Time's Up Slams New York District Attorney's Office Handling of Harvey Weinstein Case
The initiative released a public statement.
Following a publicly-released statement in which Time’s Up made a call for an investigation into the New York district attorney’s office, Governor Cuomo officially orders a review.
The alleged mishandling of the sexual assault complaint against Harvey Weinstein calls for a full relook at the case handled by the office’s head, Cyrus Vance. According to The New York Times, the 2015 sexual assault allegation against Weinstein was filed by Ambra Battilana, an Italian model. Despite her providing the New York City police with a recording of the mogul’s misconduct, the district attorney’s office decided to not prosecute Weinstein. Vance has stated that at the time there was “insufficient evidence,” which will be proved in depth in the upcoming investigation.
The Cut originally published an exclusive open letter on behalf of Time’s Up addressed to Gov. Cuomo. In the letter, the initiative shared:
“Reports that District Attorney Cyrus Vance could have been improperly influenced by Mr. Weinstein and/or his representatives, and that senior officials within the DA’s office may have sought to intimidate Battilana are particularly disturbing and merit investigation. Similarly, reports that the New York Police Department chose to isolate Battilana from Vance’s staff because they feared his office was actively working to discredit her story demand immediate scrutiny.”
Stay tuned here for further updates on the Time’s Up initiative.
