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NYPD reportedly hid Weinstein accuser from his cronies at the Manhattan DA

 		NYPD reportedly hid Weinstein accuser from his cronies at the Manhattan DA

NYPD sex-crime detectives once had to hide a woman accusing Harvey Weinstein of assault — stashing her away from both the movie mogul’s lawyers and his cronies in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, a report said Friday.

Investigators told New York magazine that they had Weinstein dead to rights in 2015 after he allegedly groped Italian model Ambra Battilana in his office.

That was until Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr., whose office had close ties to Weinstein’s legal team, chose not to prosecute in a decision that still irks investigators who worked the case, according to the mag.

The Weinstein probe was so sensitive, Special Victims Division commander Michael Osgood and his team checked Battilana into Manhattan hotels under assumed names.

“We decided we’re going to hide the victim,” said retired Sgt. Michael Bock of NYPD’s Special Victims Division. “From the DA.”

Weinstein’s legal team on the Battilana matter included attorneys Elkan Abramowitz and Linda Fairstein, former head of the Manhattan DA’s Sex Crimes Unit, according to the magazine.

Abramowitz is a former partner of Vance’s while Fairstein is a close pal of Martha Bashford — head of the DA’s Sex Crimes Unit back in 2015 and still today.

Fairstein insisted, in a statement to The Post, that she was never hired by Weinstein and that her only action was making one phone call for long-time pal Abramowitz, introducing him to Bashford.

Battilana eventually did meet with Bashford who relentlessly grilled the victim seeking to poke holes in her story.

“The questioning was aggressive and accusatory,” Bock said.

Vance rep Joan Vollero insisted the questioning wasn’t overly aggressive or accusatory.

“It is customary for prosectors to discuss potential areas of cross-examination when meeting with complainants,” Vollero said. “It was a normal, typical interview of a complainant.”

Weinstein would have only been charged with a misdemeanor for the alleged assault on Battilana — making Vance’s non-prosecution even more outrageous, said Bock.

“They prosecute people for misdemeanors with far less probable cause than this. We gave them beyond reasonable doubt,” said Bock, formerly of the NYPD’s Special Victims Division.

“We obviously know who this man is. We obviously know we have a different burden of proof. So to go above and beyond as we did, he should have been arrested. He should’ve been arrested.”

Earlier this week, Vance said his office is still investigating Weinstein for sex assault — but gave no hint if an indictment was imminent.

“We are stunned that NY Magazine chose to report on the claim against Harvey Weinstein by Ambra Battilana without including the fact that in a sworn Affidavit, Ambra stated in substance that her complaint against Harvey was the result of a misunderstanding and that her decision to report the incident to the Police, was attributed by her to ‘bad advice’ she received,” said Weinstein’s attorney Ben Brafman.

“NY Magazine also failed to mention the fact that her Affidavit was reviewed by her and her own attorneys, including her longtime Italian lawyer before she signed it under oath. Accordingly, any claim by Ambra that she failed to understand her own words is patently false.”

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