[Editor’s note: Frank Report publishes opinions of various readers who choose to comment. This does not mean I endorse their views. But, in the interest of advancing knowledge and promoting conversation, I nevertheless publish views that are speculative, debatable and some that I outright disagree with.]
By One Night In Bangkok
I agree with Frank that Lesko’s arrival onto the prosecution team is a signal to the defense. However, it’s not the ‘positive’ signal that Frank and Co. are hoping for.
Methinks it’s a signal from everybody’s boss, US Attorney Richard Donoghue, that Moira Penza is getting in over her head.
I’m guessing that Richard Donoghue is tired of having ZERO defendants cut plea deals.
I’m guessing that Richard Donoghue is getting sick & tired of having Moira Penza FUCKING UP this case by FAILING to secure even a SINGLE cooperating witness after nearly a year.
I’m guessing that Richard Donoghue is frustrated by listening to Moira Penza constantly announce to the court that she’s ‘negotiating’ with defendants (i.e., Allison Mack and Nancy Salzman) only to have those negotiations BEAR NO FRUIT after many months.
Guess what?
This is a case that’s RIFE with defendants who can ‘cooperate’ and help drive that final nail into Keith’s and Clare’s coffin.
I mean, there are so many defendants in this case that they’re practically creating a traffic jam as they enter the courtroom.
Yet with SO MANY defendants in this case, Moira Penza has not been skilled enough to convince even ONE OF THEM to cooperate for the government. That says a lot about her skills as an attorney — or rather her lack of such skills — since half of an attorney’s job is to negotiate with the other side.
It’s clear that Penza is not offering Nancy or Lauren the proper ‘incentives’ to turn against Keith, which is why they’re standing by their Vanguard.
It’s also clear the Allison Mack played Penza FOR A NAIVE FOOL and never had any intention of cooperating. Allison and her attorney are dancing rings around Moira Penza pre-trial.
Penza is embarrassing the prosecution team with her lack of progress. She clearly isn’t able to come down off her HIGH HORSE to offer Nancy & Lauren the proper ‘incentives’ to testify against their Vanguard.
I’m guessing that Lesko’s arrival onto the prosecution team is meant to stem the tide of failures by Moira Penza.
I’m guessing that Richard Donoghue doesn’t wish to embarrass his team by officially removing Penza from this case, so he’s ‘quietly’ just adding more capable attorneys to assist in her failed negotiations.
But that’s just my opinion of course, which taken together with a token, might get somebody on a NY subway but not much else. LOL.
And no, I am not Dennis Burke. Let’s not go into the Twilight Zone again and rehash that nonsense.
Bangkok yes, Burke no.
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
Pretends to be an armchair legal expert, but just an incel.
Usually, I don’t bother to click on most guest posts.. In doing so, I have confirmed that is the best approach.
I see it is the usual, hateful drivel from a mental midget. It’s just sad, really.
Given that person’s irrational hatred of women, and even more so intelligent, attractive women, it’s not surprising they would make Penza a target, like they did when I posted about my experience, and they often do to Heidi, as well.
It’s more likely each addition to the team is due to their expertise in a particular aspect of the crimes at hand.
I find Penza very average looking, but I realize I’m spoiled, living in Texas.
No, I don’t think your typical attorney types in ALL CAPS as much as we see here.
To convict Keith and everyone else, there is no need for the defendants
to cooperate with the prosecution. There is so much evidence, over 96,000
pages of e-mails and other evidence. And there are enough witnesses who
will testify against the defendants. If the defendants believe they will be acquitted,
they fantasize.
Time will tell, but why would the DOJ want anyone to flip if they have enough evidence to nail all of them? Did One Night in Bangkok catch an STD while he was there, which is impacting his logical thinking process?
I strongly disagree with the author’s opinion and believe Penza has been doing an admirable job for the prosecution. I believe the team is growing as the trial date draws near and Lesko is a much needed addition to the team who can help with the workload.
Penza would not be the one creating the terms being offered to the defendants in the way of a deal – that would come from higher up the chain and I think Bangkok has forgotten we are dealing with defendants who are members of a cult. These people have been programmed to be followers and they are not going to turn on their leader. I would have thought Nancy Salzman could be the one person who would broker a deal. She was as involved in creating the NXIVM content as KAR and should know most of his supernatural claims are bogus. But she too may be under the speill or she could fear losing her daughter’s affection if she works with the prosecution. All these defendants could truly hold the belief that they are innocent of all charges and have done nothing wrong and are sure a trial will vindicate them.
Please do not see Penza as needing rescue – she does not. She does need more help working a very complicated case.
Bullshit “One Night In Bangkok” is not Dennis Burke. Saving for consideration a razor-thin possibility otherwise, of course it’s Burke.
What’s interesting, however, is with his latest prosecutorial commentary titled “Lesko came in to bail Penza out,” the author seems to be finding a more serious writer’s voice in his submissions to Frank Report.
Compared to when another probably Burke shill account was posting crazy, practically incoherent rants under the pseudonym “DeezNuts”, “One Night” now writes with a more serious tone, from the perspective of a former federal prosecutor, reflecting years of criminal law experience.
It makes sense his tone may have changed to be more serious, because things are quickly getting more serious for Burke himself in the Nxivm case.
Dennis Burke was specifically named in the government’s memorandum of law, filed Dec. 28, 2018 in the Nxivm RICO case, regarding his potential involvement in an alleged scheme to circumvent the United States immigration laws, together with his law partner, John Sandweg — a Phoenix lawyer known for defending convicted murderers, sex offenders and pedophiles. Sandweg raised campaign funds for Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano (Dennis Burke’s former boss), from 2002 to 2009.
Like other Napolitano appointees to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Sandweg resigned from his post as acting director of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February of 2014 amid allegations of obstruction.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/acting-ice-director-sandweg-resigns-after-five-months-on-the-job
Sandweg was previously employed by the Arizona law firm of Quarles & Brady, the same law firm currently representing Nxivm defendant Lauren Salzman, who is represented by Arizona lawyer Hector J. Diaz. It is worth noting that Attorney Diaz conveniently is bilingual in Spanish, according to his law firm website.
We can be highly confident “One Night” is Dennis Burke for a few reasons. One of those reasons is because he writes with a sort of offensive confidence strong enough to taunt and insult Nxivm prosecutor Moira Penza about what he insinuates is a lack of competency on Penza’s part. Completely overlooking the potential strength of the government’s charges at an eventual trial, “One Night” claims Penza has failed to offer adequate incentive to secure plea bargains from defendants. Who else other than a former federal prosecutor would take such an audacious stance?
It’s not the first time “One Night” has taunted Nxivm prosecutor Penza on the Frank Report blog.
This time, “One Night” is blaming and shaming Penza while failing to mention how Nxivm defendants may have been purposefully discouraged from accepting plea deals through a carefully coordinated defense effort orchestrated by Burke himself, in the background while playing the role of “Clare Bronfman’s invisible man.”
Importantly, with his writing, he may have again taken steps to throw his own previous client — if it is indeed the case — Clare Bronfman, under the proverbial bus as he writes about the objective of driving “that final nail into Keith’s and Clare’s coffin.” Such priorities logically lead us to ask, as has been the case for months now, (hypothetically of course), if Burke is willing to promote certain theories to the detriment of his own former client, with hopes to steer the Nxivm case and negotiations in a certain direction, who is he in fact protecting?
It is a sophisticated, self-serving smoke-and-mirrors blame game we are seeing in what appear to be underhanded submissions by Burke to the Frank Report blog, with all appropriate rights about accuracy and truth in reporting reserved in the remote chance it eventually is proven that “One Night” was not Dennis Burke. Yet considering the obvious, that seems like a low chance.
Another reason to believe “One Night” is Dennis Burke is because he finishes his latest submission with a deceitful claim intended to paint anyone who makes a “Burke sighting” about the post as some kind of crazy, by writing “And no, I am not Dennis Burke. Let’s not go into the Twilight Zone again.”
Deceitful acts and statements are a hallmark in the career history of Dennis K. Burke, as a matter of factual record. In the Obama-era Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal where weapons were trafficked to Mexican drug cartels by agencies of the United States Federal Government under Burke’s watch, Burke was famously called a “leaker and a liar” by the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, James Cole.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/watchdog-report-says-doj-official-retaliated-against-furious-whistle-blower-lied-about-it.amp
And in March of 2014, Dennis K. Burke was sanctioned by the Arizona and Washington D.C. bar associations for violations of Rule 42, Ariz. R. Sup. Ct., specifically ERs 1.6 and 8.4(c), engaging in lawyer conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
http://www.dcbar.org/discipline/other_jurisdiction/20140411Burke.pdf
From a body language perspective, Penza and Lesko are quite far apart. Penza speaks lightly and haltingly and teeters around in high heels that don’t seem to fit her properly; Lesko struts calmy and confidently and speaks smoothly.
Yep there is more to this than meets the eye. I do quite enjoy the average Frank Reporter commetors showing their “Emotional” thought process here. NXIVM is a “Keystone”. Too much estrogen can often be as problematic as too much testosterone.
Agreed, especially when the estogen is trying to dress up as testosterone.
Average Frank commentor? I’ve stood in a courtroom with both of them.
Watch out for Lesko. He will smile at you and, at the same time, stare you down with his steely eyes like he’s marking you for death.
You sound like the average frank report low info dude. We want Lesko to be a tough sonovabitch. Are they letting you post from prison Keith?