12:09 PM PT -- Harvey's lawyer, Phyllis Kupferstein, got back to us ... "Once and for all, Rose McGowan will be shown to be what she is; a publicity seeker looking for money. From the moment she sought a multi-million dollar payout in return for not making these baseless allegations, which we rejected, we knew that she was waiting for an opportune time to begin this." She continued on ... "We will demonstrate that this case has no legal merit."
Rose McGowan is going after Harvey Weinstein and his former attornies ... claiming they conspired to smear her and discredit her rape allegations against the disgraced studio mogul.
According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... McGowan claims "this case is about a diabolical and illegal effort by one of America's most powerful men and his representatives to silence sexual-assault victims."
McGowan -- who is also suing Weinstein's ex-lawyers, Lisa Bloom and David Boies -- claims back in 2016 she was going to write a memoir and motivational book called "Brave" that would include details about Weinstein allegedly raping her in 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival.
She then claims that when Weinstein learned about these plans, "he tapped into his team of fixers" with the goal of ensuring McGowan's story never saw the light of day ... "and -- if it did -- that no one would believe her."
McGowan then alleges Weinstein's lawyers -- in conjunction with the international spy agency, Black Cube -- worked together and "tried to steal McGowan's unpublished book" and attempted to buy her silence. She claims that Weinstein's plans were that if they couldn't stop her, they'd do everything in their power to ruin her reputation.
What's more ... she brought up what we had previously reported -- McGowan insisted Weinstein may have had a hand in having coke planted in her wallet back in 2017.
She claims, in docs, her lawyer, Jose Baez, advised her to drop that defense and instead plead no contest, which she did. McGowan says it's odd that 9 days after she pled no contest, Baez then signed up as Weinstein's criminal defense attorneys.
The actress, of course, is one of the first women to accuse Weinstein of sexually assaulting her. She helped spearhead the #MeToo Movement, which prompted scores of women to come forward.
McGown is suing for damages. A rep for Lisa Bloom tells us, "It is inexcusable that Ms. McGowan chose to include my client in her lawsuit. Facts matter. There is simply no credible factual or legal basis for her claims against my client. We look forward to our day in court to set the record straight."
We've reached out to Boies, so far, no word back.
Originally Published -- 12:00 PM PT