Ronan Farrow: Hillary pressed me to spike Weinstein sex-abuse story

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Hillary put pressure on Ronan Farrow to spike Weinstein story. (In contrast, Woody Allen refused.) pic.twitter.com/gDj4nqTheI

— tedfrank (@tedfrank) October 9, 2019

Author and investigative reporter Ronan Farrow charges in his new book that Hillary Clinton pressured him to spike his 2017 New Yorker story exposing Hollywood director Harvey Weinstein's abuse of women.

Weinstein attempted to leverage his long-term relationship with the former first lady, senator and secretary of state, Farrow writes in "Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators," according to the Hollywood Reporter, which obtained a preview copy.

Clinton – who insisted every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be believed after a history of attacking her husband's many accusers – contacted Farrow in the summer of 2017 through her publicist, Nick Merrill, according to the author.

Merrill said the "big story" on Weinstein, which launched the #MeTo movement, was a "concern for us," according to Farrow.

Then, in September 2017, according to an email Farrow cites in his book, Weinstein wrote to Deborah Turness, the former president of NBC News who now runs NBC News International, to propose a docuseries on Hillary Clinton.

"Your Hillary doc sounds absolutely stunning," Turness replied.

Farrow writes that Weinstein struck out trying to get Farrow's famous estranged father, director Woody Allen, to pressure his son to kill the story.

Allen replied: "Jeez, I'm so sorry. Good luck."

'Confused' by the silence'

CNN reported in October 2017 that five days after the Farrow story was published, longtime Hillary Clinton aides were "confused by the former secretary of state's silence on the issue, questioning – in private – why she has not weighed in at all."

Weinstein donated to Bill Clinton's legal defense fund in the 1990s, including for charges of sexual misbehavior.

"More recently, the Clintons rented a home next to Weinstein in the Hamptons in 2015, and Weinstein served as a connector between Hollywood stars and Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign," CNN said

Weinstein raised about $1.5 million from 1990-2016 for the Clintons, according to data from the campaign finance-tracking Center for Responsive Politics.

The Hollywood mogul was a bundler for Clinton's 2016 effort, "including at a star-studded fundraiser for Clinton in June 2016 at Weinstein's Manhattan home."

In addition, CNN said, Clinton personally headlined multiple fundraisers Weinstein helped organize during the campaign.

CNN's Chris Cillizza later updated the story with a statement from Clinton through a spokesman under the headline "It took Hillary Clinton five days to issue this statement about Harvey Weinstein."

"I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein," she said through the spokesman. "The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior."