With jury selection underway for movie mogul and previously convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein’s second trial facing sexual assault charges, an email from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-Calif.) wife and a tweet regarding former President Barack Obama’s daughter Malia were challenged as evidence with one ruled inadmissible and the other considered “too tangential”
Currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault, Weinstein is set to go on trial in Los Angeles facing 11 separate similar counts allegedly committed between 2004 and 2013. Among his accusers was actress and filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom prior to her involvement with Newsom.
However, as reported by the Associated Press, two years after Weinstein allegedly raped and sexually assaulted Siebel Newsom, the then-mayor of San Fransisco’s girlfriend emailed the mogul in 2007 asking for advice on how to deal with the media after word of Newsom’s affair with a married aide came to light.
Mark Werksman, Weinstein’s attorney, sought permission to include the details of the email from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench and contended, “Of all the things you’d think a woman that is raped by Harvey Weinstein wouldn’t do, it’s ask him how to deal with a sex scandal.”
Lench forbid the underlying issue from being discussed and deemed it “too tangential in relation to this trial.”
Meanwhile, Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez argued against Werksman’s rationale and said, “I’m not sure how Mr. Werksman knows how a rape victim would behave.”
“They do not react in a matter how someone who has not been raped would think,” she added.
Martinez pushed for her own questionable evidence as she raised concerns over a tweet that Siebel Newsom had posted when President Barack Obama’s daughter had obtained an internship with Weinstein, Variety reported.
“I don’t know why this is being celebrated. She will probably just be assaulted,” the filmmaker reportedly posted at the time.
“It is snarky, but it is snarky because she had been raped,” the deputy DA argued, “and she wanted to let the public know.”
“There is nothing that relates the tweet to anything that happens to her,” the judge ruled.
This is not the first instance where Siebel Newsom has been accused of having a greater connection to the charges against Weinstein as a year ago actress Rose McGowan came forward to assert that the now-governor’s wife had worked to suppress the story.
As covered by BizPacReview, McGowan had joined BlazeTV host Dave Rubin leading to claim that Siebel Newsom had attempted to bribe her at the behest of Weinstein’s lawyer David Boies.
“She called me on behalf of a Theranos board member, the longtime lawyer of Hillary and Bill Clinton and Weinstein, one David Boies. So this woman I don’t know, some blonde lady with the last name Newsom, cold calls me and is like, David Boies wants to know what it would take to make you happy,” she claimed.
Rose McGowan to join with Larry Elder, dish on claim Newsom’s wife was Harvey Weinstein go-between https://t.co/WOz1ViEjaY pic.twitter.com/BROOwEySKT
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) September 12, 2021
During Monday’s jury selection, Werksman went on to further push for the use of the email’s details stating, “When her boyfriend the mayor seduces an underling’s wife and gets scandalized over it, she sides with the mayor,” Werksman said.
“Very dramatic, Mr. Werksman,” Lench replied before the attorney offered an apology, “Forgive the melodrama, your honor.”
Additional evidence set to be presented during the trial will be a recording from Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez who worked with the New York police in 2015 to capture audio of Weinstein apologizing for touching her thigh and grabbing her breasts. Her allegations are not among those Weinstein is currently on trial for.
Actor and director Mel Gibson was also approved to stand as a witness for the prosecution. After jury selection is completed, the trial is expected to last roughly two months.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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