A couple of readers asked me some interesting questions – about Clare Bronfman.
Here are the questions [or comments] with my answers.
Enquirer #1:
Keith Raniere was engaged in some very unsavory practices and needed to be stopped. But many of the facts of this saga don’t make sense. So, I have to ask, ‘Did you try to cut another man’s grass?’ Or rather, ‘Did you get caught trying to cut another man’s grass?’
When witnessing Clare’s awkward uncertainty, and the ease at which the sisters had lost control of $90 million, did you not think, “This guy Raniere is a bit of a dweeb, I’m sure I can do better”, and set out to take his place?
Did you seek to mentor and influence the sisters to your own agenda, only to be sabotaged in the process by Raniere who was apparently keeping his paycheck – and his protection – on a short leash?
Frank Parlato:
I never thought of stealing Clare or Sara away. I was part of the team, in fact, a leader of the team. I imagined I could work with Keith and help make money for Keith, Clare, Sara and myself. At the time, I thought they were good people but misunderstood.
I recovered $26.4 million in assets for them in Los Angeles. I was ready to develop the Los Angeles real estate project and make it highly profitable. I was content with the way things were.
I was in Los Angeles when I was fired. When I lived in Albany, I did mentor Clare for a time. Mainly, I tried to teach her business, how to write and act like an adult.
Unlike everyone, except Raniere, I did not curry favor with Clare even though she and her sister, Sara, were paying me $75,000 per month. I dictated terms to Clare. In my mind, she was a baby and babies must submit to being taught.
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Enquirer #1:
After you had recovered $26.4 million in assets, why did you decide to investigate the other lost $65 million [in commodities] of your own volition? You stated in a YouTube interview that Raniere had told Clare that her father had such a dislike for Mr. Raniere that he used the Illuminati to manipulate the markets against Mr. Raniere’s $60 million-dollar investments on their behalf. You implied that Clare believed the explanation. So, you decided to look into the lost money. Who asked you to do that?
Frank:
No one asked me. I decided to do it myself. Here was my reason: The person who handled the Los Angeles real estate project, from whom I recovered $26.4 million, was the same person who handled the commodities trades. I thought he swindled the Bronfmans in the real estate deal and suspected he might have done the same in commodities. Since I recovered the real estate, I thought I might be able to recover some of the cash lost in the commodities, since he had substantial assets.
I asked Clare if she had any records of the commodities trades. She said she did not. That made me suspicious. I told her I planned to investigate. She said she had to consult Keith. Within days, I was fired. At the time, I did not suspect Raniere of stealing. I have since changed my opinion.
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Enquirer #1:
You said in an earlier response that by the time you became involved with Nxivm, Clare had been Raniere’s lover for approximately two years. Did it ever once occur to you that if you found untoward activity while investigating the lost $65 million, you would effectively be “outing” her lover Raniere – if he was indeed responsible for the losses as you have claimed.
If Mr. Raniere was responsible for the loss of $65 million of Bronfman money, by fraud, outright theft, or plain incompetence, did you expect Mr. Raniere to thank you for outing him?
And while the Bronfman sisters might have been intensely grateful for getting their money back, did you expect Clare to thank you for potentially ruining her relationship and destroying her vision of the man she revered, who had helped her establish her identity as a master competitive equestrian and upon whose training organization her self-image was built?
Frank
At the time, I did not know Keith was having sex with Clare. Everyone seemed to think she was gay. I saw Clare more like his child or disciple. She used to sit at his feet literally.
By the way, Keith had nothing to do with Clare being an equestrian. She was one before she came to Nxivm. By the time I was there, Keith had already persuaded her to quit riding horses and dedicate herself full time to his cause. He told her being an equestrian was cruel to horses.
As for embarrassing Keith by “outing” or showing him to be incompetent, it was not my intention and it certainly did not work that way.
When I uncovered the fraud in the real estate deal, the Bronfman sisters actually wept, not for themselves but for Keith. They were all so blue because poor Keith had been betrayed by one of his few friends, a man he had trusted. They did not care about the money. They assumed that Keith and I would handle making a profit. This did not make Keith look bad to the Bronfmans, it endeared him to them.
Enquirer #1
You knew that Nxivm was litigious; you stated that during your initial “honeymoon period” with the group, you were presented with a list of names and amounts of money Nxivm principals were prepared to pay in exchange for your assistance in “stitching people up”.
They were playing “hardball” and had the will and the money to do it almost indefinitely. So, if you knew all that beforehand, why did you decide to investigate where the other $65 million went?
None of what has transpired since needed to occur had you just taken your one-million-dollar fee, which they had already paid, ignored the lost $65 million and gone to make whoopee somewhere else. It doesn’t make sense. Except, if it was personal…
Frank
My focus was not on Raniere. I did not suspect him. To this day I don’t know if he swindled them out of their $65 million or he just incompetently lost the money.
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Enquirer #1:
I’m just a lowly working guy, but I occasionally see someone steal anther person’s client, and the consequences frequently fit the actions. And the consequences you’ve endured are all out of proportion with the actions as you’ve explained them. So, again, I have to ask: Were you trying to cut another man’s grass? Or was there another reason? I’m on your side, but the details are a bit lacking. Just asking.
Frank
It was not personal. I was sincerely looking to do what I had been hired to do for the Bronfmans and Raniere. I had no idea how corrupt Raniere was and, yes, the reaction was out of proportion. But that is Keith Raniere. He attacks and seeks to destroy all out of proportion.
As for Raniere and the Bronfmans, I served them briefly, loyally and in friendship. They turned again and tried to rend me. As I have said before, I am proud of what I did for Nxivm – when I worked for them and when I worked against them. I was straightforward and honest. When I was for them, I was 100 percent for them. And when I was against them, I was 100 percent against them.
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Enquirer # 2 [clearly someone who does not like me.]
“Brave,” “hero” little Frankie only found the motivation to write about his sex-slaver pal Keith after he was indicted.
Until then, he was no better than all of the other cowards who slunk away. Apparently, only after finding out Clare committed perjury AGAINST HIM did Frank decide that Clare was a wretched, evil woman and what an evil criminal enterprise Keith was running.
Apparently, the Times Union series in 2012 exposing Keith’s rape and pedophilia didn’t convince Frank that Clare and Keith were evil and he should take pen to paper, nor was paying him $75,000 a month to publicly claim Rick Ross a “thug” and Joe O’Hara a “corrupt lawyer.”
Imagine if “heroic” Frank had found the courage to lend his voice to those of James Odato and John Tighe back in 2012 instead of waiting until 2015 when he was indicted.
Frank didn’t even have the decency to quit working for the sex cult a la Joe. No, Fraudster Frank had to be fired by the sex slaver! — Frank Roberts or maybe Phil Robertson.
Frank
It is true I became motivated to write about Keith after I was indicted. But for more than a year before that, while I was under investigation following Clare’s perjury, I tried to persuade the US Attorney for the Western District of NY to investigate Bronfman and Raniere to no avail.
I laid out the same list of crimes [except the blackmail and branding DOS scheme which had not occurred yet] that the EDNY later charged the Nxivm racketeers.
I did not slink away. I was fired by Keith in 2008.
For most of the time after I was fired, I had little contact with or thoughts about Nxivm. I had moved on with my life and frankly, I did not know how bad they were until I found out that Clare committed perjury against me.
As for the Times Union series in 2012, I spoke with Jim Odato dozens of times and provided information to him. I would speak to him sometimes for hours at a time. I am sure I spoke with him more than two dozen times, in support of exposing Bronfman-Raniere. And he had a bigger outlet than I did.
He did not quote me or put me on the record, but I gave him documents [my email records show how much I sent him] and other evidence of financial crimes.
I did not know about the pedophilia until he published the story. For that, we can all thank Heidi Hutchinson. She was the first who brought the underage sex story to Odato.
I also tried to help John Tighe with stories and I made several financial contributions to him in order for him to keep his website open.
I believe I have written before that, although I was being paid $75,000 a month and Raniere wanted me to “publicly claim Rick Ross a ‘thug’ and Joe O’Hara a ‘corrupt lawyer,'” I chose not to do so for I found no evidence of it.
As for not quitting the sex cult, I did not think of Nxivm then as a sex cult or even a cult.
The members I knew seemed intelligent and happy. No one seemed brainwashed or punished. No one was confined in a room when I was there. And even if there was someone who was not happy with what was going on, they would not have told me.
Keith was charming to me. We talked amiably and often. Nancy was usually very gracious. We would dine together.
The Bronfman sisters were kind and considerate. Clare was at my beck and call, with Keith’s obvious assent. Sara was well mannered and offered to do anything I asked, including anything personal. She was very accommodating.
Kristin Keeffe was hardworking and a very good friend. She seemed happy in her life. Barbara Bouchey, while sometimes complaining about Keith’s handling of money, never said he was an evil man. She seemed pretty smart and together at the time.
The others were all very nice: Ivy Nevares, Allison Mack, Lauren Salzman, Dawn Morrison, Kathy Russell, Michelle Salzman, Karen U. All of them seemed intelligent. All of them nice.
No one was complaining – at least not to me. I had no reason to quit them. I liked them all.
Finally, I never saw at the time any evidence of criminality. I was never asked to do one illegal thing. It was only later – after I found out about Clare’s perjury – that I turned my full attention to taking them down.
But thanks for your comments.
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
I donno Frank. I want to believe you but your actions during this and other matters belie your portrayal of yourself and your motives.
For instance, your description while retrieving the first 25 mil in investments, of the “hard-nosed” people who assisted you suggests you weren’t a small-time player.
You went up against the Maid of the Mist franchise (350 mil per year) and won. That took guts and a lot of political power and muscle. You were more than savvy, but we’ll let that go for now.
You founded a movement (and blog) based on moral indignation at sexual servitude, to counter Raniere’s movement founded on the desire to create a more noble civilization.
You outed their leader’s apparent predilection for coerced sexual activity and crime under the pretense of self-improvement, which eradicated the belief in their founding principles. Hence their demise. ( and the profound suffering of some very well-intentioned, but duped followers.)
That was an incredibly canny thing to do.
So, I can’t believe you were this average Joe knocking around with your hands in your pockets when Roger Stone first put you on to Nxivm.
And you still haven’t answered the basic questions.
Where did the 60 million go and why did you decide to investigate it without the permission of the people who lost it? Why did you believe you could, in fact, investigate it with impunity?
Are you a licensed private investigator? Do you have the legal right to investigate other people’s affairs without their permission? Were you working for a third party not mentioned in the story?
Doesn’t the fact that you’ve admitted in writing and on tape that you investigated Clare and Sarah Bronfmans finances without their permission open you to extreme liability?
What if her lawyer can prove a connection between her present predicament and your actions that incited the fight in the first place?
I really want to believe you were just a hapless victim who was honestly trying to help a couple of well-meaning girls who’d been hypnotized by a magnetic guru, whose world view was still anchored at his crotch.
But sometimes I can’t help suspect you might be the architect of your own misery.
I think we are all the architect of our own misery. And I am not miserable. Had Bronfman-Raniere come against me I would not have had the chance to expose them. If I get a chance I will answer your questions in a separate post – maybe your questions and Bangkok’s both.
So like, if Clare calls you up tonight and says: “Frank, I’m sorry. How’d we ever let it get this far? Let’s make up and be friends. It was Keith… he influenced me. I didn’t know what I was doing… Let’s make up and be friends again. How’d you like to go to Fiji – my treat? We can work it out. Just name your price.” You’ll scream “Damn you woman! You evil temptress, no price is too much for the suffering I’ve endured!” and hang up the phone.
Yeah, right.
Frank,
—Did I Try to Steal Clare Bronfman Away From Keith Raniere?
…So you like your women rich, ugly, dumb, and desperate.
Frank, you are a f*cking gold digger.
Frank still isn’t being 100% honest with us, or with himself either.
While I’m sure that Frank viewed Clare as a ‘baby’ who needed teaching about how the world worked, it would be absurd to believe that Frank was not ‘hoping’ for Clare to DISCARD Keith and become his own friend and BENEFACTOR for future business deals.
She and her sister had nearly a billion dollars combined.
They were Billionaires.
Frank wanted some of that loot for himself, no doubt.
FACT: Frank understood that Clare was taking orders from Keith.
FACT: Frank understood that as long as Keith was in her life, Frank would never hold sway over Clare’s business decisions.
That’s why Frank tried to turn Clare against Keith.
With Keith gone, Frank would finally hold sway over Clare’s business decisions (as a pseudo fatherly figure) and would finally be able to cut himself into Clare’s financial pies.
Yet Frank now wants us to believe that he wasn’t trying to turn Clare against Keith?
Yeah, sure. Okay.
Think about it, my fellow readers.
Frank TOOK IT UPON HIMSELF to investigate a $60 million dollar trading transaction which he was NEVER HIRED TO INVESTIGATE.
He then proceeded to ATTEMPT to turn Clare against Keith, which again, he was NOT hired to do. He was only hired to recover money from the $26 million dollar land development deal.
Think about this carefully…
Frank had to have known that IF Clare had accepted his advice (and parted ways with Keith) then she’d have been in need of another ‘partner’ to assist in future business projects.
Why?
Cuz she had the mind of a BABY, according to Frank’s own words.
*This means Frank knew that without Keith in her life anymore, Clare would need Frank for business ‘guidance’.
Thus, I have just proved (circumstantially) that Frank was definitely trying to turn Clare against Keith and to become a future friend (and business partner) of Clare, possibly hoping for future funding from Clare for various land deals.
To believe otherwise is to assume that Frank doesn’t care about money and is a saint.
However, Frank’s ferocious determination to hold onto that $1 million dollar deposit shows that he does care about money and is not a “Sicilian Saint”.
PS — Frank’s attempt to make a mockery of anybody questioning his story (about trying to steal Clare away from Keith) is nothing more than GASLIGHTING and I’m sure that Flowers will appreciate the irony here.
IMO Frank needs to admit that his motives were not entirely noble and saintly.
Who will agree with me here? Who has the balls to criticize Frank Parlato Jr?
Thanks — this is a great comment Bangkok, because it presents an opposite view. Although I do not agree with your conclusions. In short, I had a strong motive to keep Clare and Keith together and not separate them. Rather than explain it here, I will make a separate post of it. Thanks again, buddy.
There’s no need to waste your time on a seperate post. You had set yourself up to make a killing working for those two. Splitting them up would have stopped that future income in it’s tracks. Saying you wanted Clare all to yourself so she could be your suger mama is something Bangcock doesn’t even believe. Bancock saw an angle and is getting the desired reaction.
I love Frank’s attitude!!!!
I do not understand, however, why it would matter if Frank wanted Clare for himself. Who cares? In the end, Clare behaved criminally. Frank could have been enamored. It would not have mattered
As Frank knows or should, my heart goes out to him and his loved ones for all they’ve long endured and preserved through with NXIVM.
Though I sometimes find myself frustrated or confused with Frank and/or some of his colleagues — when I consider the enormity and level of real danger in what they’ve suffered to expose, I can only be grateful.
…One thing, Frank, you claim you never saw criminal activity but can you please clarify that Clare did ask you to help arrange an illegal visa for a foreign paramour of hers. I suppose that and some of the other requests of you were only attempts at criminal activity?
Heidi, She did not ask me directly to find an illegal way for her paramour to stay. She only asked me to find a way for her to stay. I said I knew of no way and the woman went back. In retrospect, I think Clare might have been open to an illegal way to keep her in the US but it was never discussed and I would NOT have been open to it.
Frank, you sly dog you. Moving in on the Bronfmans! LOL
Now I understand even less why Tighe’s website is down, it isn’t expensive to keep it running, it is often even free.
Frank and his click-bait article titles…..
The article title sounded like an HBO After Dark movie title.
Or an afternoon soap opera line, especially at the end of the Friday show, to make the women want to tune in Monday. LOL
Lol
Server costs are expensive . This is how amazon , Microsoft make money . From hosting and cloud services . It is expensive
I have websites that are free, such as http://www.StopTheAmwayToolScam.wordpress.com and http://www.AmwayUKblog.wordpress.com
Some people do not like to have the word press link.
So? What if they are broke from being sued and being sent to prison for a few years? It makes sense to swallow your pride and your preferences to help inform others, unless you’re selfish and vain.
Hi, Frank. I am reading this post.
Some comments:
I think for your trial you should not mention you saw Clare as a baby 🍼 who needed to submit to being taught.
This sounds like a very patronizing attitude. If you have any feminists on the jury, you will rub her the wrong way. I am personally being rubbed the wrong way reading that.
I think it can help your case to appear more neutral. You are an awesome publicist whose work has been put on the cover of The NY Times, who has produced documentaries on ID Discovery etc.
I will continue reading and share more. But I do think you should be careful of not sounding too patronizing. Even if Clare was super naive.
Clare was super naive. But she was also a bully [to others] I tried to teach her a few things. It was not sexist, except in reverse. If she had been a grown man who was acting so immaturely, I would have been harsher – for his own good.
I’m not saying I’m an expert on everything, but when a 25-year-old woman tells me that her father controlled the commodities market and that the Illuminati wanted to destroy Keith, I realized she was a baby. And in my mind, rather than kowtow to her like everyone else did [except Keith] because of her money, I gave her blunt, but loving truth.
She was like a baby [she had been sheltered, no one ever taught her, everyone pandered to her because of her money]. And I did not tolerate her nonsense. Babies must be taught. And I tried to teach her. Not steal her from Keith but help her grow up.
She did not want to do that – and despite my uncovering fraud and recovering all her assets that were being absconded, she, the baby, chose not to grow up. And, I am sorry to say, she is now suffering for it.
Sometimes, I feel rather bad about that because, you see, I did care for her as a person [not as a rich woman] and that was why I was ready to risk and lose my paycheck from her – at any time – rather than compromise with the truth. She was being fleeced and not by the Illuminati! My only mistake was that I did not realize it was Keith doing the fleecing. I would have found out though and that is why I think I was fired.
Thank you very much, Frank, for clarifying. I appreciate it. You are a very sweet human being.
I think your story makes sense. For your trial, I think I would avoid certain name-calling because one same name can be taken differently by different people. For instance, maybe a feminist sees using the term “baby” as patronizing. It personally rubs me the wrong way. But I think I get called baby and immature by a lot of people :'( I also don’t know if you gain much from explaining that you saw Clare as your student. I think keeping your story simple is better.
Maybe a simple story is:
“Clare was a naive woman in love with Keith Raniere, a convicted criminal, who followed a pattern of attacking enemies. Clare was naive as ‘she believed her dad could manipulate the commodities market and that the Illuminati wanted to destroy Keith. Clare came after me when I started to discover Keith’s frauds. She came after me following the pattern they used against other of Keith’s enemies. Dear jury, you have now the chance to stop these rich monsters and bring justice. Innocent people should not be terrorized in this way”
Adding that you saw her as a baby, as someone you had to educate, makes the story a bit more complicated. You don’t really gain much from explaining this relationship. You were simply doing your job. I think it should be highlighted all the recognition you have obtained as a publicist: new york times, documentaries, working with the FBI.
Best of luck. I see your news site as a great opportunity to obtain feedback from the public about your case. You have a solid strong story.
Clare is a baby. A very bad baby. She was on the floor at her master’s feet like a baby. Daddy had to spank that bad baby. Now give that baby her 🍼😂😜
As someone who was declared to be an “enemy” by Keith Raniere – and who was subsequently harassed and eventually over-powered by the Bronfman-funded litigation machine that Raniere wielded without any sense of proportion – I think I can add a somewhat unique perspective to this discussion. To begin with, let me echo what Frank has already said about Raniere and his followers: at first, they just seemed a little weird and very naïve. It was only later – when I had acquired more facts and I had been able to compare notes with others who had dealt with them – that I came to realize just how seriously fucked-up Raniere and his followers really are.
I resigned because Raniere and Nancy Salzman were unwilling to stop using what I considered to be illegal tactics in their battle with Rick Ross. Had they done as I asked, I might well have continued to work for them – at least until I secured other clients to replace them.
Much of the research that I was tasked to do involved interesting topics.
Example #1: Was anyone who lived on territory that was owned by Native Americans entitled to the same level of sovereignty and independence as Native Americans who lived there?
Example #2: What was the legal basis for requiring passengers in cars to wear set belts when passengers on buses were not required to do so?
When I resigned as a consultant, I was perfectly willing to walk away without any further interaction with Raniere or anyone else involved with NXIVM.
It was only when they assigned Richard Mays – and their horde of attorneys – to totally destroy me, both personally and professionally, that I realized I was in a situation where only one side was going to survive. And for quite some time, I thought it might well be me who would be on the losing end of that battle.
Frank’s account of his dealings with Raniere, the Bronfman sisters, and everyone else he encountered at NXIVM seems totally plausible to me. And for those who don’t believe Frank’s account, my only response is that there is no way for them to truly understand what he’s talking about.
IMO you’re lying your ass off, Joe.
I don’t believe for ONE MINUTE that you simply ‘resigned’ and that’s why they started trying to destroy you.
No. There’s much more to the story, sir.
You’re obviously omitting things which aren’t flattering.
Nobody would waste their time to harass a guy (for years) just because he politely resigned and that’s it.
I’m guessing you probably wanted more PLATA (dough/cash/money) and they refused and told you to go fuck yourself. After that, you probably told them you’d tell their dirty secrets after you left —– and they began their legal fight against you for that reason.
Besides, only a moron would take a job researching such lame things as ‘seat belts’ and native american land rights for non-natives. Who gives a fuck about shit like that.
Why would a guy like you (an attorney) reduce yourself to researching such lame shit anyway, Joe?
I’m guessing that there’s much more to your history with Keith and NXIVM. I see right thru you, Joe.
You can’t fool me, sir.
Frank is protecting you by not requiring you to spill the beans on your full history with NXIVM.
Joe O’Hara, Frank Parlato, Rick Ross and Susan Dones are all heroes who spoke Truth to Power.
Joe’s 2012 lawsuit foreshadowed the Neil Glazer lawsuit just filed with 80 Plaintiffs.
Shadow, I don’t consider Keith or NXIVM to be “power”….it was just a relatively small group of criminals who followed a cult leader.
Joe, do you know why Keith wanted you to research those topics?
“Shadow, I don’t consider Keith or NXIVM to be “power” Flowers
With Bronfman money after 2003, they had local law enforcement wrapped around their little finger.
They may possibly have bribed a few police officers, but it’s a real stretch to say that they had law enforcement wrapped around their finger. I seriously doubt that there are that many corrupt people in law enforcement.. .you’ve watched too many movies, Shadow.
On the first topic of research, It sounds like Raniere was assessing the viability of establishing a NXIVM sovereign state inside an Indian Reservation.
I have no clue about the bus question.
You don’t have a clue about the google search engine, either: https://thenewswheel.com/7-reasons-why-school-buses-dont-have-seat-belts/
You’re right about that, Dianne. Raniere did attempt to create a sovereign state with his own laws, etc. He wanted a closed currency and telecommunications system and tried to obtain (hack and steal) the technology for that.
Gina (my sister) had an Indian friend whose Dad was a Chief with connections in Washington, D.C., etc. Raniere assigned Gina to research and help establish a sovereign state based on the girl’s and her family’s lineage that would include gambling casinos and ritual drug use… stopping just short of Virgin sacrifices (jk), but I think he got in trouble with the underage girl.
That was one of the ‘missions’ they had Gina on or participating in that they persisted with after her death; connecting with Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, was another.
Heidi, Raniere also brought Elaine Smiloff to Albany to see if she could help with a sovereign nation plan. She is an Aleutian.
Joe, thanks for chiming in with your experience. You, unfortunately, are another case that confirms what I wrote earlier, that Raniere and NXIVM clearly went after people in ways that were completely disproportionate.
It’s an easy mistake to make, to look at someone like Raniere and an organization like NXIVM, and assume our notions of what is common-sense and plausible apply to analyze them. In a case like this, they are pathological and bizarre, and it’s almost in their nature that they will behave in ways that make no sense or are seemingly counter-intuitive – in fact, that’s sometimes one of the things they exploit, including in recruiting, that they operate in ways that people would not expect.
Before Frank was fired in 2008, his opinion of Nx was: “I did not think of Nxivm then as a sex cult or even a cult. The members I knew seemed intelligent and happy. No one seemed brainwashed or punished.”
Frank had not taken Intensives or EM’s (I assume) so he was a clear-headed observer who saw nothing amiss with Nx, so how could the members be expected to see Nx as an evil sex cult in those years?
Many commenters say: How could people be so dumb that they couldn’t see the evil in Nx? Well, Frank couldn’t, and he had access to the top people.
I never took any Nxivm course and never had an EM. And I agree, at first glance, even several months’ glance I did not see anything nefarious. A little kooky yes but not evil.
Frank,
How did you duck having an EM; when even Roger Stone had one if my memory is correct?
The NXIVM crew must’ve tried to get you to have one. I would guess they tried.
I made it clear before accepting the position that I would not be taking any classes. I told Keith that I did not need the classes, and I could, in fact, teach the classes. He agreed that I did not need to take any classes and proposed I write some modules for the classes.
I was totally ready to walk away from the paycheck, if anyone was going to dictate terms to me. It was take it or leave it, said politely of course.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
In all honesty, I probably would have taken a course to smooth things out for the payday. Of course, only because at that time NXIVM seemed like a harmless group of strange people.
Keith probably respected you more on some level at that time for not acquiescing.
Frank,
Re Prosecutions Federal and State:
I just want to add it’s terrifying that someone or a group can hire political consultants, make contributions to politicians, and get over a dozen people prosecuted. The political contributions at the end of the day didn’t even come out to that much money; that fact alone is even more disturbing than the whole story itself.
I know that there is rampant corruption with elected officials and bureaucrats, but I had no idea how easy it is if you have money to burn to go after anyone for anything. I didn’t know it was that easy to buy politicians and bureaucrats; by making some donations.
Long Island is completely corrupt. I didn’t know upstate is exactly the same way. Nassau County in New York is filthy. All elected politicians and all bureaucrats from top to bottom pure filth. We both know corruption is everywhere, but Long Island is like in a Third World extreme.
Good points.
It’s important to understand how a group like this works, and recruits, and understand how they view it in the moment in the outer circles – not what we can see from hindsight, and after the inner workings have been exposed. They seem innocuous, or just a little bit odd – but seemingly offering some “good” – and draw in significant numbers of people, in NXIVM’s case apparently about 16,000, nearly 10% of whom at least went on to become yellow-sash coaches.
10% became yellow sash?
Mr. Parlato, on Vice you are deemed the official whistleblower for exposing the Nxivm Branding Sex Cult. Congratulations
My questions are in regards to ‘Smash Mouth’.
1. Who put the Smash Mouth list together? Was it Keith, Clare and Nancy?
2. Spying on government officials the way they did, including their father, would this be considered a terrorist tactic? Or act? I ask about it being terroristic because Sara and Clare were raised in other countries and then, of course, the Mexican drug cartel/Salinas connection.
3. Because of Smash Mouth, do you think the government may give the Bronfman/Raniere and Salzman leniency?
Peaches:
Everything NXIVM did was a form of terrorism.
Collecting blackmail information against people was an act of terrorism.
For the rest of their lives, the women of NXIVM DOS will live in fear of the blackmail being released.
Just wondering how many of the women of NXIVM DOS you have spoken to? Somehow I am thinking it’s a nice round number
Maybe 100 Nxivm members. Many multiple times. Numerous lengthy interviews. About 30 DOS members.
What are they all like when they call, especially the branded ones? Are they mainly livid, or ashamed, or just bawling their eyes out? Do they think everyone is lying to them, or what is it generally? Is there anything that stands out that you can share? To me, the most fascinating part of this whole cult thing is when people realize what’s been happening and ‘wake up’
Actually, Frank, that was a tongue in cheek inquiry directed at Shadowstate, who might be more tolerable if he formulated his statements as opinions, not fact. Amazing that Peaches asks YOU a question and gets an authoritatively toned answer from Shadowstate. Ventriloquism?
Frank, you’ve taken a lot of us on an incredible ride, but I did note in one of your recent posts a sympathetic tone towards Allison Mack. I thought this was going to push a certain commenter over the edge, but I guess it is possible he did not read the article all the way through to the end.
Frank, how many SOP members have you interviewed? This org is under-reported. The recent reveal that SOPers also had readiness drill etc was new info. Did these men try to train their women the way Keith would, etc?
It may not be true that Vanguard demanded sexual tribute from these cucks, but he certainly demonstrated his alpha-dog dominance over them in some way. Did the cucks meekly supply sex pics of their women to him, or even supply their women themselves?
Society Of Protectors is such a silly name, I think it was Keith’s way of disguising that a “sop” is defined as a thing of no value.
I have interviewed about a dozen SOP members including several of the founders and in great depth.
Frank,
I never would’ve figured that you had spoken to over 60 or 70 members. The fact so many former members were willing to speak to you, speaks volumes as to who you are as a person.
*****
Excellent question Mr. Witches!
“I thought this was going to push a certain commenter over the edge” All of Them Witches
The recent lawsuit filed by Neil Glazer on behalf of 80 plaintiffs proves everything I have sad about Allison Pimp Mack.
Pimp Mack was involved in the following crimes:
Sex Trafficking
Human Trafficking
Forced Labor
Peonage
Blackmail
Extortion
Battery
Racketeering
Racketeering Conspiracy
Why would I be mad at being vindicated?
Mr. Shadow, a lawsuit proves nothing. It is an accusation. It’s amazing you can walk through a doorway, as your head is so huge. LOL
Frank, regarding the 70 (non-DOS and non-insider) women you interviewed, did they know or suspect these things about Keith and Nx that FR readers assumed they should know:
–Forbes and Albany TU articles about Nx being a sex cult?
–the TU article about Keith and underage sex?
–Nx suing you, O’Hara and other former workers or members who became “enemies”?
–other non-sex crimes (money laundering etc)?
In a sense, were most regular members kept in the dark about nefarious activities…and were most coaches also in the dark?
It was surprising how little they did know. That was Raniere’s talent.
I wouldn’t expect Raniere to tell them. Most people don’t do online research, so it’s no surprise to me.
From day one of ESP, and as part of their story, it was disclosed that people were out to stop Keith. These people didn’t want “The Mission” to be successful. This set up the defense for when bad press emerged.
1. Keith put the smashmouth list together.
2. I did not know about their spying on their father at the time. It is terroristic, but the DOJ found it to be racketeering.
3. I don’t understand the third question.
Do you think they have dirt on public officials in such a way that would interfere with the judges’ decisions?
Also, do you think this may be more so of an issue in the Northern District?
Sorry, what I’m trying to ask is, do you think they have blackmail material on public officials that would sway the decision.
Thank you
They may have some blackmail material on some officials but I don’t think they have any on judges or law enforcement in the EDNY.
Their efforts at spying were notoriously inept.
Frank – curiously (and with utmost respect for what you have done), may I ask what qualifications you had prior to meeting Clare that would be worthy of a $75,000 per month salary? And what did she envision you doing for her over time? Apologies if this is common knowledge, but I’ve been reading for a long time and never understood that.
I was, at least in my opinion, the best publicist available. I also considered myself a true problem solver. My business and consulting ability, by the way, saved them more than $75,000 per month in other consultants and lawyers. I regularly saved them in the six figures monthly. Keith saw my value and told Clare and Sara to pay me.
By the way, I relocated to Albany and took on the work on a 24/7 basis. Keith liked that. He was used to consultants who were only available at various hours. I was always available and always seeking out more work to do. Keith and I never had any problems personally.
I think this should be explained by your attorney in your trial. Why it made sense to pay you that amount. Mention also how your research has been on the cover of the New York Times, also a new documentary on ID Discovery.
What’s the point? They had a contract and she broke it.
i think all of that information will be inadmissible at Frank’s trial. It has nothing to do with the charges against him.
Hanlon’s razor: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” Raniere consistently lost money hand over fist, typical of someone who gambles complusively (in various ways, and on top off being a sex addict), plus there’s no sign he ever skimmed money and did anything with it – if he were actually that clever, he’d be sitting on an 8-figure sum in some country with no extradition treaty, but instead he’s in MDC and running short on money to pay lawyers.
There are plenty of examples where Raniere went after people in ways that were far out of proportion. That’s characteristic of narcissistic and anti-social personalities; plus in a group like a cult it serves the purpose of cultivating the sense of having an enemy, and provides examples that can be claimed to be representative and proof of the grand conspiracy theorized (the Illuminati, in Raniere’s and NXIVM’s case).
In general, this is a reminder that to someone in the outer circles of such an organization, it can seem that things are fairly normal and operating on the basis of good intentions; and the unsavory things that we sometimes in hindsight, knowing what we know now, think should have somehow been obvious, were not actually.
Thanks for this accounting, Frank.
It’s the nature of MLM scams to appear “…fairly normal and operating on the basis of good intentions,” except to Mr. Shadow of course, because he’s always the smartest one in the room, even with Raniere present. LOL
Scott Johnson, with all of your whining about how Amway scammed you don’t brag about how smart you are.
Good explanation
As far as I am concerned anyone who wants them can have Clare and Sara Bronfman so long as they leave me the money, what’s left of it after the lawsuit and the legal bills and the restitution.
First of all Shadow, I believe you missed the passage which I thought would enrage you. The date was February 26. The full title of the article is “Allison Mack Breaks Down and Cries When Sex – Slaver Raniere Speaks to Her About ‘Authenticity’. The byline belongs to Frank Parlato.
Shadow, did you get to the end of the article? Because the final heading read
“Can There Be a Happy Ending”
“Yes it’s sad that Allison was motivated by her love of Keith Raniere, her desire to escape her aloneness, as she calls it, her search for her soulmate, her desire to transcend the world and its tinsel puff of name and fame, and this led her to this monster.”
“She will suffer for it for the rest of her life. But maybe one day—and she is only 37– she could find someone—other than Raniere—when she gets out of prison, which in her case will probably not be too long, and find peace and happiness. I hope so.”
“She is a simple creature, but chances are she did not grow up wanting to become a sex slaver as an adult.”
“She got caught up in it and maybe, perchance, an element of mercy is indicated for this lost fool who thought Keith Alan Raniere was so good and pure that when he told her to be a beastly demon she followed right along thinking she was on the side of the angels”
Shadow would you care to react DIRECTLY to Frank’s sentiments expressed above? Non responsive responses, Google Maps analysis, regurgitating passages from Neal Glazer’s complaint not accepted.
How do you feel that Frank Parlato, who was hounded and harassed by NXIVM, finds major player Allison Mack worthy of mercy and deserving of happiness?
Frank has his opinions and I have mine.
AND THE EIGHTY PLAINTIFFS WHO SUED ALLISON MACK FOR RICO ALONG WITH THEIR ATTORNEY NEIL GLAZER HAVE HAVE THEIR OPINIONS.
OPINIONS WHICH COINCIDE WITH MY OPINION.
Frank had interaction with NXIVM. You are OBSESSED with Allison Mack. Whose opinion matters? My opinion is that your opinions are not buttressed by your infantile repeated screaming (ALLISON PIMP MACK!) (TRIPLE (LMAO) DAMAGES!).
Mr. Glazer’s civil action, even if successful, really has no bearing on to what degree the NXIVM criminal and civil defendants should be entitled to be rehabilitated after sentences are served and damages (if any) are awarded(or more likely, an out of court settlement is reached). I do however think that Keith Raniere should spend his entire life in prison.
It is YOUR prerogative to continue to be consumed with anger at people who never harmed you, people you have never even met. Enjoy your anger, as best I can tell it is all you have.
Shadow,
The Federal government never saw it your way.
Allison Mack was allowed onto a fairly nice plea-bus.
How do you explain the stark contrast in your views vs the government’s view?