Quién is a Mexican magazine that some compare with People Magazine in the USA. Quien means “Who” in Spanish. This week they published an in-depth interview with one of the Nxivm-5, Eduardo Asunsolo, who is fighting a determined fight to rescue his friend, Keith Raniere, from a lifetime in prison. Asunsolo believes Raniere is innocent and has been unjustly convicted. He is seeking a new trial for Raniere based on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.
We spoke with Eduardo Asúnsolo, the founder of Make Justice Blind, a startup that was born as a result of the case of Keith Raniere, leader of NXIVM, sentenced to life in prison. It’s objective? To show that the legal process in the guru’s trial was unjust.
By Mercedes Abascal Simón
It’s no secret that word of mouth sometimes has far greater power than a sophisticated advertising campaign, and that was the case with NXIVM, an organization founded by entrepreneur Keith Raniere in Albany, New York, dedicated to providing self-improvement, training and personal development courses.
From the name of the program, Executive Success Programs (ESP), you can already guess the objective: to attract powerful and influential people, businessmen, politicians, celebrities … And in no time, this man, who calls himself a scientist and philosopher, did so.
In less than five years, NXIVM had grown a lot in America, and people like Barack Obama or the British businessman, Richard Branson were already its clients and benefactors. [I never heard of Barack Obama being involved in Nxivm. Richard Branson hosted two Nxivm retreats on his private Necker Island twice, for which he was paid a reported $250,000 rental fee each time.]
But Raniere’s plans were far more ambitious than this: he wanted to grow internationally. He succeeded, in large part thanks to Emiliano Salinas Occelli (VP of Ethics at NXIVM and son of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari), who decided to join the business and, together with his friend, Alejandro Betancourt Ledesma (VP of Commerce), brought ESP to Mexico. History repeated itself, the organization grew in CDMX, Monterrey, León and Guadalajara, thanks to the hundreds of students and benefactors who blindly believed in the NXIVM system. This happened in a total of 10 countries.
So far, so good, but in 2017, there was a first call that caught people’s attention: a group made up of individuals who held very high positions in the organization, along with some coaches and even the mother of a student, proclaimed irregularities and said that NXIVM had characteristics of a cult, and thus, the rumors grew.
The real bomb exploded in October of that same year, with an article in The New York Times that made a serious complaint: within NXIVM there was a secret group of women, at least 10 of them Mexican, all marked with a brand, whose function was to be Raniere’s sex slaves.
These women were members of a subgroup called DOS (Society of women dominated by a Master) and then the scandal broke out, since later it was said that the founder of NXIVM not only had intimate relationships with the members of this group, but, he had also had them with a minor.
The sordid details of the organization came to light: the women were forced to reveal their dirtiest secrets in order to ensure their submission; They were punished if they did not comply with everything that was asked of them or were not available all the time; some even lived on a diet of less than 500 calories per day.
There was increasing pressure from society that Raniere and NXIVM be put on hold, and eventually the Governor of New York [Gov. Cuomo did not call for the criminal investigation] asked that something be done about it and issued an arrest warrant against the businessman. [Cuomo did not issue an arrest warrant. That was done at the federal level.]
In July 2019, the magazine Quien, published a cover story that undoubtedly gave people a lot to talk about. In it appeared Emiliano Salinas with the following heading: “Emiliano Salinas Occelli and other members of the Mexican elite related to the NXIVM case and the DOS sexual cult.” The same day the magazine came out on sale, Keith Raniere (who was arrested in Puerto Vallarta) was found guilty of the following charges: conspiracy to commit organized crime, sexual exploitation of a minor, possession of child pornography, forced labor conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, and identity theft conspiracy.
But as in any story (horror or not), there are always two sides to the coin, and today, a year and three months after that –[actually a year and five months] and after Raniere has been given a life sentence on October 27 – one of the most faithful followers and a close friend of the guru talks to Quien and gives his version of events.
Eduardo Asúnsolo, originally from Torreón, and who currently resides in New York, assures us that Keith does not deserve jail and that the trial was full of irregularities.
“In the United States they pride themselves on having fair trials, but in Keith Raniere’s case, prosecutors and the judge dispensed with ‘due process to make sure that the defense was not listened to”, he states. Furthermore, due to the above (and with the advice and guidance of Keith himself), the Mexican created a startup called Make Justice Blind, whose mission is to “bring public responsibility and technology to the court” to demonstrate that a process or trial was unjust and thus help victims who are wrongfully imprisoned.
Convinced that the evidence presented by the prosecution was sensational, emotional and flimsy and that Keith was convicted for his lifestyle rather than his actions, Eduardo is determined to prove that the guru does not deserve jail.
How did you get into NXIVM?
I think I enrolled myself, almost by accident. At that time, I had a very good life: I studied at Tec de Monterrey, I had a new car and apartment … All I needed was a deep relationship; I wanted to get married and have children. I had a friend who had a very cool relationship with his girlfriend and I learned that his life and relationships had changed after taking a five-day course. I thought: “Oh, No way! I have gone backpacking to Europe, studied Freud, done yoga and you don’t change like that in five days”. When I moved to Monterrey, I spoke to this friend’s brother, who was already in ESP and later he enrolled me.
What was it that caught your attention? Why did you convince yourself so quickly?
The Center was amazing; it was like an oasis. There were professionals, entrepreneurs, a lot of start-ups… People looked very happy, they were very humble and intelligent. Philosophically speaking, it was a unique place in Monterrey city. I was looking to grow professionally and personally. I had a good job in Santander bank, I was in executive banking, but I was missing something.
How much did the course cost you?
I paid like $ 2,000 for the five days.
And how was your experience?
It was great, it not only helped me in personal matters, my love for art and theater also awakened again. I quit the bank and started working in radio. There is a goals program in ESP and when I realized what I wanted to do, I had my own radio show, and I got to study at one of the best theater academies in New York.
***
IN THE US THEY LIKE TO PROCLAIM THAT MEXICAN JUSTICE IS CORRUPT, WHILE THEIRS IS ‘THE FAIREST’ IN THE WORLD. AFTER SEEING IT FIRSTHAND, I KNOW IT’S JUST AMERICAN HYPOCRISY” — Eduardo Asunsolo
***
Did Emiliano Salinas (VP of Ethics at NXIVM) and Alex Betancourt (VP of Commerce) recruit people?
Yes, they did enroll many people. They were the green level rank since long ago. I was about to be, even towards the end, when things started to get ugly.
It strikes me that Emiliano and Alex, being so close to Keith, did not speak for him, nor against him, but it is a fact that they dissociated themselves. Could you explain this? Do you think Keith sees it as a betrayal? Maybe they realized something that other people didn’t?
I think Alex and Emiliano definitely changed their minds about Keith, like many others. The negative campaign against them, especially against Emiliano, I would not wish on anyone. I think it’s one of the worst things that can happen to you. It makes you notorious and it becomes very difficult to navigate. The easiest thing is to say, “You know what? I can no longer handle this, I prefer to think that there was something wrong and now I am against it”. The media, your family and the people who really love you are telling you: “Stay away from that”, and it is easier to say: “Yes there was something wrong and my ethics tells me to retire”. You may even think Keith is good, but out of fear and comfort, it’s best to walk away.
Were you aware of DOS?
Mark Vicente, who at first was a loyal friend of Keith and was very involved in the whole organization, spoke to me and said that he had found intel of sex trafficking… It sounded very schizophrenic. That’s where the whole campaign against Keith began. What I did was investigate. I returned to Albany, instead of running away and cooperating with the blogs and false accusations. I spoke with everyone, with Allison Mack (actress of the series Smallville, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges), [Mack did not plead guilty to sex trafficking charges; she pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy.] Lauren Salzman (VP of Education at NXIVM, who pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy [and racketeering] and is the daughter of the organization’s co-founder, Nancy Salzman) and Keith. I realized there was a sorority of women, but that it was far from criminal. I had friends in American university fraternities where having a brand was a thing of pride, even many NFL football players have a brand and nobody questions them, on the contrary, they admire them. I did enough research to realize that the people who were against Keith were lying.
What did you investigate?
There were many strange things. Imagine being in a millionaire case against Clare Bronfman (heir to the Seagram Distillery fortune and sentenced to six years and nine months for her involvement in the case) … there are many interests. Mark was a friend of mine, Sarah [Edmondson] (another former NXIVM member who started the campaign against Keith along with Mark) was at my wedding. They said there was something wrong, but they never went to Albany to investigate, they thought it was justifiable to start a smear campaign against the organization with lies … and look what happened.
What happened?
Thousands of people lost their jobs, millions of dollars were lost, the value of all 25 NXIVM companies. Most think that we are crazy, the reputation of many like mine was greatly affected and all by a defamation campaign. What happened was a tragedy. It has nothing to do with what reached the media. Nothing.
You talk about friends who have a brand as a sign of pride in belonging to a fraternity. Didn’t the fact that they couldn’t leave this kind of “fraternity” catch your attention because they had compromising information that could destroy their lives?
On the website, www.thedossierproject.com you can find videos and testimonials where women who were part of DOS explain everything. I don’t think it’s up to me to talk about why they did it. The fact that women made the decision to do something as radical as saying “I’m going to give you something so that when I want to back down, don’t let me” doesn’t mean they’re brainwashed or wrong. I don’t know if I would have done something like that, but that was the decision of each one of them and I believe it must be respected.
Now that Keith is in jail, don’t you think he did the same with those women by forcing them to be available all the time, reporting everything they did, and preventing them from leaving DOS? I see it as a deprivation of liberty, a type of jail.
I understand that it can be perceived like this, but since I was not involved, I cannot comment. I don’t know if it really constitutes taking someone’s freedom or if this is just the public’s perception. Now that they are open to talking about it, it would be important to listen to their views. It’s not that I don’t want to explain it, but it is not my story to share. They have been friends of mine for 10 years, and what I can tell you is that they are among the most intelligent and successful women I know, they are not a group of girls.
Tell me about Make Justice Blind…
It works like a start-up on a day-to-day basis, but it is a non-profit company. What it does is to bring public accountability and technology to the court. In that sense, it is like YELP or Uber. Everything we have today has public participation through technology, except in the justice system. And that is, surely, for some obscure reason. Although the perception is that the Mexican judicial system is inferior compared to the American one, that is not true. Corruption and injustice reign in the American justice system. What happened to Keith is not new, this has been going on for a long time, but it can be solved with public participation, if people are observing … He was sentenced based on prejudice and not on evidence. If you review the legal process and the tools that we are going to make public, you will realize that none of the charges were proven with evidence. There are a lot of very emotional testimonials about socially incorrect things, a lot of prejudice and hatred. Legal experts who have analyzed the trial say there is not enough evidence to have even brought this to court in the first place. For example, a sex trafficking charge was sustained in which there was no money exchanged and it was a single sexual encounter between adult women who consented, before, during and after the incident. In the public, the media makes it look like there was child abuse and horrible things, but if you analyze the case, as our start-up does, you can find very different universes between the legal evidence and the prejudice of the media. This is not to say that Keith is innocent and that what people said are lies. Due process has certain steps and none were fulfilled, but that does not reach the media. Why? For many reasons that we are trying to expose.
The fact that Daniela Garza, whom he had locked in a room for two years, and Lauren Salzman, one of his closest accomplices, testified is proof enough. In fact, in the trial, thanks to the testimonies, it was found that Keith had relationships with a minor who was nicknamed Cami the Virgin. You say that legally this is not enough?
Locking someone in a room wasn’t even a charge in the case. As for the relationship with Camila, at the beginning of the trial, it was said that it was not true and now it is said that it is. I don’t want to talk about her because I think she’s the one who gets harmed the most by discussing her publicly. At Keith’s trial, the proper legal steps were definitely not followed. In this case, for example, while it is a crime to have sex with a minor, that was not something he was even accused of. It was not part of the charges. He was charged with possession of child pornography for a photo that was later found to have been planted onto his camera. The important thing here is that people separate prejudice from evidence, even if you are defending the devil. Even in El Chapo’s trial, there were anomalies. Everyone deserves justice and a judicial system that works without corruption. You have to examine the system to know if due process is being followed or if someone is being condemned based on prejudice, because if so, we are all in danger.
Was Make Justice Blind born from what happened to Keith or before?
In the wake of what happened to Keith.
You think Keith doesn’t deserve jail?
Of course not. If you analyze the case, it shouldn’t have even gone to court. There are very ugly and very bad things that later were said in the media. If they are true, then they should formally accuse him of that, for the sake of the victims themselves. But it is not fair that all they have is a statement of ten minutes to the end. Thanks to the analysis that I have done with many experts during the past three years, this case should not have even reached the court.
You also have a group called The Forgotten Ones, whose goal is to say hello and dance outside the prison so Keith doesn’t feel alone.
I’ve been visiting Keith in prison since we were allowed to. I would go once a week, I would talk to him on the phone, we would email one another. When Covid began, they stopped allowing visits and the prisoners began to spend up to three weeks in their 4×3 cell, without even being able to go out into the corridor. People began to worry. We were not the only ones who went to the windows to greet the prisoners with the light of the cell phone. There were also the families of other people. This was a Covid phenomenon, not one of NXIVM. One day we were there trying to say hello Keith and someone did a moonwalk, the inmates started clapping and banging on the windows. We danced and the prisoners began to cheer up. They got up from their beds, their shadows were seen dancing. Families were crying and a magical connection was felt. It’s as if our communication went through the walls. We went daily. Families got together, they brought lights, there were people who did things with fire and professional dancers. It was a show. Prisoners began to report from within that morale was rising and violence was dropping. Personally, this inspired me a lot. It’s an artistic expression of Make Justice Blind. It is a way of telling the government “I am not afraid of you; I am going to expose the bad things you do.” Prison is the threat of the government towards the citizens, dancing with joy outside is a way of saying “goodness and good things prevail”.
How did you see him the last time you were with him? He was tranquil?
He was calm about who he is and his innocence. Also, I saw him, in a way, excited to be able to contribute. He is always talking about how to develop new social tools, how his case can help, regardless of what happens to him. He is excited about these new projects. He looks like he always does. As if I was seeing him at a volleyball game
But it is a fact that cults in the world exist and usually their main tool is manipulation. There is evidence of bad things that happened inside …
In the 10 years in which I held senior positions in many companies and was a business partner with Allison Mack and Keith Raniere, I have never found anything wrong. When everything negative began to be said, I was inside investigating. After Keith was arrested, I was with his lawyers, I went to the entire trial and I still can’t find evidence for the things that are said to have been done. Ironically, DOS was a non-NXIVM group, even though they had a lot of people in common. From what I understand, Keith’s participation in DOS was like his collaboration in many other groups, such as the peace movements in Mexico.
But he was the leader of DOS. It has been shown that they called him “Master.”
Yes, Keith’s involvement in DOS is a complex thing, I think visiting the website of the DOS women and interviewing them would give you a lot of clarity.
Doesn’t it strike you that he had a lot of followers, now there are very few people who support him?
I think that if you see what happened, what was done to the ESP community as a result of the charges and as a result of this fight with former members, you would understand. There were threats from the FBI, from people in the media, people knocking on their doors. The fact that the community said, “I don’t want anything to do with Keith anymore” was not necessarily related to what Keith did. There was a time where if you supported him you could end up involved in the criminal case. You would end up with reporters chasing you and writing false things about you. There were doctors who lost their licenses. There were people who lost their jobs, their networks. The fact that Keith does not have people who are supporting him has more to do with how difficult it became on a legal and media level and not with his perception of Keith per se.
He said he had the highest IQ in the world, that this is said in a Guinness World Record book, but there is no record of him taking an exam or test. Would it affect you to discover that this is a lie?
That is a very good question. I do not know if it would affect me to discover that it is a lie. Keith has been my friend and partner for a decade, and so I wouldn’t abandon him if I found out that this was not true. I have worked with him on business projects and I have played hundreds of volleyball games with him. I have seen his athletic abilities and with his help, I developed an expression education. I have a lot of information and hours and hours of knowing him, of trying to codify his curriculum, and of trying to develop his ideas. It would be very difficult for me to deny his intelligence and his athletic and mental abilities because I would have to contradict my own experience in order to deny it.
If they proved to you that everything they say about him is true, what would you do?
I do not support crimes of any kind. If I found out that there were any of those things going on in NXIVM, I would be the first to investigate them and to bring them to justice. I would use Make Justice Blind so that there was justice and so that the entire process of the law was applied for each of the victims. I’ve been looking for that all these years and I still haven’t found it. I don’t know if I would personally go against Keith, but I do know that if there was evidence of anything he’s accused of, I’d be the first to post it.
Now that he has been sentenced, do you think you can still achieve that justice you speak of?
Yes, it can still be done and we will keep trying. I hope that we will review this interview in a year and a half and agree. I think that soon everything will come to light and all this will change direction.
What do you think of people referring to you as brainwashed?
It’s incredible because even people who get to know me already have that prejudice. Many times when someone gets to know me they say to me: “Wow, you are so nice and very normal”, but there is damage there forever.
And have you ever wondered if you really aren’t? It doesn’t scare you?
The concept is difficult for me in general, the idea that you can be doing something that someone else wants you to do and you don’t want to seems incredible to me. I think that I am involved in all my decisions and in everything I decide to support.
Yes, it does cross my mind. If I realized that everything they say is true, I would declare that I made a mistake in believing him. The good thing is that if I change my mind, I have a clear conscience. I didn’t attack anyone through the media, I didn’t send the FBI to anyone, and I haven’t said a single negative word about my former teammates. If I were wrong to have believed Keith, it would be an innocent mistake, with a good intention and I did not harm anyone. On the contrary, if all the people who have affected us, who have written in blogs and newspapers about us and who have ruined our careers, medical licenses and companies, discovered that they were the ones who were wrong, then they would have much more to pay. It is much more difficult for them to change their mind than it is for me.
SPECIFIC POINTS OF THE CASE THAT MAKE JUSTICE BLIND DECLARES:
• The alleged child pornography images “found” in an electronic device were tampered with. The FBI admitted during the trial that someone accessed the device while it was in FBI custody, but they did not know who it was.
• While being questioned by Raniere’s lawyers, an essential witness, [Lauren Salzman] about to make statements that could have altered the course of the case, was excused by the judge from cross-examination by Raniere’s attorneys because she began to cry.
• The judge ruled that women testifying against Raniere should be identified only by their first name, while Raniere’s supporters were identified by their first and last names, creating a prejudiced impression for the jury that the women whose last names weren’t used were indeed victims.
• The defense’s argument that some victims were lying and that they all were adult women who consented to everything was dismissed by the judge.
• Raniere was captured by armed men in Mexico and transferred to the United States, thus avoiding extradition procedures. The United States should not be allowed to kidnap people in foreign countries without due process.
• Prosecutors alleged that Raniere fled to Mexico to hide from US authorities; he was denied bail and kept in prison, where he was frequently prevented from meeting with his lawyers to prepare for his trial.
• Raniere was in Mexico because his partner is Mexican and he wanted to be with her and his son. There is abundant evidence that not only was he was not fleeing, on the contrary, he alerted the government about his travel plans in case there was an investigation against him.
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
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Who does this actor guy think he is? 😂 The judge Nicholas G. Garaufis was educated at Columbia University. That’s the Ivy League. There’s no evidence that Raniere was ever abused but rather that he was orchestrating the abuse of others, like any deranged sinister villain would… Maybe Eduardo should just stick to memorizing his lines and being an actor rather than advocating for psychopaths who were absolutely and unequivocally rightfully convicted. They all just seem like a bunch of sore losers by now. As a girl held up a sign around here regarding the election: “Accept defeat!!” They’re just grasping at straws at this point, but it’s already too late. No one respects anyone who brands people like Nxivm did. Anyone with common sense and a heart thinks they’re just a pack of deranged dangerous and untrustworthy maniacs and their leader deserves to be locked up for life, which thankfully he is
I wonder what Marc Agnifilo thinks of Asunsolo; perhaps he is scared to death thinkng that thuis brainwashed deluted guy wiltt take over his job.
Asunsolo says: “I don’t think Raniere did this or that, therefore he must be innocent” (he thinks).
Hahaha. only in the mind of Raniere’s followers they can bend reality and reproduce it the way they want it.
Re Eduardo Pre-Nxivm:
—At that time, I had a very good life: I studied at Tec de Monterrey, I had a new car and apartment … All I needed was a deep relationship; I wanted to get married and have children.
I feel incredibly bad for Eduardo. Eduardo was a normal, hardworking, and intelligent man. He had same same goals and dreams most people have.
I wish he would reread and contemplate his own words from the quote above.
Now his life is a million miles away from his previous ambitions.
Poor guy.
I find it curious that both he, in this interview, and Nicki, in her session with Scott (don’t know his last name) are quite happy to call many of the women speaking out and testifying as liars yet when directly asked about Cami they don’t really give a straight answer. When asked by Scott if Keith had slept with an underage Cami she quietly shook her head and sadly said “I don’t know”. They quickly condemn the other women but not Cami. I think they know he did and that the photos, not to mention Camillas’s witness statement, back it up. They are full of shit and can’t face up to it.
The interview with is Scott Adams a popular podcaster with a substantial following. He is also, I am told, the creator of Dilbert, which I believe is a cartoon.
Ah yes, Adams. By this interview with Nicki I can’t see why he has a huge following but it’s the only one I have seen. He was soft on her by just accepting her basic answers and there was no delving deeper into anything. He even pondered some things but didn’t even bother to ask her. For instance he simply wondered why Keith didn’t defend himself but then answered himself saying something like he guessed there was a reason for it! Really pathetic, I thought. He also seemed to easily agree with whatever she said and led her to believe she was in full control of it. I don’t know if that is his style, pretending to be overly sympathetic in hope they divulge something controversial but it came across like she vetted the questions and he nodded like an obedient puppy.
I genuinely like our Scott more than the other one.
I never thought the Dilbert creator would be completely fucking nuts.
The other Scott accepted everything that came out of Nicki’s mouth. It was like watching a white male version of an Oprah interview with a celebrity( My wife forced me to watch that crap pre-internet).
Eduardo, instead of concentrating on the individual events, look at them as part of a milieu–the big picture. The total is the sum of the parts, and the total looks horrible.
So you had a great experience. Good for you. There’s other places to play volleyball.
But listen to the victim impact statements. Read them, then read them again.
Do you think what happened to those victims is irrelevant? Do they matter?
Was the sum of the parts–the milieu–acting legally and morally and ethically to those victims? Were people hurt? Destroyed? Put through pure hell? Even though you weren’t damaged, do you see other people might have been?
Are you convinced Vanguard at all times acted in good faith?
Think long and hard before you answer.
Are we to assume Eddie never got his wife and kids? The things that were missing from his life.
What woman would put up with this kind of blind bullshit would be beyond me.
A man who throws his life away fighting to free a monster like Raniere when he has done no real investigation of the evidence that put Raniere behind bars for 120 years
Come on, Eddie, our justice system isn’t that messed up in America. It wasn’t a kangaroo court, buddy.
Go back to Mexico dude, get some therapy and rebuild your life. Get married and have those babies.
Nicki Clyne needs to be deported to Canada for her fake marriage to Allison Mack.
Eduardo has a wife and a child. Nicki says her marriage to Allison was based on “genuine” love.
I am going to abstain from commenting on this heart warming revelation.
Studying Freud was probably his undoing. Enough said.
Pobre pendejo cerebro lavado..
He thinks KR innocent? All I can say is Bless his heart (Southerners will understand).
I can’t help but think this is one of those 1000 millionaires Keith made… Keith´s business partner (even though Vanguard was a renunciate), proud midnight volleyball player, really successful before joining the cult but lacking something, dreaming big (by comparing his “startups” to Uber or YELP and, most importantly, owner of justice, ethics, and truth.
A word to the wise Mr. Asunsolo: pack your bags, run to a deprogrammer, go volunteer to have better justice in your country, which is way worse than here, and try to fix your life.
Vanguard is not coming out of prison, your “startups” are not gonna make it to Silicon Valley, and the US judiciary system has more pressing matters to solve than your arguments on why Vanguard was wrongfully accused.
VIVA EXECUTIVE SUCCESS
The girls said KR had sex with her when she was 15. So he believes KR over her?
He also does not believe the branded women who left who said they were deceived in advance over the brand and deceived that KR was not involved in DOS?
Does he like the ethics of a man who lies saying he is celibate and then had hosts of women some of whom did not know they were not exclusive with KR? Is that good conduct?
The worst thing in his article is he is suggesting US justice is worse than Mexican. Whilst it is not perfect and nor is it here in the UK, it is much better and much fairer than across most of the planet. I would rather before US than a Mexican court any day of the week.
He says a version of, ” I wasn’t there, I can’t comment”. More than once. Then he comments. A lot. On things of which he has no first hand knowledge. Why would Sarah Edmondson go to Albany and launch an investigation? She was already in Albany. Where she was branded. Her investigation was being there. Unlike this arrogant dude. Who admitted, ” he wasn’t involved”. But he knows better than the women who were part of it. And it is interesting that all that dos “character building” and all the sop”readiness drills”. But when it came time to step up. To be brave, honorable and take a stand for their dear, ” wrongly accused” leader/friend they folded. Not one of them had the deep thirst for justice to defend their ” innocent friend” in court. Now is that, ” American hypocrisy”? Or their own hypocrisy? And thanks for the laugh that the leader of the free world participated in a large group awareness therapy. And we are just hearing about it now.
Ed
You raise some valid points:
* The trial was subject to very emotional testimony and media reports of a “sex cult” and “sex trafficking” omitted the details of the situations. The sex trafficking KAR was charged with was not a conventional, monetary exchange and only happened once.
* The things that hit the media (branding, child sexual abuse) were not what KAR was charged.
* Prejudice is present within the judicial system and, most importantly, through public monitoring, direct feedback and participation, people have the power to change that.
However, you seem to want to blame the media (Frank Report, NYT) for the problems KAR has had. However, this removes Nxivm and Keith from any accountability. Furthermore, the FR and NYT articles could not have taken hold unless there was some significant truth to them.
From my experience of you, you are intelligent and seek to be a responsible and socially committed human. However, it seems hard for you to address the horrors that Keith, Clare and Nxivm promoted. Sure, some women benefited from DOS but many women were coerced. They were put in a bait and switch situation They were lied to. They were told KAR had nothing to do with DOS and then they were given assignments to sexually seduce him! Texts prove that Keith asked for DOS “fuck toys”. How come you don’t find that problematic? Why are you not able to believe these women? Don’t you see this was not an isolated case, rather indicative of pathological narcissistic behavior?
Furthermore, didn’t Nancy or someone tell you Keith was celibate when you first took the initial 5 day seminar? How does it feel to be lied to? Isn’t it totally untruthful and scandalous to set Keith up as a noble saint who sacrifices earthly pleasure for the good of humanity and find out he spends half the night fucking all the board members and inner circle of Nxivm along with a continuous pipeline of new recruits? It’s great that you had a positive experience with him athletically and intellectually; but what about everyone else that was abused? What about all the women he promised to have an avatar child with? What about the woman who testified he fucked her when she was 15 and all the other under age women whose claims were never taken seriously by authorities? How do feel that Clare Bronfman funded an army of lawyers to sue all Nxivm dissenters into submission?
Your response seems to be “no one can make anyone do anything they don’t really want to do”. “No one can be manipulated”. These are truisms that protect you, Keith and Nxivm from being accountable. People trusted Keith and that trust was gained by a continuous stream of lies promoted by Nancy and Keith’s inner circle: “Keith is the smartest man in the world”; “Keith is celibate”; “Keith developed all the ideas in Nxivm alone”; “Edgar Bronfman was out to get Keith”; “the media was out to get Keith”; “Everyone (Natalie, Bouchey, Dones, Keefe etc.) lied, stole and deserved being sued to death or imprisoned”. Ed, the reality is lonely, insecure people were manipulated through a slow boil of lies and false claims by a smiling group of Keith’s female followers. The reality is many people were harmed by the false claims and it led to abusive, criminal, sexual and financial behavior. Money laundering was real. Where did that 520K in Nancy’s attic come from?
The problem with Keith is he is not accountable for his own behavior; he lied to women and abused them; when people abandoned him, he had them shunned, sued and attacked. When others made this public, he attacked them and paid political consultants and a vast array of lawyers to have them censored.
When you do not see the dangers of Keith caused, you risk repeating these dangers yourself. When you allow Keith to not be held accountable, you allow yourself to not be accountable. You, in fact, create a morality where no abuser can be held accountable for their crimes because after-all, “the victims chose to be victims”. You blame the victim. So, where does it all stop, Ed? Where does one find justice if a sex abuser cannot be stopped because “women choose to be victims” ?
Ed, you are a smart guy. Why don’t you hold Keith accountable for the lies, abuses and the ultimate destruction of the your community? What do you get out of not holding Keith accountable? Keith destroyed his own future and you, Danielle and Nicki are destroying your own by not acknowledging the damage he created.
Extremely well said.
He had to go and mention the f ing volleyball games. Is this how they feel important?
Natashka-
Many microcosms of society ritualize volleyball. Volleyball in Latin means “one ball many hands”. The Village People loved volleyball.
Honestly Natashka-
These NXIVM followers were the biggest bunch of well meaning dweebs I have ever heard of. Volleyball is Adult Kickball.
Nxivm was tantamount to summer camp for lost souls.
My other take is Frank and Roger thought they were the biggest group of tool-bags they had ever come across. I’m sure they were both laughing their asses off at the entire motley group.
I played volleyball once. I quiet enjoyed it though I remember my mind taking me in one direction and my legs going in the other and ending up with very bruised knees.
Well meaning dweebs, that’s nice and it is the biggest compliment they are ever likely to get. You have reformed.
“I do not support crimes of any kind. If I found out that there were any of those things going on in NXIVM, I would be the first to investigate them and to bring them to justice.”
Does that mean that now that Cami has confirmed the sexual relationship at 15, which is illegal, Eduardo is out there investigating and bringing this sexual misconduct to justice? Or does he feel all the “investigating” he needs to do is hear Raniere tell him Cami is lying.
Here’s the preponderance of evidence that Cami is not lying:
-There is a naked photo of Cami’s genitals when she was 15 in evidence.
-Testimony confirms Raniere liked taking genitalia photos after sex.
-Testimony confirms Raniere had a sexual relationship with Cami.
-Testimony confirms Raniere ordered women he was having sex with to not sleep with other men. (So if Raniere didn’t take the photo of Cami, who did?)
-Cami has publicly confirmed the origin of the photo and the sexual relationship when she was a minor.
Even if the photo was planted, the evidence overwhelmingly suggests beyond a reasonable doubt that Raniere committed a crime.
Now, if you want to say tampered evidence substantiates a new trial, great, let’s do it. I’m all on board. Cami’s testimony will bury him.
None of that changes the preponderance of evidence that Raniere had sex with a minor, which is a crime. So to close the loop here, “I do not support crimes of any kind” means “I believe Raniere’s word against all available data, including Cami’s class one data confirming that it’s true.”
Perhaps justice is not the one that’s blind here.
Preponderance doesn’t cut it in a criminal case, it has to be beyond a reasonable doubt. LOL
And yet much of the sentencing was determined by a preponderance of evidence.
Sentencing is a whole different animal. LOL
I literally wrote “the evidence overwhelmingly suggests beyond a reasonable doubt that Raniere committed a crime.”
You also literally wrote, “Here’s the preponderance of evidence that Cami is not lying:” and “None of that changes the preponderance of evidence that Raniere had sex with a minor, which is a crime.” Since Raniere raised little to no defense, it was easy for the Feds to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, so much for the smartest man in the world. LOL
He wasn’t attracted to women unless they looked like little girls. He made them starve themselves to emulate it.
When did that start?
When Raniere was a little boy and teased girls. LOL
Are the comments following this statement: SPECIFIC POINTS OF THE CASE THAT MAKE JUSTICE BLIND DECLARES from the “article” or did you write them?
Other than my introduction at the beginning, everything that follows the words “The Man Who Wants to Get Keith Raniere Out of Jail” is a translation of the article. That includes “Specific Points of the Case that Make Justice Blind Declares.” You can see the Spanish version https://frankreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/quien-article.pdf.
Amazing the amount of evidence these followers are able to turn a blind eye to. There have been warning signs and investigations into KR/NXIVM since 2012 and yet they think it’s all made up. Evidently he didn’t do enough research. They should revisit these people in a year or so to see if the fog over their eyes has cleared.
Eduardo has told Frank Report that he is open to investigating the evidence of the case – for and against Raniere. I think he plans on doing a very vigorous review of the entire case. This is I think is a positive development.
Agreed. I think with time he will start to see how much he has denied.
If he was a member of SOP, likened to ISIS training, in a group that targets women, he’s a foreign terrorist fomenting violence against women in support of a convicted pedophile and cult leader. He’s bringing the Mexican Female genocide to American soil.
People are deported for less and he should be. He can do anything he wants across the border and assuredly does.
Its a fine morning. I think i’ll wander up to speaker’s corner and parry with some flat-earthers, muslim fundamentalists and my personal favourites, the black israelites.
So the dancing outside MDC really was all about Keith. Nicki Clyne is full of shit. If her advocacy is like her dancing, she advocates only for Keith. What a waste of a life.
Hey Buddy- my advice – try google Cognitive Dissonance. Then try very hard to analyze your own kooky devotion to your well-documented pedophile and sociopath. You might come to realize how baked your brain is. I agree, it’s cringy listening to supporters.
My observation:
Here is the pattern with all these diehard cultists every time they weep and whine when reality doesn’t fit their twisted notions.
1) conveniently sidestep all the unpleasant facts – starvation, sex abuse, misogyny, retribution against perceived enemies, psychological abuse, money laundering, just to name a few.
2) blame others- the justice system, the media, the victims – construct conspiracies to fit your narrative.
I suggest you give your head a big shake. You sound like a 12-year-old who just discovered the world can be a cruel place. Unfortunately, you are under the spell of one of the more evil, cunning ones. Sorry to be harsh – but you sound like a fucking moron to the majority who know this saga well, Your hero got what was coming to him.
It completely makes sense, if he’s Catholic.
The oldest pedophile sex cult that controls women’s bodies and treats them as chattel vessels.
What’s wrong with torturing women, no one does anything about that regular occurrence in his country?
I have worked with him on business projects and I have played hundreds of volleyball games with him.
I am overjoyed that you and your compatriots left Halfmoon, with your high-end cars parked in front of Apropos, attempting to convince the world of your supposed executive success.
But do tell us about your Prefect, Nancy. Every single one of you, these believers, never mention her, and it is getting tedious. Why? It is ridiculous.
I could go on about how the audacity of “ethics” comes into how it “dawned” on these ethical followers of KAR that they could connect with who they truly see as “the little people”, but yeah, they stopped dancing as they do not give a damn once their Vanguard hit the skids. Babies, the weather outside of Keith’s prison cell has been balmy.
I suppose there is going to be a news drop about our Prefect to take advantage of the waning news cycle?
Or is there deference to Nancy while, God forbid, she coming out with her own Starz expose and book.
I just do not get the mum here on Nancy, the Queen
Perhaps the fact she is an obvious sleazeball on par with the world’s stupidest kiddie diddler is why it goes without saying.
I mean that creepy curl lip pumpkin smile with no emotions in her eyes is enough to scare anymore into silence.
Caesar Romero’s Joker smile. That was my very first impression.
Asunsolo said: Raniere was not fleeing but glad to cooperate.
Then why did he care about extradition procedures?
Asunsolo said: The photos on his computer were planted.
Then why did Cami testify under oath that Raniere took the photo, that it was her, and that she was 15 years old at the time?
Regarding Lauren Salzman, what were you expecting Lauren Salzman to say that would have changed things? Badgering witnesses is never allowed. Was there something she could testify to that would have changed the verdict? What?
Regarding the sex trafficking charge, why did Nicole testify that she was trafficked across state lines under threat of blackmail for nonconsensual sex with Raniere?
Why did a number of people plead guilty to racketeering and forced labor charges claiming they were under blackmail orders from Raniere if it never happened?
Sorry, but these were questions all cleared up at the trial. While there is a lot wrong with the USA justice system, this is not the best case to draw attention to needed reforms.
I agree and if he really is after miscarriages of justice, this is not the best case by a very very long way.
I also think he will waste his life if he concentrates on this issue (and he will not get KR out of jail). He should just move on.
He’s saying that women aren’t to be trusted, they’re liars. He’s saying he hasn’t seen evidence of criminality, because the acts of Keith weren’t criminal in his eyes.
He’s just another MRA terrorist.
The mental gymnastics required to maintain his point of view are astounding.
No one “sends the FBI” to arrest and prosecute innocent people. The media cannot create a prosecution. It can sway public opinion but that’s not how Raniere was convicted. We have an imperfect legal system, but Raniere’s arrest and prosecution are pretty clear to objective, outside observers. Evidence is clear. His underage victim, now 30, was not lying. Her account was consistent with others. Raniere was greedy, he wrecked many lives.
I’m going to have to attempt to temper my patience and read through a bit more, it’s torture. The level of stupidity here and lack of any real intelligent critical thinking is just void. This man is a husk with hollow eyes that exists to murmur the borrowed words of a con man.
What a sad pathetic Renfield.