiderman has refused to take responsibility for his reprehensible actions.

Whoever the next New York Attorney General happens to be should hold President Trump and his cronies accountable to the laws of the State of New York in instances where the State of New York has jurisdiction, and that the next New York Attorney General should be someone who is fully committed to holding the rich and powerful accountable.