Exclusive text messages reveal new details in alleged gang rape at Cornell University

By Mahsa Saeidi

Exclusively obtained screenshots of text messages reveal new details of the Cornell University alleged gang rape lawsuit.

A former student said she was drugged and raped inside the Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024. Prosecutors said they are reopening the investigation into the alleged incident Monday. The Tompkins County district attorney said the victim’s original statement does not match the claims in a recently filed civil lawsuit.   

CBS News New York Investigative Reporter Mahsa Saeidi received new screenshots from a source. The source said they show texts between the former student, identified as Jane Doe, and one of the defendants accused of rape in the lawsuit. 

The messages were sent just two days after the alleged assault. 

Screenshots of new texts

The man started by apologizing for “how things went down.” He said his memory is “kinda fuzzy,” and that he and another man feel bad for being too intoxicated to “shut it down and kick people out before it got way out of hand.”

The woman in the text chain replied that her memory is “super clouded too,” and said they had all been heavily intoxicated. 

She also wrote, “non(e) of the sexual stuff was illegal.” She said she liked being with him and another man. Later, she suggested they smoke together again, “but like leave out the extra 5 billion men and ketamine.” 

CBS News New York also exclusively obtained video of the fraternity’s group Snapchat conversation.

Doe’s attorney said she was in denial

Doe’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, confirmed she exchanged texts with this defendant shortly after the alleged assault, but he could not confirm whether these were the specific texts.

Giuffra said Doe was in denial and traumatized shortly after the alleged assaults. He said she was intoxicated to the point of incapacity that night and was trying to find out what happened.

He said Doe felt like she would not take an aggressive tone with this defendant if she wanted answers.

Giuffra said it’s his understanding that these text messages were presented during Cornell’s Title IX proceedings. He said he believes the panel recognized Doe was in denial.

Giuffra said this defendant’s expulsion suggests to him that they did not consider the messages to be significant. He is arguing investigators failed to fully follow up on evidence.

“Not one of these guys was arrested. Not one. That I can tell you for a fact,” he said.

CBS News New York spoke with Giuffra last week before obtaining the screenshots and before the district attorney announced he was reopening the case. 

Giuffra explained what Cornell had meant to Doe.

“She came from a small town,” he said. “Since she was a little girl, she wanted to go to Cornell. She worked really hard in school, worked really hard to get there. This was the pinnacle. This was the realization of her dream, and then this happens to her.”

He also disputes the district attorney’s account of Doe’s statement, saying it’s not materially different from the lawsuit.

Two other defendants in the lawsuit also both deny the allegations.