Lots of people are shocked - shocked I say - that prominent Democrat donor and activist Harvey Weinstein has been sexually harassing women for decades. Shocked, mainly because it took so long to come out. Also, shocked about how many other prominent Democrat donors and activists covered for him. Like, say, the New York Times? At least, if this former New York Times reporter's account is accurate, there's been quite a bit of covering up going on.

In 2004, I was still a fairly new reporter at The New York Times when I got the green light to look into oft-repeated allegations of sexual misconduct by Weinstein. It was believed that many occurred in Europe during festivals and other business trips there.

I also tracked down a woman in London who had been paid off after an unwanted sexual encounter with Weinstein. She was terrified to speak because of her non-disclosure agreement, but at least we had evidence of a pay-off.

The story I reported never ran.

You know all that lip flapping the left does about "rape culture"? Yet they have a nasty habit of covering for creeps (see Child Rape Victim Speaks Out: "Hillary Clinton defended my rapist..."). Seems rather hypocritical. Imagine my surprise.

After intense pressure from Weinstein, which included having Matt Damon and Russell Crowe call me directly to vouch for Lombardo and unknown discussions well above my head at the Times, the story was gutted.

I was told at the time that Weinstein had visited the newsroom in person to make his displeasure known. I knew he was a major advertiser in the Times, and that he was a powerful person overall.

But I had the facts, and this was the Times. Right?

You would think so, huh. But it's Hollywood rules. As long as you have the right political opinions (see Amber Tamblyn Accuses James Woods of Misogyny. For Calling her a Liar and Emma Stone Compares Trump Beating Hillary to…The Wage Gap), you can get away with just about anything.

Speaking of the "right" political opinions...

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