Prosecution Cites Admission By Defense Attorneys That They Cannot Be Ready For March 18th Start Date
By K. R. Claviger
Based on a flurry of filings that took place last Friday, it looks like the currently scheduled March 18th “Start Date” for the trial of the NXIVM Numbskulls is going to get postponed.
But the presiding judge in the case, Nicholas G. Garaufis, has not yet issued a ruling on this matter.
The latest development started with a letter to Judge Garaufis from Justine A. Harris, one of the attorneys representing Kathy Russell.
In her January 11th filing, Ms. Harris began by noting that “…we write on behalf of Kathy Russell to respectfully request that the trial date be adjourned”. She later noted that Clare Bronfman and Nancy Salzman concur with Russell’s request.
Harris then went on to reference an earlier filing by Russell, Clare Bronfman, and Nancy Salzman in which they asked to have their trial severed from that of that Keith Raniere (and presumably Allison Mack – and maybe Lauren Salzman) – and to have their trial postponed (Because this filing was done “under seal”, we are nor certain of its exact wording).
Although Harris did not provide Judge Garaufis with a proposed new “Start Date” for the trial of Russell, Bronfman and Nancy Salzman, she did request that it be a date at least 90 days after the government’s disclosure of its RICO enterprise evidence.
Per the current court-approved schedule, the prosecution is supposed to file its Enterprise Letter on or before January 30, 2019. Thus, if the court were to grant Harris’ pending request, then the earliest date for the start of the trial would be April 30, 2019.
And, if as expected – and, indeed, as promised by the prosecution – there is a superseding indictment in the case, that could push the “Start Date” back even further.
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In response to Harris’ filing, the prosecution immediately wrote to Judge Garaufis to inform him that “…it would be appropriate for the Court to adjourn …. the current trial date”.
In doing so, the prosecution quoted from the original sealed filing to indicate that the attorneys representing Russell, Bronfman and Nancy Salzman had expressed “…grave concerns that the March date is not feasible, and that they do not have sufficient time to prepare for trial in a manner consistent with their ethical obligations to their clients.”
The prosecution also pointed out that another reason to postpone the “Start Date’ for the trial is because it will not be known for several weeks just how many trials there will be.
In addition to Russell, Bronfman and Nancy Salzman requesting separate trials from Raniere (and presumably Allison Mack – and maybe Lauren Salzman), Lauren also made a similar request (It is not known whether Russell, Bronfman and the Mom-and-Daughter Salzman duo are amenable to being tried together).
In its January 11th filing, the prosecution also indicated that it intends to oppose all motions for severance – thereby indicating that there may not, in fact, be any plea deals in the works for Nancy Salzman and/or Lauren Salzman.
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To further complicate matters, Keith Raniere’s lead counsel, Marc Agnifilo, immediately filed a vigorous objection to any delay in the “Start Date” for the trial.
In his missive to the court, Agnifilo indicated that his lugubrious client still wants “…a prompt trial, which he has done since the very moment he was kidnapped in Mexico by Mexican police at the insistence of the U.S. Department of Justice, and forcibly ‘deported’ at gunpoint” (And “Yes”, believe it or not, that is an exact quote from Agnifilo’s filing).
Agnifilo then went on to incorrectly state that it’s the prosecution that has requested a postponement – when, in reality, it’s Russell, Bronfman and Nancy Salzman who have done so as part of their motion to have their trial severed from that of Raniere (and presumably Allison Mack – and maybe Lauren Salzman).
And in a soapbox worthy crescendo, Agnifilo ended his filing with the following: “The Government’s adjournment bag is now empty. There are no more defendants to add, there are no more superseding indictments on which to ruminate. It has to try the case. No more excuses. No more delay. For the reasons that we have repeated time and again for the past nine months in written form and in open court, we demand a trial on the agreed-upon, firm trial date, March 18, 2019”.
Vanguard had to love that fiery rhetoric (He may have even dictated it to Agnifilo).
But soon, we’ll find out how Judge Garaufis reacts to “demands” from the petulant but well-tanned and very well-paid Mr. Agnifilo.
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[…] Prosecution requests a delay in the March NIXIVM trial. […]
Oh no! Someone tell Pea Onyu that she’ll have to revise her April 20th date.
Was Allison love-bombing folks at the last hearing in hopes that they wouldn’t leave her and Keith twisting in the wind?
These women have stood by their Master for decades. The Salzman dynamic emotional abusers – mother/daughter #1 duo, Kathy Russell the criminal mind behind cooking the books of all that “CASH”, Clare Bronfman with her open check book and cruel mind who financed all the destruction, and Allison Mack who became his pimp when Pam became too ill to hunt for her Masters sexual pleasures.
These women have sang his praises, spread his lies, beat down those who questioned, filed law suits, spred lies about defectors and helped to destroy those who question or share their discoveries.
These same women want to be separated from their Master Keith Raniere in their final Swan Song, the final exposure of their evil doings, a trail.
This poster shouts out WTF. Stand by the man you supported with your lies. Your a team and together you created, aidded, plotted and paticapated in the NXIVM criminal enterprise.
It’s a must that you finish your journey together. Keith Raniere was the Master and you all carried out his orders. You did nothing to stop him and none of you ever walked away. Even after his arrest, you all stood by his side scrambling to save your precious Master, your so called company and your own ass.
Now like rats running from a burning ship you want the impact of full disclosure of what “The Team” did to keep this evil mess afoot broken into pieces saying “it wasn’t me”.
This poster prays the Judge will not allow a separation and all the current and if there’s others, stand together and be judged by a jury for your crimes as the team you have been.
What, together, you all have done to those who saw the truth and exposed what your real intent was behind your Masters plan, you need to stand together and face us all. We will also have our day in court watching you be held accountable for your actions.
Does anyone know if Mr. Raniere is going to be required to do an IQ test? I’m just curious because it seems that the context of the entire trial will be set on whether or not he was being truthful. Is he in fact one of the smartest people in the world?
Interesting question. Unfortunately there isn’t necessarily a correlation between IQ and GPA. You could have an intelligent person who will not work hard or study. But I think we can surmise that KAR is lacking in the IQ Department based on his ill advised flight to Mexico and self incriminating email trails. He did quite a few of dumb things, for a genius.
I think the entire IQ debate is dumb. I realize Raniere’s high IQ claims is one of the things he used to attract people to NXIVM, but IQ has nothing to do with common sense. In fact, often times it’s quite the opposite.
Also, the original comment didn’t include Raniere’s GPA, why did you bring it up? I agree smart people who don’t apply themselves often earn low GPAs, and he apparently had 3 majors, which by itself is impressive, regardless of the GPA.
Yes, Anonymous, Keith Raniere, aka Vanguard, is in fact the smartest man in the world.
Behold! Raniere’s status as the Smartest man in the world is evidenced by his volleyball skills.
Marc Agnifilo, Keith Raniere’s lawyer, may not be the smartest man in the world.
Agnifilo’s status as not the smartest man in the world may be evidenced by Agnifilo’s decision to accept Raniere as a client.
Marc may be one of the smartest men in the world. Think of the massive billable hours he has, in an extremely complicated case with an apparently fully involved and stupid client, and virtually unlimited funding behind it.
It should be noted that in Agnifilo’s previous bail motion filing (to get Keith out on bail) he said that Keith’s trip to Mexico was not to flee the DOJ investigation and that Keith was willing to cooperate with the DOJ at any time while he was in Mexico.
As part of that previous bail motion filing, Agnifilo said that Keith’s Mexican attorney had contacted the US Attorney’s Office to setup an interview with the DOJ while Keith was in Mexico (i.e. thereby implying that Keith was willing to return to the US for this interview voluntarily and was NOT fleeing any investigation during his trip to Mexico).
Yet in his most recent filing, Agnifilo is now CONTRADICTING his previous bail motion by confirming that Keith was NOT willing to voluntarily cooperate with Mexican or US authorities when captured (i.e. Keith was NOT willing to voluntarily come back to settle these charges when captured by Mexican police and had to be involuntarily deported, against his will, at gun point).
Agnifilo is therefore admitting — at least tacitly — that Keith was in fact running away to Mexico to flee the DOJ.
I have a legal question for Mr. Claviger…
How can an attorney submit filings which appear to contradict themselves? Especially when he’s supposed to be an officer of the court and is supposed to be 100% honest with every filing.
This is why nobody respects attorneys. Defense attorneys are rarely punished severely for bullshitting. If a filing is not 100% truthful then the judge should use his judicial hammer.
The judge must put a leash on Agnifilo.
This makes me happy. Anything that gets under Raniere’s skin at this point and makes him squirm is a win. Sorry Pea, your Vanguard won’t be able to console you with his hairy little rat feet in March. I know you must be very disappointed.
“To further complicate matters, Keith Raniere’s lead counsel, Marc Agnifilo, immediately filed a vigorous objection to any delay in the “Start Date” for the trial.”
What happened to Agnifilo’s “As God is my witness, this is a complex case”?
“There are no more defendants to add, there are no more superseding indictments”
Marc Agnifilo
Anyone who has followed this case can name several potential new defendants.
What Crimes – And Who – Will Be Included In Future Superseding Indictments?
https://frankreport.com/2018/11/08/what-crimes-and-who-will-be-included-in-future-superseding-indictments/
At this point, the most likely additional defendants include the following:
Karen Abney
Alex Betancourt
Sara Bronfman-Igtet
Jim DelNegro
Basit Igtet
Rosa Laura Junco
Ben Meyers
Steve Ose
Emiliano Salinas
Michelle Salzman
How would Agniifilo know about there being no superseding indictments?
Has he used some of Clare’s money to plant bugs in the government offices or grand jury rooms?
Does Agnifilo have a spy in the government ranks?
“In its filing, the prosecution also indicated that it intends to oppose all motions for severance – thereby indicating that there may not, in fact, be any plea deals in the works for Nancy Salzman and/or Lauren Salzman.”
So apparently the Salzmans, just like Allison Mack, used talk of a plea deal to play the government.
Let ALL the NXIVM defendants hang together.
As long as Nancy and Lauren are tied in with the Raniere-Mack sex cult they will be under immense pressure to cut a plea deal.
I’d ask how Agniflio is enjoying having Keith Raniere’s hand so far up his ass that it’s what is moving his mouth, but I strongly suspect Agniflio enjoys it as long as he’s watching his bank balance go up.
That’s not mild panic Raniere is having. He still thinks he can control something when time and time again, his co-defendants waive speedy trial for him.