We Need to Talk About Hillary Clinton’s Disturbing Harvey Weinstein Ties

In liberal establishment circles, not much is made of Hillary and Bill Clinton’s ties to Harvey Weinstein. The Clintons deny knowledge of Weinstein’s reputation in the industry, though there was a decades-long rumor mill in Hollywood and prolific whisper network amongst employees at Miramax and subsequently The Weinstein Company, where the producer enmeshed his assistants and executives in his sexual assault plots. But ahead of the March 6 Hulu release of the television docuseries Hillary, which was originally slated to be produced by Weinstein right up until the bombshell allegations against him were published by The New York Times and The New Yorker—and which conveniently overlooks their mutually beneficial relationship—it’s time to give their alliance a second look. (Full disclosure: I was a member of The New Yorker’s editorial team when Ronan Farrow’s initial reportage came out.)

Who politicians take money from, especially when those politicians are willing to seek out lavish donations and lip service from the rich, is of interest to the public; and by avoiding scrutiny into exactly what these politicians know about who they associate with, we condone a political system swept up in cynical corporatism as well as abuse. In response to an October 2017 follow-up story about the network of powerful enablers surrounding Weinstein, Hillary’s lawyer Robert Barnett told the Times that talks about the docuseries ceased once allegations about Weinstein were published, but it’s easy to imagine that the Clintons must have at least caught wind of these allegations, as well as the idea that they were likely to become public, much earlier. (On Feb. 24, a New York City jury found Weinstein guilty on one count of rape in the third degree and one count of a criminal sexual act.)

As many outlets have reported, Weinstein has strong ties to both the Clintons and the Obamas, as well as to the Democratic Party establishment overall. Weinstein has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats since the ‘90s, and has hosted fundraisers for candidates and even a birthday party for Hillary in 2000, during her candidacy for senator of New York. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was a Republican but is now in the race for the Democratic presidential primary, also had a “years long, mutually beneficial relationship” with Weinstein, as reported by Fox Business. (Bloomberg’s “company, through its male managers and employees from Chief Executive Officer Bloomberg on down, engaged in a pattern and practice of sexual harassment, sexual degradation of women,” according to one lawsuit; that multi-billion dollar corporation has had several women sign NDAs.) . . .

The Times has also reported that political allies tried to warn Hillary Clinton about his behavior. Both Lena Dunham and Tina Brown (former editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast) allege that they told Hillary’s aides about the stories going around about Weinstein—Brown says she did so in 2002, and Dunham in 2016, during Hillary’s presidential campaign. There’s also reporter Ronan Farrow’s claims to BuzzFeed that Hillary refused to meet with him about another, unrelated book once her team caught wind of his investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Weinstein. (Read more from “We Need to Talk About Hillary Clinton’s Disturbing Harvey Weinstein Ties” HERE)

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