Raniere’s big blunder in bail package
https://frankreport.com/2018/06/15/ranieres-big-blunder-in-bail-package/
— Read on frankreport.com/2018/06/15/ranieres-big-blunder-in-bail-package/
Tag Archives: #NXIVM
#NXIVM: No Bail for Raniere, Operations Shut Down
Keith Raniere was not only denied bail, but Clare Bronfman was brought up in yesterday’s court hearing for the cult leader and co-conspirator Allison Mack.
The Frank Report says Bronfman may have fled to Fiji by way of France, so we can only hope she’s not beyond extradition and will be sitting in a courtroom sometime soon herself.
I had planned to attend yesterday’s hearing and meet up with Toni Natalie (Keith’s ex girlfriend whose life he made a living hell for many years). Unfortunately, family business and a series of necessary appointments got in the way.
Regardless, I think the coup of the day (at least in the eyes of NXIVM’s defectors and the victims of the ridiculously overly litigious Raniere and Bronfman) was that Bronfman’s name was finally brought up and it’s now clear that Clare is in the hot seat – well, not physically yet if she’s in Fiji, but it’s official: There’ zero doubt she’s on the radar screen of federal agents.
Despite Raniere’s lawyers’ pleas for his release on bail, the judge presiding over the case is no pushover. The defendant’s motion included a promise of having security watch him 24/7 to guarantee he’s no flight risk, but the gravity of his crimes certainly don’t warrant special allowances. For now (and hopefully for a VERY long time) he’s restricted to prison life, still able to consume more calories and be far better nourished than the women he allegedly forced to starve for sexual slavery.
The other news out of NXIVM is that all its operations have closed down. It’s actually quite astonishing that it took this long. The following report is from News10.com:
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – NXIVM announced it is suspending all operations until further notice.
The Capital Region cult says it will be in touch with more information for anyone currently enrolled in upcoming events and programs.
“While we are disappointed by the interruption of our operations, we believe it is warranted by the extraordinary circumstances facing the company at this time. We continue to believe in the value and importance of our work and look forward to resuming our efforts when these allegations are resolved.”
Actress Allison Mack, 35, of Brooklyn, N.Y., is facing trafficking charges for her involvement in NXIVM.
Keith Raniere, 57, of Waterford, N.Y., is the leader of the cult that masquerades as a self-group, was arraigned on similar charges.
According to NXIVM, the company’s mission is to “raise human awareness, foster an ethical humanitarian civilization, and celebrate what it means to be human.”
Men in Bad Sweaters
Just when I thought the Bill Cosby verdict was a no-brainer, I’ve discovered people across the country who feel he was unjustly crucified.
Due to the outstanding number of accusers, the consistencies between accounts and Cosby’s own admissions, I find their complaints baffling. The argument one woman gave me was regarding statutes of limitations, as well as recollections of what occurred many years ago. I couldn’t even get my head around her logic truthfully, particularly in light of how Cosby incriminated his own self, admitting to drugging women before having sex.
Another person who I find inarguably guilty of the crimes that have been alleged is cult leader Keith Raniere of NXIVM. If you read the Frank Report by Frank Parlato (FrankReport.com), you’ll get a sense of just how evil Keith is and how far it goes. It is beyond the sex slavery and trafficking you hear about in the news. But if you look at Keith in the YouTube video he made with actress Allison Mack, he seems soft spoken and innocuous looking. His ex girlfriend Toni Natalie compares his appearance to that of Harry Potter’s. It is hard for those who’ve met Keith only a handful of times to fathom that this “schlub” (Elizabeth Vargas of 20/20’s word for him) could hold so much sway…yet Keith is a hypnotist and excels at mind control.
Cosby epitomized the fun-loving, comedic, wholesome dad on his hit television show for many years. People of my generation idealized the family dynamics of the Huxtables, sometimes even forgetting that family was fictional. Those with dysfunctional home lives resented Bill, Claire and crew while fantasizing about a way to be like them. As it turned out, the married Cosby was meeting women under the guise of mentorship or career counsel during that time, then drugging and raping them.
These two men in bad sweaters seem unlikely perpetrators to the untrained eye. Keith looks like the young cutey-pie Rabbi who may have taught me in seminary, inviting students from my all girls school to Shabbat lunch, singing songs while bouncing his child on his knee. His esoteric speak would be about Torah in this imagined scenario. Yes, Keith really does appear at first glance like someone I might have known as a depressed teen searching for spiritual meaning….trying to fill my undernourished soul….someone whose words would seem meaningful at a time when I was vulnerable.
Both men seemed to offer kindness, guidance, advice and answers to those they initially captivated. Their ugly sweaters swathing portly mid-sections hardly made them look intimidating. But perhaps the exteriors are what allowed these men to escape the law for as long as they did. The old, very trite adage of “you can’t judge a book by its cover” applies here. Both men seemed sage and safe on the surface level, which disguised a host of evil manipulations.
#NXIVM: Defending an Abusive Lover
Time and again, I’ve observed people who defend what seems indefensible about a significant other.
Blaming physical or verbal abuse on a boyfriend’s troubles is a popular one, or saying that a medicine caused a behavior so we should cut the person we’re blaming slack.
If you’ve watched any of the videos of Allison Mack talking with NXIVM leader Keith Raniere, you can see she was smitten. I don’t even mean this in a romantic or sexual way at all, but you observe how she is in love with the brilliance she feels that he exudes, entranced by his nonsensical babbling…peppered by somewhat fancy vernacular for good measure.
When speaking with Vanessa Grigoriadis for the New York Times Magazine piece that ran last week, Allison takes credit for the idea of branding the women. She even puts a positive spin on it, equating it to other sororities and female empowerment groups that get tattoos. But the idea of branding is way more painful and torturous than a tattoo. It conjures up an image of cattle. It’s been hard for many to believe that sweet, slight, blonde Allison Mack from Smallville was the one to devise the idea, as well as that of the DOS division (of NXIVM) for sexual slavery.
On the other hand, as they say: Looks can be deceiving. I’m not quite sure what to think, but I do bear in mind that Keith was infamous for his hypnosis and mind-control prowess. Just ask Toni Natalie, his former girlfriend and business partner, who I’ve interviewed in the past. Former NXIVM members add that no major decisions were made within the group without first consulting Keith Raniere, leader and “Vanguard” of the group.
I asked NXIVM expert Frank Parlato for his thoughts and he responded:
“She is taking the fall for Raniere, or rather, trying to take the fall. In my opinion this is well crafted by Raniere. But too late.”
In abusive relationships, men have been known to successfully convince their female partners that they provoked the punch, the slap or the screaming and they deserve to be the target. Allison Mack was under a similar spell, according to the cult’s defectors. I have to wonder where Allison is now mentally: Does she think of Keith Raniere as the almighty Vanguard, or as a highly regrettable ex who got her into the worst predicament of her life?
(Photo Source: DailyMail.com)
#NXIVM: That “Kiss-Ass” New York Times Magazine Piece
Those who know a ton about NXIVM are outraged by yesterday’s New York Times Magazine piece https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/magazine/sex-cult-empowerment-nxivm-keith-raniere.html. Writer Vanessa Grigoriadis went “inside NXIVM” as much as she possibly could – meaning, as much as the group, which had banned media for 14 years prior to her arrival, would allow.
Her access seemed to have been greatly controlled, and the people she met with (including Nancy Salzman, Clare Bronfman, Keith Raniere and Allison Mack) used carefully crafted language that reflected intense media training.
The result may have been the most positive coverage of NXIVM as an “empowerment group” to date. Which is truly baffling. The lengthy article omitted numerous important negative aspects like the “terrorism by litigation” (Raniere ex Toni Natalie’s term) that Raniere and Bronfman vengefully subjected former members to.
Frank Parlato, the NXIVM publicist- turned NXIVM whistleblower, took to his website The Frank Report (www.FrankReport.com) to document the glaring ironies and inaccuracies in Grigoriadis’s piece. Shortly after, he and I corresponded:
“I think she (Grigoriadis) was selected by Clare Bronfman’s PR team to deliver a positive story for them and she did deliver a positive story for them. This was good public relations work by Bronfman. The problem is: it is a case of too little, too late. Raniere got arrested between the interview and the publication of the story. The story was meant to protect Raniere from getting arrested, show Allison created DOS and that all of it was consensual, but it came out too late which proves that timing is everything in PR. Against the backdrop of negative PR, it hardly moves the needle.”
I then asked a friend of mine what her thoughts were on this article. She is extremely well-versed in NXIVM facts as a voracious reader with a photographic memory. She often refers to herself as an “armchair psychologist” and frequently shares insight with me. She is also fascinated with and keeps current on every aspect of this cult. “It was a very kiss-ass article,” she remarked, “It was like a PR piece and everyone was prepped. Frank (Parlato) must be pissed.”
In fact, Frank Parlato did have a lot more to say:
“…On the other hand, it shows that Bronfman money can even buy a positive story in The NY Times. Lastly, my best laugh came from Raniere crying about Pam Cafritz his late pimp woman. Those were tears on cue. He never showed emotion to his followers when she died. But maybe the tears were real – for himself. Pam could get him the underage and pretty young women workout resorting to branding. Allison replaced her as head pimp and she did not have Cafritz’s talent for pimping and had to use branding. The gentle dove Raniere, crying for his lost love and speaking of the importance of intimacy and love while he lies to a harem telling them each he is going to father their avatar baby. Maybe Trump should hire her PR people.”
It is worth reading The Frank Report to see not only how Frank Parlato himself dissects Grigoriadis’s article, but to note the comments section that is filled with feedback from NXIVM defectors.
A “fluff piece” on NXIVM – at least an article that appears as such – just seems incredibly ill-timed with Raniere’s next hearing scheduled for June 13th…Plus ALL ELSE that’s recently come to light.
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