Scott Stringer’s sex abuse accuser lodges formal complaint with N.Y. Attorney General James
The lobbyist who last week accused New York City mayoral candidate Scott Stringer of sexually abusing her filed a formal complaint with state Attorney General Letitia James’ office Tuesday, upping the ante on the bombshell accusations that have already drastically reshaped this year’s mayor’s race.
Stringer’s accuser, Jean Kim, announced the move in a brief written statement from her attorney Patricia Pastor, who said Kim plans to “participate fully with the OAG in any investigation it conducts into this matter.”
A source in James’ office acknowledged receiving the complaint and said they are reviewing it.
That statement comes just a few days after the same source said the city Department of Investigation or the Commission on Human Rights might be the more appropriate agencies to mount a probe into Kim’s allegations.
Pastor did not immediately respond about whether she or Kim had lodged complaints formally with those entities.
Stringer, who currently serves as city comptroller, allegedly groped and pressured Kim to have sex with him 20 years ago when he was serving as a state Assemblyman and running for public advocate.
He has strenuously denied Kim’s accusations and has gone so far as to label many of her lawyer’s statements as demonstrably false. But that hasn’t prevented many of his supporters from abandoning him. Several high-profile endorsers — including the Working Families Party and Rep. Adriano Espaillat — announced last week and over the weekend that they were rescinding their endorsements of his City Hall run.
On Tuesday, Stringer’s campaign spokesman Tyrone Stevens said the long-time politician is all for an independent probe into Kim’s allegations.
“We welcome examination of this false allegation by any independent third party, whether that be a government agency or journalist,” he said.
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