Harvey Weinstein's lead counsel requests removal from case before sexual assault trial in September

The main lawyer for Harvey Weinstein has asked a judge to be removed from the case, leaving the disgraced movie mogul without counsel as his sexual assault trial approaches in September.

Weinstein has been charged over the alleged assaults of two women — a rape in 2013 and an incident of forced oral sex in 2006. He faces life in prison if convicted, and is also accused of sexual misconduct with dozens of other women.

Harvey Weinstein. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Weinstein's first lawyer, Benjamin Braufman, withdrew in January after which Weinstein hired two other high-profile attorneys, Ronald Sullivan and Jose Baez.

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Sullivan, who also teaches at Harvard, pulled out in May after coming under fierce criticism on campus for defending the man seen as giving rise to the #MeToo movement.

CNN reports one of the main reasons behind his counsel withdrawing was because Weinstein "has engaged in behavior that makes this representation unreasonably difficult to carry out effectively" and has pressed to take actions which Baez stood fundamentally against.

Once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, Weinstein has been accused of harassment and assault by more than 80 women, including stars such as Angelina Jolie and Ashley Judd.

Then last week Baez asked to withdraw from the case, New York news outlets reported. He did so in a letter to State Supreme Court Justice James Burke, who is overseeing the case.

(With inputs from agencies)