One week after California Governor Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, went public accusing disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of allegedly raping her nearly 20 years ago, an email exchange between the two could prove the two engaged in “consensual sex.”
Los Angeles Judge Lisa Lench ruled Monday that Weinstein’s defense lawyers have grounds to question Siebel Newsom about an email exchange with the former movie mogul in 2007 in which she allegedly asked for advice after accusing him of sexual assault and rape on how to deal with a scandal involving her soon-to-be husband and California’s future governor. The scandal allegedly involved Governor Newsom, who was San Francisco’s Mayor in 2005, and an aide during his term, Deadline reports.
However, The Associated Press reports Lench said the defense could not discuss the underlying issue behind the email, calling it “too tangential in relation to this trial.”
Mark Werksman, a defense lawyer for Weinstein, told the court Monday that Siebel Newsom contacting Weinstein for “advice” would indicate the two had a “friendship and companionship.”
“Of all things you’d think a woman that is raped by Harvey Weinstein wouldn’t do, it’s [ask him] how to deal with a sex scandal,” Werksman said, adding the defense will be that they had an affair, that they had consensual sex.
Weinstein, who is serving a 23-year sentence for rape in New York, stands accused of sexually assaulting five women between 2003 and 2014.
Siebel Newsom is one of the accusers who will appear in court, a lawyer for Newsom told The Los Angeles Times.
Before going public, Siebel Newsom identified herself as one of the five accusers, as Jane Doe #4, in court documents.
According to the indictment, accuser number four has said Weinstein forcibly raped her in an incident sometime between September 2004 and September 2005. Allegations from the other accusers have resulted in Weinstein being charged with 10 other counts, including forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by a foreign object, forcible rape, and sexual battery by restraint.
Beth Fegan, attorney for Jennifer Siebel Newsom, told Fox News Digital that her client “intends to testify at his trial in order to seek some measure of justice for survivors, and as part of her life’s work to improve the lives of women.”
“Like many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a purported business meeting that turned out to be a trap,” Fegan said, adding, “Please respect her choice to not discuss this matter outside of the courtroom.”
The jury selection for Weinstein’s trial began Monday and is expected to last until late October.