Editor’s Note: This story contains discussions of rape or sexual assault that may be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can find help and discreet resources on the National Sexual Assault Hotline website or by calling 1-800-656-4673.

(NewsNation) — Attorneys for an Italian model are claiming her accusations against Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault were allegedly covered up due to the disgraced movie executive’s power and influence at the time. 

Ambra Battilana-Gutierrez accused Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in 2015 in his Tribeca office. The then-22-year-old alerted the NYPD, which advised her that the next time she met with the fallen movie mogul, she should wear a wire.  

During that meeting, the model recorded Weinstein allegedly confessing to touching her in a sexual manner. 

However, the New York district attorney did not press charges, stating at the time, “After analyzing the available evidence, including multiple interviews with both parties, the criminal charge is not supported,” which caused her confusion and dismay. 

Italian model says accusations against Harvey Weinstein were covered up

Battilana-Gutierrez told NewsNation on Wednesday, “I’m ready for anything to prove justice. I want to make it a reality to trust the system and have victims feel confident with moving forward with the truth and win.” 

She continued, “Being the first is always a risk and it’s scary, but I would never want to regret opening the door.”

NewsNation obtained and reviewed a legal demand letter from Battilana-Gutierrez’s attorney, Sarena Townsend, to Judge Jay Clayton, the interim United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, asking for an “impartial and thorough investigation into the New York City Police Department, the New York County District Attorney’s Office, and certain individuals who work, or worked, for said agencies, as detailed within this letter.”

The letter reads “I am confident that your investigation will reveal unassailable evidence that Ms. Battilana-Gutierrez’s 2015 sexual assault was deliberately covered up, that in order to justify dismissing Ms. Battilana-Gutierrez’s claims, law enforcement exaggerated and overemphasized irrelevant aspects of Ms. Battilana-Gutierrez’s personal life and modeling career, and – lastly – that the reason the police and District Attorney took such measures was to cater to Mr. Weinstein, a powerful, wealthy, and intimidating entertainment mogul who often funded the New York City Police Department and befriended its top brass, detailed how the NYPD investigation began to crumble after Weinstein learned New York law enforcement was investigating him.”

Townsend alleges that Weinstein, through his legal team of “tremendous influence,” pressured police and politicians to “bury Ms. Battilana-Gutierrez and free Mr. Weinstein from consequences; and it worked.”

The NYPD and Judge Clayton did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

Townsend claimed Weinstein’s legal team, which included former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, coordinated a plan to close the investigation with then-NYPD Commissioner William Bratton and then-NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. 

Shortly after, Weinstein hired investigators to look into the New York-based model’s life back in her home country of Italy, and a New York Post Page Six article was published alleging she was a prostitute and extorted then-Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi, according to the letter.

Townsend claims that Weinstein’s tactics and influence led to the matter being closed.

“Despite this, on April 10, 2015, Bureau Chief Bashford called NYPD Lieutenant Morange and stated that ‘DA Vance will not go any further with this case, and I agree with that decision.’ On that day, the matter was deemed closed,” the letter states. 

“Thus, over the course of the following week of April 13, 2015, Mr. Weinstein got away with it all in the appalling final acts of corruption by DANY and the NYPD.”

In March 2018, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered an investigation into why charges were not pressed against Weinstein in 2015. That investigation was paused.

Townsend implored the court, “We strongly encourage the Southern District to look into why the Attorney General actually paused its investigation. That said, should the pause truly be temporary, and actually linked to Mr. Weinstein’s other prosecutions, we are encouraged that said prosecution is nearing its conclusion, as Mr. Weinstein is currently on trial in Manhattan. Thus, there should be no reason once trial concludes for the Southern District to pick up where the Attorney General had left off, and investigate both the NYPD and DANY’s handling of this matter.”

“Good people exist out there. I’m glad to have found former chief (Michael) Osgood and my lawyer (Townsend),” Battilana-Gutierrez said. “It’s time for good people to prevail.”

Harvey Weinstein’s retrial underway

Weinstein’s retrial in New York started this week for charges he allegedly sexually assaulted three women. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been awaiting trial at Rikers Island. 

He was convicted of two felony sex crimes in New York in 2020, and in California, he was convicted of three felony sex crimes in 2022.

A lawyer for Weinstein did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

In April 2024, his conviction was overturned by the New York Court of Appeals due to a judge who allowed witness testimonies detailing sexual assault that were not included in the indictment. At the time, Battilana-Gutierrez told Mediaite, “If the DA had taken my case seriously in 2015, we wouldn’t be here. This is an ongoing failure of the justice system – and the courts – to take survivors seriously and to protect our interests.”