The attorney general will, if warranted, prosecute any offences found by her investigation and present evidence to a grand jury, the governor said.
James, the state’s chief legal officer, said on X that she stood ready “to lead a process guided by the facts and the law”.
“The Governor has entrusted my office with this investigation, and we do not take that responsibility lightly,” James added.
Hochul and James are scheduled to provide an update on the investigation on Friday morning local time.
The woman at the centre of the case, identified anonymously as Jane Doe in court documents, filed a civil lawsuit against the Ivy League university in September.
She alleged that she was drugged and raped by seven men at a fraternity house at the university in 2024.
She claimed that Cornell failed to protect her or adequately punish the men, who have now become known as the Cornell Seven.
The case was initially referred to Van Houten, the top prosecutor in the county, in 2024.
Van Houten said his office did not bring charges at the time because he had only seen a statement from Doe implying the incident was consensual and that she had not been drugged.
This week, his office announced it would be reopening the case – less than two weeks after Doe filed her civil lawsuit.
Cornell has said it provided evidence to the district attorney’s office from its own investigation, including a Snapchat group chat in which fraternity members discussed a “free” sexual encounter with Doe on the night of the alleged assault.
Doe’s lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, has accused the district attorney of repeatedly changing his story amid news coverage of the case.
