What is NXIVM (pronounced nek-see-um)? NXIVM was started in 1998 in the upstate NY area by disgraced multi-level-marketer Keith Raniere and bills itself as an organization for personal development that trains people in "human empowerment". In March 2018, Raniere and five of his top inner-circle were indicted by Federal authorities on a variety of charges related to racketeering, conspiracy, money-laundering, sex offenses, human trafficking, and more. The five other women have all pleaded out around April, leaving Raniere as the only person at the jury trial that started on May 7th. Raniere and his top lieutenants have long, deep ties to many NY politicians including Clinton, Gillibrand, Cuomo, and others. The news media is barely reporting this story for obvious reasons. Previous NXIVM updates can be found on my homepage Here.
I took a little break this weekend. If you recall the very brief Friday update we found out that Raniere will not testify and will not present a defense. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, says that the prosecution didn't prove any of the charges against Raniere. Bold strategy. Today, Monday, closing arguments begin. Observers believe both sides will complete their closings today. Tomorrow, Tuesday, should be the judge's instructions to the jury which is expected to take all day. After that, the jury will begin deliberations. That doesn't mean we don't have some catching up to do. These most excellent FReeQs have directed us to a number of other important facets of this trial.
And the government will take the keys. News came out Friday that all of the defendants who have pleaded have agreed to asset forfeiture (Clare Bronfman, Allison Mack, Kathy Russell, and Nancy and Lauren Salzman). Melian in post 547 directs us to the details over at Frank Report. Lots of properties, over half a million in cash, and all of the "corporate properties" which includes Raniere's lesson plans for the NXIVM, ESP, and other courses. Cat's Pajamas gave us a link at post 549 to this Fox News story on Allison Mack's forfeiture. HoneysuckleTN posted this link to a Praying Medic Tweet. For one-stop shopping, Wildhighlander57 gathered up the crumbs for us in one post.
As the trial winds down, let's not forget the many connections between NXIVM and politicians. Little Jeremiah posted some dot connecting back on 684. When it comes to the Gillibrands, Bitt linked some resources here at 709. If you're more video-focused, or just want to listen to some background music, Snowybear put a link at 766 that has an hour-long interview of Frank Parlato by Patrick Howley from Big League Politics. Parlato is probably the only outsider to know as much about the cult as anyone. He draws some excellent points about connections during the interview. If you have an hour, I would highly recommend watching.
Friday was Day 23 of the trial and wrapped up some loose ends [Warning: some disturbing content]. FBI Special Agent Weniger testified on Raniere's digital media and other topics. The jury heard that Keith Raniere, aka Vanguard (the smartest man in the world) had a GPA of 2.26 while in college. Agent Weniger also testified that Cami's medical records had been reviewed and she had in fact gotten an appendectomy when she was 16. Some of the photos Raniere had of Cami show no scar as they were taken when she was 15, as corroborated by the meta-data on the photos and files. The prosecution played video of Nancy Salzman and Raniere explaining to NXIVM 'students' that things like incest, child sexual assault, bestiality, and rape were just 'constructs' of society and nothing is wrong with any of that. Keith also made the stunning assertion that being raped is a good way for women to experience orgasms. More details at the link above.
Early last week it became evident that a video had leaked and was being shown on Mexican media. AUSA Moira Penza even mentioned it in courtroom statements. The video is about 3 minutes long and is former cult-member Sarah Edmondson being branded in a ceremony. Sarah is the one who famously showed her brand to a reporter as proof of the cult's activities a few years ago. Her picture is all over the net. The one where she's pulling her jeans waistband down a little to expose the scar. She wants NXIVM exposed. For those that don't want to watch the video, I'll provide a sanitized description. In addition to Sarah, who is laying down naked on a massage table, there are four or five other women in the room. Two of which are clothed, the others are all naked. Their private parts are pixilated in the video, so arguably safe-for-work. She is held down by the other women while one uses a cauterizing pen that looks kind of like a soldering iron. She is made to recite some blather about wanting to be branded for her 'master', Lauren Salzman, who is one of the clothed women in the tape. [Warning: graphic branding video, no overt nudity and faces are obscured] If you want to see it, the video is posted here.
Assistant US Attorney Moira Penza is presenting the closing argument for the prosecution. She spent the morning session explaining the charges against Raniere and how those charges have been substantiated with evidence and testimony.
Let's finish on a high note. Frank Parlato is now reporting, with high confidence, that Clare Bronfman will face additional charges related to other crimes involving tax evasion, visa fraud, perjury and racketeering. At least. Evidently the IRS, FBI, and DHS are all investigating her other activities. Somewhat triggered by prosecution testimony in this case. Her visa fraud activities relate to falsifying applications for young women to come to the States for jobs at NXIVM. The countries involved include at least Mexico, Germany, UK, Canada and South Africa. Given her very lenient conditions in the plea deal, let's hope she gets a little more of what she dished out to NXIVM enemies for over a decade.
*Note - I've added a few FReeQs that I mentioned in this post that aren't on my normal ping-list.
Out beyond the trees. It only took one post for the eeyores to show up.
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Special Prosecutor John Durham is Now Circling the Target – Ex-CIA Chief John Brennan
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3757523/posts
> NXIVM Update
Thanks for the update!
-SB
Your regular posts on this trial have been excellent. Thanks for staying with it. I’m hoping this “no defense defense” isn’t some ploy to obtain a mistrial.
thanks, Kit - you and Bags should go on the road together. Good reporting!
What is NXIVM (pronounced nek-see-um)? NXIVM was started in 1998 in the upstate NY area by disgraced multi-level-marketer Keith Raniere and bills itself as an organization for personal development that trains people in "human empowerment". In March 2018, Raniere and five of his top inner-circle were indicted by Federal authorities on a variety of charges related to racketeering, conspiracy, money-laundering, sex offenses, human trafficking, and more. The five other women have all pleaded out around April, leaving Raniere as the only person at the jury trial that started on May 7th. Raniere and his top lieutenants have long, deep ties to many NY politicians including Clinton, Gillibrand, Cuomo, and others. The news media is barely reporting this story for obvious reasons. Previous NXIVM updates can be found on my homepage Here.
Marc Agnifilo, Raniere's lawyer, began closing arguments on Monday afternoon and will continue for a short time on Tuesday. The Defense strategy seems to be centered around three themes. First, Raniere is innocent of breaking any laws. Second, the witnesses who testified are the bad ones and the criminals. Third, Keith's work results in good things for people. He argued that racketeering had to be a group of people and Keith is just one person. No mention of the other five defendants who already pled guilty to being part of the 'racket'. I don't know if the jury is allowed to know about that or not. The only plea bargainer that testified was Lauren Salzman. Agnifilo made points that, while disgusting and repulsive, Keith is not a criminal. Defense also discussed with the jury the fact that Keith had plenty of women and didn't need DOS to get as much sex as he wanted. We wonder if any jurors threw up a little in their mouths on contemplating that? Defense finished their closing statement with, "disgusting behavior is not criminal".
Tuesday afternoon Judge Garaoufis began issuing the jury instructions, a process expected to take hours. There was a final statement by the prosecution following Agnifilo's statement, but the content has not been reported at this time. It's likely the jury will begin deliberations tomorrow. If they are not done by Friday, three alternate jurors will be seated on the jury and deliberations will start all over next Monday. Prior to the trial, three jurors told the judge they had vacation plans and the judge acquiesced to release them if the trial went beyond June 21st. Once alternates are empaneled, deliberations have to start over from the beginning because alternates are not allowed in the room during regular deliberations.