ALBANY - Four women have accused New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of physical violence that was not consensual.
In an article posted Monday evening, The New Yorker detailed allegations from four women that had romantic relationships or encounters with the Democratic attorney general.
All four accused Schneiderman of striking them in various forms, including one woman who said he slapped her and choked her in bed without her consent, according to the article.
Two of the women — Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam — told their stories on the record, while a third spoke under the condition of anonymity and a fourth told her story to Manning Barish and Selvaratnam.
Manning Barish told The New Yorker she and Schneiderman had been clothed and getting ready for bed after drinking one night when he backed her to the edge of the bed before abruptly slapping and choking her.
"All of a sudden, he just slapped me, open handed and with great force, across the face, landing the blow directly onto my ear,” Manning Barish says.
In a statement, Schneiderman denied ever assaulting anyone.
"In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity," he said in the statement. "I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in non-consensual sex, which is I line I would not cross."
A spokesman did not immediately respond to an email asking whether Schneiderman intends to remain in office.
Schneiderman has positioned himself as a champion of the #MeToo movement, suing Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company in the wake of the sexual-harassment scandal that spurred a national reckoning over the way men treat women.
The attorney general is also in the midst of a review of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's handling of a sexual-assault complaint against Weinstein. Schneiderman received an official referral for the review from Gov. Andrew Cuomo late last month.
"Every New Yorker has a right to a workplace free of sexual harassment, intimidation, and fear," Schneiderman said when he filed the Weinstein lawsuit in February.
Manning Barish told The New Yorker she was "crying and in shock" after the alleged incident with Schneiderman.
When she confronted him, asking if he "crazy," Schneiderman accused Manning Barish of scratching him, she told the magazine.
“You know, hitting an officer of the law is a felony," he said, according to Manning Barish.
UltraViolet, a women's advocacy group, called on Schneiderman to resign immediately, calling his alleged actions "horrific."
"Schneiderman must resign. Immediately," Shaunna Thomas, a co-founder of the group, said in a statement. "If he fails to do so, Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature must take immediate action to remove him from office."
