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NEW YORK, August 30, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – New York Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to suspend an investigation into the handling of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s prosecution coincided with a $25,000 donation to Cuomo’s campaign by Weinstein’s lawyer David Boies, according to a new report by Capital & Main.

Weinstein surrendered himself to New York City police in May to face allegations that he sexually exploited, abused, and raped women using his influence as a film producer who had the power to make or break the careers of aspiring actresses. The allegations, which many in Hollywood were revealed to have known about, served as a major black eye for the film industry’s left-wing “feminist” culture.

Cuomo had initially demanded an investigation into Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.’s original decision not to prosecute Weinstein, after reports surfaced that Boise had given Vance $10,000 following the decision. Vance reversed himself under public pressure, but Cuomo still deemed an investigation necessary to ensure “there is public confidence in the handling of these cases.”

However, BuzzFeed News reports that Cuomo directed the state attorney general’s office in June to suspend that investigation for six months, claiming it could “interfere with the DA’s ongoing criminal case.” Six days earlier, state campaign finance records reveal, the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner made a $25,000 donation to Cuomo’s re-election campaign.

The law firm denied any connection between its donation and Cuomo’s decision, claiming in a statement that nobody at the firm “ever discussed Harvey Weinstein or Mr. Vance with Mr. Cuomo, or anyone from his office, at any time,” and stressing that the donation was consistent with Boise’ record of political support for Cuomo. The lawyer has donated more than $245,000 to Cuomo since 2009.

Cuomo press secretary Dani Lever told Fox News that “no contribution of any size influences any government action,” and that it was doubly irrelevant since “Boies stopped representing ‎Harvey Weinstein as early as November of 2017.”

Notably, the Cuomo team’s explanation here echoes Vance’s own insistence that Boise was merely a political supporter of his, and “did not represent Harvey Weinstein in 2015 during the criminal investigation” – explanations Cuomo himself didn’t accept at the time.

Cuomo’s office also claimed the six-month pause would actually make things tougher on Weinstein, because his legal team would no longer “be able to constantly petition the attorney general’s office for information about what they uncovered and undermine a criminal prosecution.” But BuzzFeed notes that because the prosecution “could drag through the courts for months or even years,” the inquiry into Vance “could be extended indefinitely.”

The saga stands in stark contrast to the professed “feminism” of all involved. Cuomo is an aggressively pro-abortion governor who favors legal abortion effectively until birth and at taxpayers’ expense, has demonized crisis pregnancy centers as purveyors of “misinformation,” and infamously declared in 2014 that “right-to-life” supporters “have no place in the state of New York.”

Weinstein, meanwhile, was a major donor to Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton, as well as other Democrats and left-wing groups (though Planned Parenthood claims he never fulfilled a $100,000 donation pledge). Weinstein also produced several films with anti-Catholic messages.

The trend of sexual abuse accusers coming out against prominent figures soon spread to Congress and the mainstream media, yet liberals eventually claimed the narrative for themselves under the #MeToo banner, presenting the trend of abuse as intrinsic to American “patriarchy” rather than a failing for which leftist subcultures carried distinct responsibility.