SEEKING JUSTICE

Time’s Up to Gov. Cuomo: Probe NYC DA for Not Prosecuting Harvey Weinstein

The sexual-harassment victims’ legal fund wants to know why the DA never went after the alleged serial harasser.

Time’s Up penned an open letter to Gov. Cuomo urging for an investigation of New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance. The letter, obtained exclusively by The Cut, requested a probe of the top attorney for his decision not to prosecute Harvey Weinstein for the alleged sexual abuse of 24-year-old Ambra Battilana, the former Miss Italy contestant who, in 2015, told police she was molested by Weinstein during an audition at his office. A recent report from New York magazine also claimed that Vance attempted to “derail” the city’s top sex-crimes prosecutor’s probe of Weinstein. “We are concerned that what appears to be the negative relationship between the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Special Victims Unit of the NYPD makes it even less likely that victims who have been assaulted by rich or powerful men will be willing to come forward and that their assailants will be prosecuted and convicted,” the letter, penned by Time’s Up lawyers, said. Since last October, more than 80 women in the entertainment industry have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.