Harvey Weinstein's attorney claims he had a 10-year consensual affair with woman he is charged with raping
Harvey Weinstein had a 10-year consensual sexual relationship with the woman he was recently arrested for raping - both before and after the alleged 2013 attack, according to his New York defense attorney Ben Brafman, who called the first degree rape charge "absurd."
Brafman made the revelation on Tuesday morning following a 90-minute meeting he had in a New York judge's chambers with the Manhattan assistant district attorney prosecuting the case.
Weinstein did not participate in the meeting in the judge's chambers.
The judge ordered the transcript of the meeting sealed, so the substance of the arguments and the response by prosecutors remains unknown.
Still, Brafman said outside of court that he was concerned about the "unprecedented" public pressure that has been brought to bear on the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance to seek an indictment against the disgraced Hollywood movie mogul.
He also decried the same pressure he believes will be placed on potential trial jurors.
“One of my concerns is...some of the publicity that has occurred over the weekend and the ability for people to keep an open mind," Brafman told reporters.
“I also think that pressure that is being brought to bear on the District Attorney’s Office - demanding that an indictment or a prosecution of Mr. Weinstein proceed - is inappropriate pressure, it is unprecedented and it troubles me, and I wanted to make those matters known to the court.”
Brafman said that his client's state of mind as “serious,” because he is accused of a crime he insists he did not commit.
A spokesperson for Vance's office declined to comment.
The claims that Weinstein and his unidentified accuser had a lengthy consensual sexual affair before and after 2013 was first reported on Monday by the New York Post.
