AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
NPR has learned that disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is expected to turn himself in to the New York Police Department tomorrow. Weinstein's anticipated surrender comes after a months-long investigation into accusations that he sexually assaulted numerous women. Ben Mueller is reporting on this for the New York Times. He joins me now. Welcome to the program.
BEN MUELLER: Thank you.
CORNISH: So first of all, you guys were able to confirm this news. What do you know so far?
MUELLER: Well, Mr. Weinstein will surrender himself at a police precinct in Manhattan tomorrow morning around 8 a.m. He'll then be arrested on charges of raping one woman and sexually assaulting a second. The second woman we know is Lucia Evans, who's talked to The New Yorker and told them and then investigators from the Manhattan DA's office that Mr. Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him during a 2004 meeting. After Mr. Weinstein's arrested, he'll be brought to court in Manhattan and be arraigned on the charges.
CORNISH: At one time, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office did not file charges against Weinstein, right? That was back in 2015. And I know at this point, the governor's actually ordered a review of that situation. Can you talk about how things have changed?
MUELLER: Yeah. I mean, the ground's shifted for prosecutors and for men like Mr. Weinstein who have been accused of benefiting for years from coercing women not to speak out about acts like this. It was, as you say, only in 2015 when Cy Vance's office in Manhattan had Mr. Weinstein on tape acknowledging that he had groped a woman's breasts and promising not to do it again. Mr. Vance did not bring charges in that case. But this time around, he's interviewed dozens of witnesses in New York and in other states, issued hundreds of subpoenas. And the investigation is not over. There's still a grand jury that will be looking into financial crimes and other crimes related to his conduct over the years.
CORNISH: So part of this - it sounds like there's just many more people willing to come forward. But also, all of the reporting has offered more I guess evidence, for lack of a better term.
MUELLER: Yeah, and prosecutors are looking for every which way to bring charges in this case. They developed among other things a detailed timeline of Mr. Weinstein's whereabouts because under New York state law, the clock stops ticking on the statute of limitations when someone's continuously out of the state. So they wanted to make sure that charges, even if it looked like they fell outside the statute of limitations - you know, whether they could actually still be charged. They sought, you know, corroborating evidence from one woman's therapist. They tried every which way to bring charges in this case.
CORNISH: With Mr. Weinstein offering to surrender, it sounds like perhaps there was some negotiation maybe with his attorneys. I don't know where he's been the last couple of months. What can you tell us about the response from his camp?
MUELLER: Yeah, I don't know where he's been, but his lawyers have negotiated - actually, they've already negotiated a bail package. So he'll put up a million dollars in cash and agree to wear a monitoring device according to law enforcement officials. His travel is going to be restricted. He'll surrender his passport. So his lawyers have, you know, orchestrated a lot of this surrender sort of beforehand.
CORNISH: Ben Mueller is reporting for The New York Times. Thank you for sharing your reporting with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
MUELLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.