Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which charged Harvey Weinstein with rape last month, has been working with a private investigative firm that sought to undermine one of the movie mogul’s accusers, the New York Daily News reports. Under a contract signed in September 2015, K2 Intelligence provided analytical support to the DA’s office for investigations into public corruption, cybercrime, and rackets. That work was apparently conducted around the same time K2 Intelligence investigators was hired by Weinstein to dig up dirt on Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, an Italian model who accused him of sexual abuse. The contract, which ended in December 2017 before a new one was drawn up, reportedly allowed K2 to work with clients who were “adverse” to the DA. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., whose close friend and campaign adviser Thomas Thacher worked for K2 for several years, has been under scrutiny for declining to prosecute Weinstein in 2015 based on Gutierrez’s allegations. In March, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered an investigation into Vance’s handling of allegations against Weinstein.