Update October 2, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ET: This article was updated with Megyn’s analysis and new info about the investigation; Originally published September 29, 2026 at 4:42 p.m.
Democrat New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case of the so-called “Cornell Seven” involving an alleged gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity house. The decision came days after an Ithaca, New York, district attorney reopened a 2024 investigation following a civil lawsuit filed last month by a former student, identified as “Jane Doe,” who was 20-years-old at the time of the alleged incident.
The Civil Suit
As reported on Tuesday’s AM Update, Doe filed the suit in New York County Supreme Court in Manhattan suing Cornell, seven members of its Chi Phi fraternity, the fraternity and sorority organizations, and other parties over what she alleges happened to her in October 2024. She is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Doe alleges she went to the Chi Phi house to see a friend after drinking at two bars. She claims she was already visibly intoxicated when she arrived and that two fraternity members then pressured her to use a substance they described as ketamine.
According to her lawsuit, the pair also gave her marijuana and more alcohol before several men repeatedly had sex with her, she says, without her consent over the course of the night. The lawsuit includes a screenshot of a message allegedly sent by a Chi Phi member to the fraternity’s Snapchat group at 1:42am telling members there was “free p–sy” upstairs.
Doe alleges two members took her to another room later that night where they gave her more ketamine and sexually assaulted her while she was incapacitated.
She reported the alleged assault to campus police three weeks later but no charges were filed. Her lawyer says the alleged incident led her to leave Cornell.
The D.A. Responds
In a written statement Monday, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten pointed to a six-page statement Doe signed in November 2024 in which, he claimed, she recounted events substantially differently at the time than she does in her current lawsuit.
According to the D.A.’s summary of the earlier account, Doe described agreeing to sexual activity and knowingly taking drugs. She also apparently described refusing some sexual contact, and Van Houten wrote that the men stopped when she asked them to. He argued prosecutors could not bring charges based on the facts they were given at the time.
“This decision was not because the case would have been difficult to prove in court,” he wrote, before adding: “To be clear, the credibility of the woman, who described the facts in excruciating detail, was never in question.”
Van Houten has not publicly released Doe’s signed statement, but he acknowledged to ABC News that his office relied on Cornell University Police and did not independently investigate the claims. He also said prosecutors were never given the Snapchat screenshot now included in the lawsuit.
Jane Doe’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, disputed the district attorney’s description of the original account. In a written statement to CNN, he maintained Doe’s police report was “not materially different” from the allegations in her lawsuit. According to Giuffra, Doe spoke to the officer who took her initial report, but no one from the D.A.’s office or anyone trained to interview sexual assault survivors ever contacted her. Meanwhile, he told ABC News that his client gave campus police the Snapchat messages in 2024.
In a written response reported by CBS News New York, Giuffra described Doe as traumatized and struggling to process what had happened when she first spoke to law enforcement. “It is challenging for me to understand how a thorough criminal investigation could have been conducted,” he wrote.
The Purported Discipline
The lawsuit also alleges the accused students were offered an opportunity to submit essays to reduce their discipline. According to the court filing, Cornell temporarily suspended the seven students and the Chi Phi chapter when Doe reported the incident on November 8, 2024.
Cornell began its Title IX investigation around January 2025 and held at least 12 hearings that May, according to the court filing. The university responded in a statement that its Title IX investigation involved multiple days of hearings and resulted in sanctions including suspensions and expulsions. “None of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement,” the school claimed.
Additionally, Cornell noted that it closed the Chi Phi chapter in 2024 and continues to bar it from campus. The national fraternity told CBS it condemns sexual violence but cannot discuss the specific allegations during litigation.
Hochul Appoints Special Prosecutor
A Wednesday report from The New York Times revealed what the Chi Phi fraternity brothers told university investigators in the week after Doe reported being raped. Four of the seven admitted to sexual contact with the alleged victim, but they all said it was consensual. The other three men said they did not participate in anything sexual.
The majority also said the woman did not appear intoxicated. One fraternity brother, Gillio Lopes, whose attorney appeared on The Megyn Kelly Show Wednesday, said it was the alleged victim who initiated sexual contact against him–without his consent.
None of those was mentioned during a Friday morning press conference held by Hochul and James. Here is how the governor described the situation:
HOCHUL: According to new reports, she could not have been clearer that she was 100 percent confident that she had been raped. Yet, shockingly, those words never made it into the account that the Cornell police sent to prosecutors. The attorney general then declined to pursue charges after reviewing that incomplete account and never interviewing her. Think about that. In what world would the police learn from a victim that she’d been literally gang-raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house, and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney? In what world does the district attorney not even interview her, or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript? This woman, this young woman, had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable, and then at every turn, she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her.
Despite being selective with how she outlines describing the case, Hochul promised that James–the woman who tried her hand at two high-profile, though legally dubious, prosecutions against Donald Trump–will follow the facts:
HOCHUL: That is why I’m invoking the power conferred to me as the governor of the state of New York to enlist Attorney General James as an independent special prosecutor in this case. She’ll follow the facts, she’ll examine the evidence, and go wherever it leads. And if the evidence supports criminal charges, she will pursue them. No institution gets to protect its reputation at the expense of a young person seeking justice. No public official gets to look the other way when the system breaks down and fails our young people.
And yet the governor didn’t have a good answer on why the attorney general can be trusted given that she has essentially already pronounced the young men guilty:
REPORTER: Attorney General, on your Facebook page three days ago, you wrote, “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.” But why did you affirm her allegations as fact without doing your own fact-finding investigation? And to the governor: Why did you appoint an official who made a public statement affirming those allegations as fact as someone who’s supposed to be doing an investigation?
HOCHUL: I will answer that. I have 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. That’s exactly what’s going to happen in this case.
REPORTER: Attorney General?
JAMES: I will not comment on a Facebook post.
In addition to the Facebook post the reporter referenced, James let her opinions be known during a Spectrum News interview Thursday night–just hours before she was appointed special prosecutor in the case:
JAMES: So let me just say, my heart goes out to the victim, the survivor, and I stand with her and all individuals who, unfortunately, have been the victims of sexual assault… and we look forward to the outcome and to ensure that, in fact, justice is served and there’s accountability for the survivor.
In-Depth Coverage and Legal Analysis
The reemergence of these allegations has made national headlines this week and led to a rush to implicate the men named in the civil complaint without a full understanding of Doe’s claims or New York State law regarding sexual assault and rape accusations. This week, Megyn took deep dives into the current lawsuit, what is known about Doe’s previous version of events, what the law actually says, and more. Keep scrolling for complete coverage and anaylsis.
The Questionable Circumstances
[September 30, 2026] Megyn breaks down the questionable circumstances behind the alleged Cornell “gang rape,” the timeline of the potential crime, when it was reported, whether Doe’s actions were consensual, and more.
The Key Claims in Jane Doe’s Lawsuit
[September 30, 2026] Megyn explains what stood out to her after reading Doe’s full civil suit, what the lawsuit really boils down to, the truth about the Snapchat exchange between the accused, the key parts of the 2024 sworn statement from Doe, and more.
Why the DA Didn’t Bring Charges Back in 2024
[September 30, 2026] Megyn analyzes why the D.A. didn’t bring charges in the 2024 case, why the version of events Doe told investigators in 2024 does not amount to a crime, and more.
What “Jane Doe” Said in Her 2024 Sworn Statement
[September 30, 2026] A closer look at what Doe said in her 2024 sworn statement about the drug use she willingly engaged in and the consent she gave during the alleged crime, how her story has changed now, and more.
What the New ‘Jane Doe’ Texts Reveal About the Timeline
[October 1, 2026] Megyn takes a closer look at the newly revealed text messages that fill in more of the timeline, the changing story after Doe was disinvited from a Halloween party at the Chi Phi fraternity, her comments about consent at the time, and more.
This Is Exactly What New York State Law Says
[September 30, 2026] Megyn examines exactly how New York State law relates to the Cornell case, how the actions of the young men might be morally wrong but not illegal, and more.
Irresponsible Media Coverage
[September 30, 2026] Megyn calls out the media’s irresponsible coverage of the “Cornell Seven” case, the false claims from celebrities about what actually happened, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and CNN’s Jake Tapper’s outrageous comments, Sunny Hostin making a good point, and more.
You can get Megyn’s full coverage and analysis by tuning into The Megyn Kelly Show on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111).