Harvey Weinstein sued for alleged scheme to foil misconduct probe
Disgraced media mogul, former NY prosecutor facing law suit from actress Paz de la Huerta
A lawyer who represented actress Paz de la Huerta has filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein and a former New York prosecutor, alleging they coordinated in a scheme to get the actress to drop her sexual misconduct complaint against the movie mogul.
Aaron Filler's firm, Tensor Law, filed the lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles against Weinstein, his company and attorney Michael Rubin, a former New York City assistant district attorney for Bronx County.
Filler said in the lawsuit that Rubin persuaded de la Huerta to drop Filler as her lawyer, and also encouraged her to withdraw her complaint alleging Weinstein raped her.
In the lawsuit, Filler said Rubin misrepresented himself to de la Huerta as a victims' rights advocate, but actually was acting for the benefit of Weinstein "to interfere by a series of harmful subterfuges, threats, and extortion demands, entirely outside the legitimate strictures of the legal system."
The lawsuit accuses Rubin of attempting to obtain de la Huerta's psychiatric records to reveal them publicly.
The suit also contends Rubin contacted New York prosecutors assigned to the de la Huerta case and gave "false and discouraging advice, leading to the abrupt halt of progress toward indictment of Weinstein."
Rubin denied the allegations and said that Filler is upset he lost a client.
"I never met Harvey Weinstein in my life," he said.
Rubin said his intentions in reaching out to the actress were to help de la Huerta get Weinstein arrested.
"I did nothing to try to derail that investigation," he said, adding that he plans to take legal action against Filler for defaming him.
Weinstein spokeswoman Holly Baird said in an email to The Associated Press on Saturday that it's "insanity" to suggest that Weinstein "had any involvement."
Weinstein has denied any claim of non-consensual sex.
Boardwalk Empire actress de la Huerta publicly accused the movie producer of raping her twice in 2010. She began speaking with police in New York about the accusation in late October and has not dropped her initial complaint.
Her current lawyer, Carrie Goldberg, has expressed concern about the pace of the probe.