New York Solicitor General Barbara Underwood will step in as the state’s acting attorney general after current Attorney General Eric Schneiderman abruptly announced his resignation from the post Monday night in the wake of allegations of abuse.
A spokeswoman for the New York Attorney General’s Office confirmed via Twitter on Tuesday that Underwood would serve as acting attorney general.
“This morning, I’m grateful to work with the best colleagues in the business—including Barbara Underwood, who will be acting NY AG,” Amy Spitalnick, the spokeswoman, tweeted Tuesday.
This morning, I’m grateful to work with the best colleagues in the business – including Barbara Underwood, who will be acting NY AG. She’s argued 20 cases before SCOTUS, clerked for Thurgood Marshall, & much more. The work continues.
— Amy Spitalnick (@amyspitalnick) May 8, 2018
Underwood became the state’s solicitor general in 2007 and previously worked for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, according to her biography on the New York attorney general’s website. She served as the acting solicitor general and principal deputy solicitor general of the U.S. from 1998 to 2001, and has also held top positions in the Queens and Brooklyn District Attorney’s Offices.
Underwood has argued 20 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Schneiderman, a Democrat, announced Monday night he would step down from his position as attorney general, effective close of business Tuesday.
His resignation came three hours after the New Yorker published an article detailing allegations of physical abuse from four women, two of whom spoke on the record.
Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam accused Schneiderman of hitting them several times while in bed and without their consent. The women said they received medical attention after the incidents.
A third woman said the New York attorney general was also violent with her, and a fourth said he slapped her in the face after she rejected his advances.
Schneiderman denied the allegations.
“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 nonconsensual sex, which is a line I would not cross,” he said in a statement.
After the women went public with the allegations against the attorney general, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., called for Schneiderman to resign.
In New York, the state Senate and Assembly will appoint a successor to serve out the remainder of Schneiderman’s term, which concludes at the end of the year.
The election for attorney general will be held this year.
