New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman under investigation after abuse allegations force him to resign

Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr has opened an investigation into allegations of physical abuse against former New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, who resigned from his position after four women came forward with their accusations in The New Yorker.

Mr Schneiderman has been accused of hitting women he was in a romantic relationship with during sexual encounters. The former district attorney says that all of his interactions with the women who have accused him were consensual, and that he would not cross the line into non-consensual sexual encounters.

“In the privacy of intimate relationships I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in non-consensual sex, which is a line I would not cross,” Mr Schneiderman said in a statement following the allegations.

The accusations were made public on Monday night in The New Yorker magazine and resulted in his swift resignation. The women described being slapped, choked, verbally abused and threatened by Mr Schneiderman. Some of the women also described Mr Schneiderman as a heavy drinker.

The resignation marked a stunning fall from grace for Mr Schneiderman, who had been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement that has seen women coming forward with accusations of sexual abuse or harassment from powerful men in the past year.

His office had started an investigation into allegations made against former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by dozens of women who say he used his stature as a star maker in the movie industry to force them to have sexual encounters with him, or face retribution for rebuffing him.

Those allegations were largely aired in The New Yorker as well, and Mr Schneiderman even congratulated the reporters involved for revealing the allegations against Mr Weinstein after they won a Pulitzer Prize for their work this year.

While the abuse allegations against Mr Schneiderman were said to have happened during otherwise romantic encounters, the women said they did not consent to the violence.

The New York Police Department has said they have not received any complaints against the disgraced former attorney general, but that they would investigate thoroughly if anyone does come forward with allegations.

Mr Schneiderman has been replaced temporarily with state solicitor general Barbara Underwood.

“In the last several hours serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me,” Mr Schneiderman said in a statement late on Monday. “While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time.”

His resignation is effective at the close of Tuesday, he said.

Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam were the two women who agreed to air their allegations publicly in The New Yorker, and said that the violence escalated over time. Ms Barish said she was involved with Mr Schneiderman from mid-2013 until the end of 2014. Ms Selvaratnam said she was involved with him from the summer of 2016 until autumn 2017.

“After the most difficult month of my life – I spoke up. For my daughter and for all women. I could not remain silent and encourage other women to be brave for me. I could not,” Ms Barish wrote on Twitter after The New Yorker story was published.