New York AG Letitia James sued by former aide who claims she covered for chief of staff of ten years

A former assistant is suing New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleging that her office covered up her former chief of staff, who “forcefully stuck his tongue down her throat” at a 2021 fundraiser.

James has publicly backed Ibrahim Khan’s accusers, but former employee Sofia Quintanar, 33, alleges the attorney general looked the other way as he sexually harassed her and other women.

Quintanar claims that Khan, who served James as chief of staff for a decade, was said to be “on holiday or with a sick relative” when in fact he was suspended pending an investigation.

Khan, who has been a top adviser to James for nearly a decade, resigned amid the investigation, which comes a year after her investigation into harassment allegations against then-Governor Andrew Cuomo resulted in his resignation.

He was allowed to resign on November 22, before the investigation was finished, and is still being paid until the end of the year.

Quintanar specifically alleges that Khan “forcefully shoved his tongue down his throat at a political fundraiser in Brooklyn” on November 17, 2021, during James’ brief run for governor of New York.

The lawsuit is for unspecified damages and lists James’ office and campaign in allegations of negligence, discrimination and retaliation.

It also accuses James of allowing a press officer to resign “under similar circumstances” in 2019.

Quintanar worked as James’ deputy press secretary in 2020 and left to work on Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s write-in re-election campaign in the summer of 2021.

She was looking for a new job towards the end of the campaign, which led her to attend the fundraiser where Khan allegedly assaulted her.

The lawsuit says Khan initially invited her and a friend to drink before luring her outside, claiming it was too noisy inside, when he put the weight of his hand on Quintanar’s shoulder and pushed her face forward aggressively to kiss her, without say a word word.’

He then “stuck his tongue down her throat, still holding onto her shoulder.”

The lawsuit alleges that Khan then tried to kiss Quintanar again, before she backed down and asked: ‘Aren’t you married?’ ‘Don’t you have children?’ And what are you doing?’

Quintanar alleged that Khan “continued to follow” her and her friend until she left.

In a statement, he said: “While I fear the effect this could have on my career, I know that fear should never get in the way of doing the right thing.” I hope that I can give other survivors the courage to find their voice and hold those in positions of power accountable for their actions when they demonstrate the belief that they are above the law.’

The allegations were filed before James’ successful re-election bid for attorney general, according to the New York Post.

Khan’s investigation covered at least two allegations of sexual harassment of women, one of which included allegations of unwanted kissing and inappropriate touching, the other New York Times first reported.

Khan defended himself in a statement to the Times, claiming the allegations were found to be unsubstantiated and saying he would resign for unrelated reasons.

A spokesman for James confirmed Khan’s resignation following an investigation into “misconduct” in a statement to DailyMail.com, but declined to comment on the allegations or the findings of the investigation.

James then spoke to NY1 on the accusations: ‘I’m angry. I’m angry because he was my chief of staff for ten years. Deeply disappointed in him. And there is no excuse for his behavior at all. None at all. I believe in these women.

She said the allegations surfaced in October, which is the last time she remembers speaking to Khan.

However, Khan had previously been charged with forcibly kissing a woman in a bar in 2014, when James was a public defender.

James claimed that the allegation did not reach her until 2017 and that it was passed on to officials, who found the allegations “baseless.”

He claimed not to know why the accusation did not reach him sooner.

A spokesman for James said of the suit: “We take seriously the allegations brought to our office and have taken decisive, prompt and appropriate action.”

New York’s top Democrats have defended James, with Mayor Eric Adams saying last week: “I don’t think I know of a better advocate for women than Tish James.” Tish James is a real voice for women in leadership. And I think she’s extremely capable of research.

Governor Kathy Hochul believes James followed proper procedure and told her NY1: ‘We must be clear in condemning sexual harassment wherever it arises. There has to be responsibility. And I understand that measures were taken for that.

The allegations are particularly sensitive for James following his high-profile investigation of similar claims against Cuomo.

His August 2021 report concluded that the Democrat had engaged in unwanted groping, kissing and sexual comments. Cuomo denied touching anyone inappropriately.

Khan has been a top aide to James since her days as a New York City Public Defender nearly a decade ago.

He was her campaign manager for her successful run for state attorney general in 2018 and later joined her office as chief of staff.

James, who abandoned a brief run for New York governor to seek another term as top state attorney, was re-elected last month and will begin her second term on January 1.

When asked about Khan’s resignation on Friday, a spokesman for James said: “The Attorney General’s Office has protocols in place to fully investigate any allegations of misconduct.”

‘The office takes these matters very seriously, and this situation is no different. An independent and impartial investigation was conducted and the employee has since resigned,” the statement added.

Khan did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but insisted in a statement to the Times that his departure was not related to the misconduct investigation.

“He was scheduled to leave office for the private sector at the end of this year,” he said in the statement, claiming his departure was linked to the end of James’ first term.

“This is unrelated to an investigation which, however, found no official workplace misconduct,” adding that he “is proud of all we’ve accomplished over the past four years in service to New Yorkers.”

Khan’s claim that the investigation did not substantiate the allegations could not be immediately confirmed, and the attorney general’s office declined to describe the findings when asked.

One of the accusers told the Times she was told Friday that her allegation of inappropriate touching and unwanted kissing had been substantiated.

A person familiar with the matter told DailyMail.com that the incidents in question occurred over a year ago, but only came to the attention of the attorney general’s office in recent weeks.

The source said the women who made the allegations were not employees of the Attorney General’s Office at the time of the alleged misconduct.

The person said that none of the complaints were delivered directly to the attorney general’s office by the women involved, but were instead passed through a series of “political advisers” similar to a game of “phone.”

Once the allegations surfaced, an outside law firm was brought in to conduct an independent investigation.

The ‘substantive part’ of the investigation has now been concluded, according to the source, who declined to comment on the findings that emerged.