by Paul Serran
There’s probably never been a blog with quite the same amazing story as the Frank Report. Since I had the great opportunity to review and carefully read all the content ever published here, I now have a brand-new appreciation for the role that Frank Parlato has played in the takedown of NXIVM.
To begin with, the Frank Report was built upon what amounted to probably the greatest “crowdsourcing” effort in contemporary journalism. Once Parlato began shedding light on NXIVM’s manifold crimes, he created an unbelievable community around the blog, where scores of victims gathered to share their stories and to inform his investigative journalism with cutting-edge, up-to-the-minute information that has proved accurate in a way that is very rare to find.
It was a ‘war blog’, almost like a battle horse, taking down threats left and right. Way before the NYT and other MSM outlets entered the arena, the solo work of Frank Parlato picked up where The Albany Times and Forbes magazine left off, and ran with it very successfully. He single-handedly exposed Keith Raniere’s crimes with such success that the NXIVM community was left in tatters.
His world-exclusive revelation of the existence of DOS and the fire-branding of sex-slave women was easily one of the finest journalism moments in the early 21st century, everyone knows that — but what many don’t know (or don’t remember) is that, right from the start, Parlato always tried to have his adversaries talk to him and have their version of events featured in the blog.
Many times did Parlato invite Keith Raniere to an interview, and once he went as far as going to Albany and proposing a live debate with Keith in front of his community. Keith did not take him up on his offer. Now we know why — the “Vanguard” was guilty as sin, and only liked to ‘debate’ people that he had previously brainwashed.
It’s been almost six years since the Frank Report first started, and most of the objectives it had set originally have been accomplished. First and foremost, Parlato personally helped many, many NXIVM victims to escape retaliation from Clare Bronfman’s army of attorneys. The list of people Parlato helped includes Kristin Keefe and Keith’s son, a boy that he never acknowledged in public and lied to his followers about him being adopted.
Besides that, Parlato focused on shedding his light on the various crimes committed in the cult, from economic to sexual, going as far as to tackle disturbing (and as of yet unproven) allegations of murder. He has left no stone unturned.
When the media finally jumped on the story, NXIVM became a household name, and a myriad of news pieces, TV segments, books and documentaries were launched in an attempt to tell this incredibly moving saga to the general public. Most of these paid Parlato the respect he deserves and portrayed his efforts, recognizing how vital he was to the takedown of a criminal guru that was indulging in such barbaric practices.
Eventually, the DOJ prosecutors from the SDNY started an investigation, and charges were leveled against Keith and a handful of other co-conspirators. Everyone pleaded guilty but Keith. A long time passed between the moment they were charged to the day when judge Nicolas Garaufis sentenced Raniere to 120 years in Federal Prison.
In the meantime, a surprising fact took place: Keith decided that he needed to talk to the outside world about what he saw as injustices committed against him during his prosecutions. And he chose Frank Parlato, his strongest and fiercest adversary – but a person who did not turn him into an ‘enemy’, and a journalist who firmly believes in the rule of law and in the constitutional rights of every citizen, regardless of his criminal status.
Keith Raniere came as far as stating that Parlato is one of the few people in America today who has free speech and is not a slave to corporate entities with hidden agendas. It was a rare moment when the ‘Vanguard’ spoke the unfettered truth.
Some readers misunderstood Parlato’s move to talk with Keith and his followers and showed their lack of information by accusing him of ‘treason’ against his own cause, suggesting he had been bribed and was ‘in the pocket’ of millionaire Clare Bronfman — herself sentenced to 81 months in Federal Prison.
People who suspect Frank Parlato of doing that certainly did not pay attention to the multiple times he had reached out to Keith Raniere in search of an interview. Parlato never wanted to write about NXIVM from a one-sided perspective. Now, he has the ongoing opportunity of hearing from the opposing ‘team’, so to speak.
That is not the equivalent of caving in, or being compromised, or being a hack. On the contrary, that is the exact definition of journalism: to tell a story, you want to hear all the parties involved, to have the fullest possible image of the story you intend to write about.
Today, Frank Parlato became a known personality, with a growing filmography and an ever-growing number of invitations to appear in programs and documentaries. He has risen due to his hard, hard work, his work ethics, and his determination to do the work with the highest ethical standard in mind.
Do I care much about Raniere’s problems? Not at all. Do I think he was framed? Nope. Do I think he got what he deserved? Absolutely. But none of that changes the fact that I saw, with my own eyes, a man put the ethical mandates of his work ahead of his opinions, and perform his work in the way it’s supposed to be done. That’s rare, and that’s awesome.
***
30+ Frank Report Stories to understand the Takedown of NXIVM.
2015
FBI Should Investigate Bronfmans and Cult Leader Keith Raniere
2016
The author’s reminiscences on Raniere, Keeffe and the treatment of lawyers
Author’s reminiscences: Bronfman horse farm at my disposal
I will help anyone who has left or is trying to escape Raniere
2017
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Dr. Brandon Porter conducting human fright experiments on slender young ladies… Why?
New York Times publishes expose of DOS and human branding!!!
Keith Raniere has fled the United States; may be seeking to avoid imminent arrest in NY!
Raniere photographed in Monterrey – with Mariana and baby
2018
Sources: Raniere left Monterrey; may be near Puerto Vallarta
Allison Mack arrested and handcuffed
2019
Nancy Salzman takes plea deal – will plead guilty
Second Superseding Indictment – Vanguard Gets Hit With Possession of Child Porn
Lauren Salzman Pleads Guilty – to one count each of Racketeering and Racketeering Conspiracy
Keith Raniere Guilty on All Counts – Faces Life in Prison
Nexum/NXIVM? Parallels Between Raniere Sex Slave Cult and Ancient Roman Slave Contracts
2020
Did I Try to Steal Clare Bronfman Away From Keith Raniere?
Clare Bronfman Is Now Officially Federal Prisoner #91010-053
Lovely hearing from you again, Paul! We used to chat on Twitter until you left and I got booted off. I always appreciate your point of view and the eloquence in which you present it. Hope you are well! (KinseyMax from Twitter)
Thank you so much, dear! Are you on Gab?
No, I am not on Gab at the present. May give it a try. I am on Telegram but it’s not ideal. Glad to know you’re still around, I have thought of you many times and wonder what you are putting out into the world. I just found your blog again so will go catch up on your latest commentary and brilliant artistic interpretations.
Great summary.
It is funny to see Nicki Clyne and others involved in the online pro-Raniere propaganda campaign, plus the few right-libertarians who are jumping on board, blaming the downfall of NXIVM on bias of the mainstream media when their biggest enemy is a right-leaning free speech advocate who runs a blog.
If it was only left up to the NYT and other giants of the MSM, Keith would be up to even worse evil.
Paul-
Excellent Top Notch Article! The same caliber as your first article that I said was “worthy of the New Yorker magazine” or other publication.
I enjoyed it immensely.
Thanks
Thank you so much!
Insanity from Hollywood
Crazy Days and Nights
Hollywood Lawyer Claims Greta Thunberg is Writing Letters to Ted Kaczynski
An infamous Hollywood lawyer and gossip blogger claims that Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been communicating with Unabomber Ted Kaczynski via prison letters.
Yes, really.
The incredible assertion was made by Enty, the name given to the person who runs the ‘Crazy Days and Nights’ blog.
According to the Daily Dot, “Over the last 15 years, Enty has made a name for himself by outing celebrities he claims are tied to prominent scandals. Enty has been credited with, among other things, dropping details about disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein years prior to his public undoing.”
In the blog, Enty claims, “The authorities have intercepted correspondence between two people – A young foreign woman who has been in the news a lot the last few years for speaking her mind on a particular problem and an infamous individual whose time in the public eye was before she was born.”
“The infamous individual wrote something a long time ago that became public that the young woman agrees with. She has been discussing both theory and implementation with him in the letters.”
He then names the two individuals in question as Greta Thunberg and Ted Kaczynski.
https://www.infowars.com/posts/hollywood-lawyer-claims-greta-thunberg-is-writing-letters-to-ted-kaczynski/
Not trusting the NYT and WaPo, but relying on InfoWars is like saying “I don’t touch crack or meth; I only huff gasoline.”
Twitter wisdom from Nicki Clyne
Nicki Clyne
@nickiclyne
19h
Hollywood is the only cult I’ve ever escaped.
Her ass was kicked out
My opinion of the culmination of Frank’s efforts to expose the NXIVM cult is when the DOJ had Frank announce to the media and others outside the court house that KR received a 120-year sentence! That was awesome to watch!
Congrats Frank!! 🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂
Frank proposing a live debate with Keith in front of his community. Now, that would have been awesome.
Let’s hope that Mr. Parlato decides to expose the Feminist and Tranxesual sect (a sect with power thanks to the support of pharmaceutical companies and sex transformation clinics)
“Ethical values”
You mean like allowing racist, misogynistic, vitriolic, etc. comments on the blog for years?
Hahaha.
There is a fine line between allowing free speech that is offensive and allowing racist, misogynistic, vitriolic comments. Some vitriolic comments are not only acceptable but welcome at times. It speaks debate.
I am not sure I have an infallible ability to detect vitriol. As for racist, and misogynist – I am pretty sure that these words are used by some people simply because they disagree with the commenter. I cannot always detect these and I am not sure I trust anyone as an arbiter of what qualifies as racist or misogynistic.
If someone says white people have ruled much of the earth in some inequitable way, is that racist? If someone says that black people ruled much of the earth prior to that in some inequitable way – is that racist?
Is any criticism of any woman misogynistic? If someone speaks against something that is politically correct about women in general is that misogynistic. For instance, if someone says, female victims’ stories should undergo the same due process scrutiny as male victims, is that misogyny?
Is the mere fact of criticizing in any form of generalization racism or misogyny? You might provide some answers, or examples of racism and misogyny from commenters.
Touché, Frank! Well said.
Frank
Have you forgotten all the racist comments directed at “Sultan” that you allowed to be posted? Obviously you encouraged this behaviour by constantly allowing it on your blog.
You also were aware that certain posters were impersonating real people- for example the person(s) who posted using Kim Snyder’s name.
Kim Snyder posted in her own name to the best of my knowledge. As for poor Sultan, he appears to have been removed from Twitter possibly because of his obsession with Kristin Kreuk.
His thin pee-pee must need a skin graft by now.
It was a sad moment for Twitter, a bad, sad day, when they removed the Sultan from his followers. Hopefully, Kristin will understand.
The account, @SultanOfSix, is still active on Twitter. The account was never suspended, though it may have been temporarily deactivated by the owner.
The person posting as Kim Snyder has also posted using other names (but with the same email address as Kim used) in which he/she admitted to being a friend of Kim’s. Since you claimed to be in contact with Kim, you should be aware of this.
This is one of my favorites!
https://frankreport.com/2019/10/15/nexum-nxivm-parallels-between-raniere-sex-slave-cult-and-ancient-roman-slave-contracts/
I fully agree.
This article was a great overview of the entire sordid tale. It is truly an amazing story.
Wow! One of the best articles on this blog in a while. It explains quite well how Frank is just being more objective in presenting the views of others that may not agree with him. I was thinking Frank was getting soft, but now understand better. Thank you. Raniere is one of the most manipulative individuals alive and should have been sentenced to EONS in prison.