Will New York’s Attorney General be allowed to subpoena Malia Obama?

If rumors were rampant about movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment accusations for more than the past two decades, why did Barack and Michelle Obama seemingly not warn their 18-year-old daughter, Malia about going to intern at his New York company? The disturbing rumors about Harvey Weinstein were definitely out there. “For example, Frank Rich, an executive producer for Veep and a New York writer, tweeted about how Weinstein’s transgressions were not a secret. (Newsweek, Oct, 9, 2017)

“Amid the scandal, the million-dollar question the media refused to ask was tweeted by writer Frank Rich: “Biggest mystery of @nytimes Weinstein story: How exemplary parents like the Obamas let their daughter work there. The stories were out there.”

The Obamas flew off to their Palm Springs jaunt during the Jan. 20 Donald Trump inauguration. On January 30, taking a GAP year, Malia Obama began her internship at Weinstein’s New York production studio. Pictures of the Obamas’ eldest daughter braving the Big Apple’s bitter winter weather were eclipsed by all the publicity following the Inauguration Day Big Women’s March. “On Monday, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman launched a civil rights probe into The Weinstein Company.” (NY Times, Oct. 23, 2017) Somewhat eerily, Schneiderman’s words: “No New Yorker should be forced to walk into a workplace ruled by sexual intimidation, harassment or fear.” “If sexual harassment or discrimination is pervasive at a company, we want to know,” could aptly apply to all parents of interns.

---

“The New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, has opened an inquiry into the Weinstein Company examining whether allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment against its co-founder Harvey Weinstein reflect broad gender discrimination and other civil rights violations. (NY Times) “On Monday, the attorney general’s Civil Rights Bureau sent a subpoena to the company seeking a long list of documents, including personnel files; criteria for hiring, promoting and firing; formal and informal complaints of sexual harassment or other discrimination based on gender or age; and records showing how such complaints were handled, according to a person who has seen the confidential subpoena and who spoke on the condition of anonymity.”

“Despite her age, Malia already has a fair amount of experience in the entertainment industry: she spent some of the summer of 2015 assisting crew members on the set of HBO’s Girls, and reportedly had a similar gig on the set of Halle Berry’s sci-fi drama Extant the previous year (where she “fetched coffee and got no special treatment,” at least according to the Daily Mail). (Vanity Fair, Jan. 20, 2017) “A 19-year-old Malia Obama interned at The Weinstein Company and was responsible for evaluating the quality of scripts the office received. If Malia felt the script was up to standards, it was passed on to higher-ups. (Gateway Pundit, Oct. 23, 2017)

“This very well means Malia could have interfaced with Weinstein Co. executives, and in doing so, was she a witness or subjected to Harvey Weinstein’s behavior?”

---

Support Canada Free Press

---

Barack Obama accepted $45,000 in financial donations from Weinstein as well as over 500,000 in bundled donations. Weinstein was a sometimes visitor to the White House, and during his eight years in the Oval Office, Obama reserved Wednesday nights to host parties attended by Hollywood celebrities. In other words, the former president felt comfortable in the companionship of celebrities. Was Malia raised to feel comfortable around daddy’s celebrity friends, too? Strange that Obama Hollywood pals like Tom Hanks, George Clooney et al never mentioned rumors about Weinstein to him before Malia went off to work for him. Barack Obama said last week that he envisions his $1-billion Presidential Center as “a studio where I can invite Spike Lee and Steven Spielberg to do workshops on how to make films,  and “a recording studio where I could invite Chance or Bruce Springsteen, depending on your tastes, to talk about how you could record music that has social commentary and meaning.”  (NY Times, May 3, 2017) Will Malia’s experience in the film making world be put to use at the Center after graduation? Perhaps most significantly of all, will pressure be brought to bear on New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, whose subpoena to the Weinstein company seeks “a long list of documents, including personnel files; criteria for hiring, promoting and firing; formal and informal complaints of sexual harassment or other discrimination based on gender or age; and records showing how such complaints were handled, according to a person who has seen the confidential subpoena and who spoke on the condition of anonymity.” Will Schneiderman be allowed to include Malia Obama on his subpoena? Something worth watching for