{"id":13605,"date":"2017-11-07T15:08:42","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T23:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/report-weinstein-hired-agents-to-investigate-and-suppress-accusations-against-him\/"},"modified":"2017-11-07T15:08:42","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T23:08:42","slug":"report-weinstein-hired-agents-to-investigate-and-suppress-accusations-against-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/report-weinstein-hired-agents-to-investigate-and-suppress-accusations-against-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Weinstein Hired Agents To Investigate And Suppress Accusations Against Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laurel Wamsley<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n A report in The New Yorker <\/em>says Harvey Weinstein hired an Israeli intelligence firm to collect information on the allegations against him.<\/p>\n

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Chris Pizzello\/Chris Pizzello\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n

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Chris Pizzello\/Chris Pizzello\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n

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When women started telling their stories of sexual harassment and assault by Harvey Weinstein, many talked about the fear<\/a> they had of him. Likewise, some journalists spoke of the pressure<\/a> the powerful film executive had applied on them or their bosses to quash reports of his misconduct.<\/p>\n

Now a new report by Ronan Farrow<\/a>, published Monday evening in The New Yorker<\/em>, shows that Weinstein hired “an army of spies” to investigate the women who were considering speaking out and the journalists who were digging into the allegations.<\/p>\n

Though Farrow lays out the details plainly, it still reads like an espionage thriller. It involves multiple “international high-level corporate intelligence firms, using very aggressive tactics,” Farrow told NPR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One firm’s tactics included “targeting women, targeting journalists,” Farrow said. “Showing up in their lives using fake identities. Using fake companies as a front. This was detailed, this was aggressive, and according to the women I spoke to \u2014 this was terrifying.”<\/p>\n

According to Farrow’s reporting, this is the plot:<\/p>\n

Last fall, Weinstein began hiring private security firms to collect information on the women who might speak out against him. One firm was Kroll<\/a>, a major corporate intelligence firm. Another was Black Cube<\/a>, a much newer company founded by<\/a> two former Israeli intelligence officers, Dan Zorella and Avi Yanus, and which touts its staff of “veterans of elite units” from Israeli intelligence.<\/p>\n