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Harvey Weinstein’s Lawyer Tried to Humiliate Witnesses, Prosecutors Say

Prosecutors accused Arthur Aidala of using his public platform to try to attack and intimidate key Weinstein accusers.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has accused the lead defense lawyer in Harvey Weinstein’s retrial of making public statements meant to intimidate, humiliate, and attack the witnesses, The New York Times reported. In a letter filed Thursday, prosecutors asked the judge to remind lawyer Arthur Aidala of his “ethical obligations” regarding public statements, alleging that he violated professional conduct rules by criticizing witness Miriam Haley, a former production assistant who testified in 2020 that Weinstein coerced her into sex in 2006. After Weinstein’s conviction was overturned last month, Aidala told reporters at a news conference that Haley had lied, and he vowed to rigorously cross-examine her in retrial if she “dares to come and show her face here.” Prosecutors said Aidala’s comments were intended to intimidate her and “designed to let Ms. Haley know that if she testifies, Mr. Aidala will make it as unpleasant for her as possible.” Aidala has also made statements about other accusers and about Gloria Allred, a lawyer who represented several of them, since the conviction was overturned. In a statement to The Daily Beast on Friday, Weinstein’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, said, “The prosecution likes to have these fast and loose rules as it pertains to their proxies; attorneys for accusers, accusers themselves and a contingent of bold-faced names who regularly keep Harvey's name in media in the most awful, leading and suggestive narratives... Harvey deserves a fair legal playing field, and if that means his lawyers, who are the most knowledgeable and appreciative of the issues and the law, are the right people to speak out, and as long as prosecutors use media to their benefit, defense teams have to be able to as well.”