New Yorker: Weinstein Hired Investigators to Spy on Accusers

Harvey Weinstein employed private investigators to spy on his accusers and keep tabs on reporters investigating his past, according to a report in the New Yorker.

According to the report, Weinstein hired Black Cube, a firm run by former Mossad agents, to collect information on Rose McGowan, who has accused Weinstein of rape. The firm employed undercover agents, one of whom posed as a women's rights activist, to meet with McGowan and obtain information on her forthcoming book, the story states.

Weinstein employed Black Cube and Kroll, a corporate security firm, in an effort to block stories in the New Yorker and the New York Times detailing decades of allegations of sexual misconduct, according to the New Yorker.

The story also highlights the role of David Boies, of the firm of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, who is said to have overseen much of the spying effort. Running such an investigation through a law firm can make it subject to attorney-client privilege, which would protect it from disclosure in litigation. Boies told the New Yorker that the arrangement was a "mistake."

In a statement to the New Yorker, Weinstein spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister accused the publication of trafficking in "inaccuracies and wild conspiracy theories."

According to the story, Black Cube also retained a freelance journalist to contact McGowan and two other women with accusations against Weinstein, as well as reporters working on the story.