Manhattan D.A. Vance, Probed by Schneiderman, Turns the Table

(Bloomberg) -- First Eric Schneiderman was investigating Cy Vance Jr. Now Cy Vance Jr. is investigating Eric Schneiderman.

Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, is examining reports that Schneiderman struck or assaulted several women, said Danny Frost, a spokesman for the office. Those allegations, reported late Monday in the New Yorker, led to Schneiderman’s abrupt resignation as New York’s attorney general on Monday night.

Schneiderman’s fall comes two months after he was asked by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to investigate Vance’s work. The request centered on Vance’s decision in 2015 to not prosecute Harvey Weinstein over allegations that the movie mogul had groped an Italian model.

Vance’s decision to drop the Weinstein matter came under scrutiny after the New York Times and the New Yorker reported last year that the Miramax Films founder had assaulted or forced himself on a series of women over a period of years.

The revelation that Vance’s office had dropped an investigation into Weinstein proved an embarrassment for the D.A.’s office after Weinstein’s conduct was subsequently exposed. Vance had secret recordings of Weinstein talking about his conduct with the Italian model, which Vance called “sickening,” but he determined them to be inconclusive.

The status of the inquiry into Vance’s handling of the Weinstein matter isn’t clear.

• Editor’s note: On May 9, the counsel to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it would be “absurd” for Vance to investigate an office that was simultaneously investigating his own. Read more here: Nassau County D.A., Not Vance, Will Probe Schneiderman, NY Says

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Farrell in New York at gregfarrell@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey D Grocott at jgrocott2@bloomberg.net, David S. Joachim

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