For the second time this week, one of the men accused in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting a woman at Cornell University has asked a judge to remove the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, from leading a criminal investigation into the matter.
In a motion filed Thursday in Tompkins County, N.Y., lawyers for the man, a Cornell student named Winston Lee, said that Ms. James should be removed from the inquiry because her previous public statements in support of the woman had “prejudiced grand jurors” against the man, among other reasons.
The motion cited social media posts by Ms. James in which she referred to the woman, now known as Jane Doe, as a survivor, said that what she had been “forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable” and added that she was holding the woman in her heart and prayers.
The posts were made on Sept. 28, the same day that the Tompkins County district attorney, Matthew Van Houten, issued a statement saying he would reopen a criminal inquiry into the claims by Jane Doe, who said in her lawsuit that she had been sexually assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity in 2024. Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Ms. James as special prosecutor days later, saying she had lost faith in Mr. Van Houten.
A spokeswoman for Ms. James said she is “committed to conducting a comprehensive review of nothing but the facts, the evidence, and the law.”
In a filing accompanying Thursday’s motion, the lawyers, Teny R. Geragos, Marc Agnifilo and Jacob Kaplan, said that Jane Doe’s accusations had cast a harsh glare on Mr. Lee and the other accused men, generating tens of thousands of media and internet mentions.
All of the men have denied any wrongdoing. None have been charged with a crime.
And perhaps none comes from a more prominent family than does Mr. Lee — who records and interviews show is the grandson of a former prime minister of South Korea.
The grandfather, Lee Hong-koo, was a major figure in South Korean politics, holding top posts in three different administrations, including unification minister, deputy prime minister and ambassador to Washington and London. After leaving public office he wrote a newspaper column, organized public forums and helped start research groups. He was 92 when he died earlier this year.
In South Korea, prominent families like his maintain meticulous genealogical records that trace their lineage back for centuries. His only son, Winston Lee’s father, Hyun Woo Lee, is a finance executive based in Hong Kong.
He did not respond to requests for comment.
The late prime minister’s family lineage book, which is public, says he had a grandson with the same Korean name as Winston Lee, who is identified an internal Cornell document as Winston Joonhyung Lee — an apparent transliteration of his Korean given name.
The grandson’s date of birth listed in that lineage book matches the birthday given for Winston Lee in a Cornell campus document.
In interviews with Cornell investigators, Winston Lee said that he had studied at a Christian school, where he “went to choir,” and also attended a boarding school in Wales, the university documents show.
The Christian school in question appears to be Seoul Foreign School, a prestigious institution in South Korea’s capital.
In her lawsuit, Jane Doe accused Winston Lee of sexually assaulting her after a fellow fraternity member sent a Snapchat message inviting others into a room with her. She also said that Winston Lee made lines of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, for her to snort beforehand.
Mr. Van Houten, the district attorney who first reviewed the case in November 2024, declined to prosecute then.
But following a university investigation that concluded in May 2025, Winston Lee was given a two-year suspension and placed on three semesters of disciplinary probation.
In interviews with Cornell investigators, he maintained that his sexual contact with Jane Doe was consensual, the records show. He also said that at one point he inhaled ketamine off her abdomen with her consent. Winston Lee’s “support person” during the proceedings was his father, who identified himself as H.W. Lee.
The law firm Winston Lee has now hired, Agnifilo Intrater, also represents Luigi Mangione, who admitted to fatally shooting the chief executive of United Healthcare, and has also defended the fallen hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, and the disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
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