By Judi McLeod —— Bio and Archives October 25, 2017
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“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?”
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Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.