Just as video went public today of Harvey Weinstein apparently sexual harassing a women in a business meeting, attempts by the once high-powered producer to close down a criminal case that could see him behind bars for life was called out by the New York County District Attorney’s Office as “meritless” and that it “should be denied.” “Defendant moves to dismiss the indictment or counts thereof on various grounds of alleged defect or deficiency in the presentation of the matter to the grand jury,” said Cyrus Vance Jr’s office Wednesday in a response to a sprawling and politically charged August 3 motion to dismiss from Weinstein’s primary attorney Ben Brafman. “Inspection will reveal that the evidence before the grand jury amply supported the offenses charged, that the grand jury was properly instructed on the law, and that the integrity of the proceedings was unimpaired, and the People deny all allegations to the contrary, and oppose disclosure of the grand jury minutes to the defense,” adds the filing (read it here) in New York Supreme Court. Related Story Jimmy Bennett's Attorney Responds To Asia Argento's Allegations, Calling Them 'Slanderous' And 'Offensive' The D.A. isn’t saying more at this time, but Weinstein’s lawyer isn’t buying the response. “We believe that the People’s response in its entirety makes it absolutely clear that the case against Mr. Weinstein cannot be successfully prosecuted,” said Brafman in a statement to Deadline. “Period.” While fending off “failure to provide exculpatory email evidence” and other claims, Deputy D.A. Joan Illuzzi-Orbon’s response Wednesday is admittedly not altogether publicly complete. “As a result of recent developments, the People serve this disclosure and additional letter on the defense relating to Count Six of the indictment,” today’s filing notes of a Protective Order signed by Justice James Burke. “The investigation into facts set forth in the disclosure are ongoing, and we will respond to defendant’s motion addressing count Six at the conclusion of that investigation.” Out on $1 million bail after having plead not guilty to the first round of indictment and having surrendered his passport earlier this year, Weinstein is set to be back in Burke’s Manhattan courtroom September 20. The disgraced producer was last in court July 9 to enter another not guilty plea after the Manhattan D.A.’s office slapped him with additional and more damning sex crime charges July 2. Those charges this summer mark an additional count of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree for a forcible sexual act that allegedly occurred in 2006. Joining the two women identified in a previous indictment in late May, the new indictment relates to a new alleged victim and includes two counts of Predatory Sexual Assault. The response from the Big Apple D.A. comes the same day that Sky News revealed exclusive video of Weinstein allegedly sexually harassing Melissa Thompson in September 2011 in what was supposed to be a pitch meeting for a potential analytics service for the Weinstein Company. As detailed previously in her class action suit with Larissa Gomes and Caitlin Dulany, the video (watch the full Sky segment here) shot on Thompson’s laptop shows Weinstein being very touchy. In addition to telling Thompson he wants “a part of her,” Weinstein is apparently, out of the camera’s view, running his hands up her leg as she objects — “That’s a little high, a little high,” Thompson says in the video. In her jury-seeking action, Thompson says Weinstein raped her later that day in a nearly hotel. “What do I do?” Thompson told Sky she was thinking of the initial encounter with Weinstein. “How did I get myself here?” Also today, a hearing in federal court in New York City heard arguments on Thompson, Gomes and Dulany’s class action and matters related to motions to dismiss. That hearing resulted in the presiding judge allowing the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint, which is due by October 31. At another hearing on another case against the ex-movie mogul hit a procedural bump in the road and saw RICO claims against Weinstein in a class action by half a dozen alleged victims dismissed, for now. After telling attorneys for Louisette Geiss, Katherine Kendall, Zoe Brock, Sarah Ann Masse, Melissa Sagemiller, and Nannette Klatt that they have not meant the legal standard to demonstrate that Weinstein had a pattern of actions that constituted sex trafficking, Judge Alvin Hellerstein offered the plaintiffs another chance. They now have until October 31, a significant date it seems in the world of Weinstein, to file an amended compliant in the matter, which was first filed in December of last year. As well as being investigated by federal prosecutors and probes by the Manhattan D.A.’s office and the NYPD, allegations against Weinstein have been reviewed by the LAPD, which sent an initial trio of cases to the L.A. County D.A. on February 8. Another case was handed over to that same office early last month. As UK police continue their investigation, the Beverly Hills Police first passed two cases of sexual assault that they say occurred in their jurisdiction to Lacey’s office on January 2.<doc-sep>Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Newly released footage shows Harvey Weinstein sleazing onto a young woman in his office — just hours before the woman alleges the pervy producer raped her. The video shows Melissa Thompson, one of three women currently suing Weinstein for sexual assault, pitching her tech startup to the movie mogul at The Weinstein Company offices in 2011. Their meeting begins with a hug — where Weinstein rubs her back and says, “That’s nice, let’s keep it up” — then the clip cuts to Thompson, 28, giving her pitch. At one point, she jokes: “Data’s so hot right now.” “It is hot. You’re hot,” Weinstein replies. “Let me have a little part of you. Give it to me. It’s okay, would you like to do it some more?” It’s not clear what he is doing off camera, but she replies: “That’s a little high, that’s a little high.” He then strokes her arm while she continues trying to discuss her business. After the meeting, she says, Weinstein arranged to meet her a few hours later at a hotel lobby, where she thought they were going to close the deal, according to Sky News. Instead, she alleges, he lured her to his hotel room, where he raped her. Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyer told Sky the video had been edited to obscure “casual — if not awkward — flirting from both parties.”<doc-sep>Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A prominent law firm that formerly represented Harvey Weinstein handed over a $25,000 check to Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s campaign six days before the governor called off a probe into the handling of sexual misconduct allegations against the disgraced movie mogul, public records show. The hefty contribution from Manhattan firm Boies Schiller & Flexner came on June 20, according to records on the state Board of Elections website. Less than a week later, Cuomo called for a six-month halt of state Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s investigation into Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance for deciding not to prosecute Weinstein for a 2015 groping incident. The temporary suspension was ordered to avoid interfering with Weinstein’s ongoing criminal case. Weinstein was previously represented by David Boies — whose firm was caught in a conflict-of-interest debacle after the New Yorker published its bombshell report on the slew of sexual-assault allegations against the producer. Boies’ firm had hired and paid private investigative companies to dig up dirt on Weinstein accusers — while at the same time representing the New York Times, which also published a report on the Weinstein allegations. A spokesperson for Boiles Schiller & Flexner — which also made a $25,000 contribution to Cuomo’s re-election campaign in 2017 — defended the donations. “Neither Mr. Boies, nor anyone from his firm, ever discussed Harvey Weinstein or Mr. Vance with Mr. Cuomo, or anyone from his office, at any time,” the spokesperson told online political publication Capital and Main. “Mr. Boies is a longtime supporter of Mr. Cuomo and his contribution in June was consistent with his contributions to Mr. Cuomo over years past.” Vance came under fire after it was revealed he received $55,000 in campaign contributions from Boies — including $10,000 after Manhattan’s top prosecutor opted not to charge Weinstein. A Cuomo spokesman told the website: “The attorney general’s investigation was suspended to avoid situations in which Weinstein’s defense attorneys would be able to constantly petition the attorney general’s office for information about what they uncovered and undermine a criminal prosecution.”<doc-sep>(CNN) — Harvey Weinstein is facing new allegations of sex trafficking and rape. A German actress, using the pseudonym Emma Loman, filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles on Monday, alleging that Weinstein raped her during the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. She is suing Weinstein for violation of human trafficking laws, assault, battery and false imprisonment, according to court documents obtained by CNN. “Our client brings her claims in an effort to achieve justice for herself, and she hopes that by doing so she can help open the door to justice for the women in her industry who have undergone similar experiences,” John G. Balestriere, the attorney handling Loman’s claim, said in a statement to CNN. “Mr. Weinstein must answer these allegations and be held accountable for any damage he has caused our client.” Phyllis Kupferstein, an attorney representing Weinstein, told CNN in a statement, “This lawsuit is an attempt to continue the legal barrage and public attention on Mr. Weinstein. The allegations are untrue and the claims are barred by the statute of limitations. We intend to immediately move to dismiss the complaint.” According to the suit, Loman said she met with Weinstein at his hotel suite in Cannes, France to discuss starring in an upcoming film project he was producing, but he soon started making sexual advances towards her. “Upon arriving at Weinstein’s suite, however, Weinstein quickly dropped his professional demeanor,” the suit states. “He instead overpowered Loman and raped her. Shocked and betrayed, Loman did not know what to do. Furthering Loman’s disorientation, Weinstein proceeded to treat the rape like a standard component of their business, as if the professional discussion he offered Loman had actually taken place.” Related: Harvey Weinstein seeks dismissal of indictment due to emails between him and accuser Loman also claims that Weinstein threatened her not to speak of the assault. This is the second sex trafficking case filed against Weinstein. Last week, a federal judge in New York ruled that British actress Kadian Noble can move forward with her sex trafficking lawsuit against the disgraced media mogul. Noble accuses Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in a hotel bathroom in Cannes, France in 2014 after luring her with talk of a potential movie role. Noble filed suit in November against Harvey Weinstein and his brother and then-business partner Bob Weinstein. US District Court Judge Robert W. Sweet granted Bob Weinstein’s motion for dismissal but denied one from Harvey Weinstein. The judge wrote it would be the first instance in which a plaintiff asked for the Trafficking Victims Protections Act to be applied to conduct like that alleged in the lawsuit. Weinstein’s lawyer said the act should not be applied. “A typical sex trafficking case is someone who lures underage girls on the promise of a green card and locking them up in a basement and forcing them to have sex for money,” Kupferstein said in a statement at the time. Weinstein, who also is facing criminal charges in New York, has denied all allegations of “non-consensual sexual activity.” Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to six felony sex crimes – two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of rape, one first-degree criminal sex act charge and one criminal sex act. Related: Sex trafficking lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein can proceed, judge rules The charges stem from allegations from three women, according to court documents. Weinstein remains free after posting $1 million cash bail. The charges against Weinstein came nine months after The New Yorker and The New York Times published accounts from several women accusing him of various forms of sexual misconduct. In a recent interview with CNN, Ben Brafman, Weinstein’s New York criminal attorney, said it would be “difficult but not impossible” to seat an impartial jury should Weinstein’s case move forward to trial. “I hope to find 12 people in Manhattan who may have heard a lot of the allegations against Mr. Weinstein but will give the court their sworn assurances that they will decide this case based on the evidence that comes into the courtroom and not on what they made have read, or what they may have heard,” Brafman said. “I think part of what we’re trying to suggest in these motions to dismiss is that contrary to what people may have read and may have heard, there is another side here.” CNN’s Cheri Mossburg and Judy Oehling contribute to this report.<doc-sep>
Accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein goes to court in Manhattan next week for the first major proceeding in his criminal case as prosecutors push back on his efforts to get the case dismissed. Meanwhile, a newly revealed video shows him propositioning a woman who later accused him of rape. The fallen movie mogul has been charged with six counts of sexual assault involving three women that allegedly took place in New York City in 2004, 2006 and 2013. A motions hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 20. Weinstein is seeking to throw out the charges on multiple grounds, including alleged failure by Manhattan prosecutors to disclose "exculpatory" evidence of his "long-term intimate consensual" relationship with one of the accusers. Weinstein says he has never engaged in nonconsensual sex and he has the friendly, flirty emails and texts to back him up, at least with regard to one accuser. He says the case should be dismissed because prosecutors failed to show those emails to the grand jury that indicted him. On Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon filed the prosecution's response, citing law and case precedents to reject Weinstein's arguments. Prosecutors are under no obligation to present all evidence favorable to a defendant to a grand jury, she noted. Besides, the emails Weinstein cites do not exonerate him. "Defendant does not allege, because he cannot, that any of the emails contain a denial of the charged rape," she said. "Rather, the defendant claims that, at most, the emails could suggest a state of mind inconsistent with what defendant feels should be that of a rape victim." Meanwhile, British viewers of Sky News on Wednesday were treated to a video of Weinstein meeting with a businesswoman, Melissa Thompson, at his New York office in 2011. She was there to pitch him a business technology product. He is seen hugging and caressing her and rubbing her back. "So am I allowed to flirt with you?" he asks her. "Ummm we'll see, a little bit," she replies. Thompson told Sky that after the meeting, which she recorded on her laptop, Weinstein raped her in a nearby hotel room, which Weinstein denies. Thompson is not one of the accusers in the criminal case but she is one of the plaintiffs in a class-action suit against Weinstein. The video she showed to Sky News, which she refused to share with The Associated Press, is only a portion of a longer video. Sky News reported it did not pay her for the video, nor did she request it. After agreeing to use her product to promote his movies, Thompson said Weinstein put his hand up her dress. "Let me have a little part of you. Can you give it to me?" he says. The video, which only shows the two from the waist up, doesn't show Weinstein's hands at that point, but does show Thompson reacting with discomfort and telling Weinstein, "That's too high. That's too high." It also shows her joking about his advances, saying that "data is hot." Thompson, who had previously worked on Wall Street, rejected suggestions that she encouraged Weinstein's behavior. "I never met anyone that I couldn't handle until Harvey Weinstein," she said. "We don't have to live with being raped when we think we're going to a business meeting." Weinstein's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said the full video "demonstrates that there is nothing forceful" and shows "casual, if not awkward, flirting from both parties." "(The video) was produced by Ms. Thompson to bolster her position in a civil lawsuit seeking money," said Brafman in a statement to USA TODAY. "Any suggestion of sexual misconduct is false. This is a further attempt to publicly disgrace Mr. Weinstein for financial gain, and we will not stand for it.“ Contributing: The Associated Press