Clare’s Letters of Support Speak Volumes About Her – Maybe More Than She Intended

On April 19, 2019, Clare Bronfman pleaded guilty to two felonies: one count of harboring an illegal immigrant for financial gain – and one count of enabling credit card fraud.

In the ensuing 500 days, she was able to cajole, con, contract for, or otherwise convince a total of 66 people to send a letter-of-support on her behalf to U.S. Senior District Court Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, the judge who accepted her guilty plea – and, more importantly, the judge who will decide how long, if at all, she spends in federal prison.

Here’s an alphabetized list of those sixty-six people:

Antonio Aja: General Manager of Clare’s Wakaya Club & Spa

Deb Apthorp: Wife Of IT Consultant for One of Clare’s Companies

Justin Arthur Kreizel: Son of a “Close Friend” of the Late Edgar Bronfman, Sr.

Eduardo Asunolo: NXIVM Student & Member of the Forgotten Ones Dance Troupe

Amanda Auspelmyer: Clare’s Bookkeeper

Gabriela Baker: NXIVM/ESP Student

[Redacted]: Recipient of Bronfman Family Scholarship

Edgar Boone: Longtime NXIVM Leader in Mexico

Anna Boyce: Fellow Equestrian & NXIVM/ESP Student

Damon Brink: Member of NXIVM/ESP Since 2006

Eben Bronfman: Clare’s “Distant Cousin”

Sara Bronfman: Sister

Esther Carlson: NXIVM/ESP Coach & Domestic Partner of James Del Negro

Kyle Carlson: Long-term Friend

Suneel Chakravorty: NXIVM/ESP Student and Forgotten Ones Dancer

Linda Chung: NXIVM/ESP Student, V-Week Attendee and Forgotten Ones Dancer

& Mrs. D.J. Cleal: Parents of Fellow Equestrians

Brenda Clyne: Nicki Clyne’s Mother, NXIVM/ESP Student & V-Week Attendee

Nicole (Nicki) Clyne: NXIVM/ESP Student, Member of the Forgotten Ones Dance Troupe & Current DOS Slave Leader

Veronica Collignon: Mother of Clare’s Godchild

Kim Constable: NXIVM/ESP Coach

Ryan Constable: Husband of Kim Constable

Robert D. Crockett: One of Clare’s Attorneys

Stacey Cummings: Cousin

James Del Negro: NXIVM/ESP Coach

Brett Diamond: NXIVM/ESP Student

Maggie Dou: Exo/Eso Student

Justin Elliot: NXIVM/ESP Coach

Marc Elliott: NXIVM/ESP Coach & Former Tourette’s Syndrome Patient

John Farrand: Property Manager for Clare’s Fiji Properties

Giselle Fernandez: Co-Seller of Fiji House to Clare

Natalia Gaviria: NXIVM/ESP Coach

Barbara J. Gottlieb: Managing Consultant for Clare’s California Properties

Marielle Hajj: Worker at Wakaya Club & Spa

Georgiana Havers: Mother

[redacted]: NXIVM Member & Married to [redacted]

Basit Igtet: Brother-in-Law

Alejandro A. Imbach: NXIVM/ESP Coach

Dilip Jamnadas: One of Clare’s Attorneys

Jane Jeffries: NXIVM/ESP Coach

Paul Kempisty: Clare’s Acupuncturist

Paula Kent: Cousin

Warren A. Kent: Husband of Clare’s Cousin

Richard E. Leakey: “Father-Figure” & Well-known Anthropologist Whose Work Has Been Funded By Clare

Wayne N. LeBaron: NXIVM/ESP Student

Carolina López Patiño: Member of Exo/Eso and Nxivm

Serena Marama: Worker At Rai Ki Wai Estate, Wakaya Island

Mark S. Miness: Fellow Equestrian

Judith Moore: Clare’s Former Equestrian Trainer

Hilary Neeves: Clare’s Former Nanny in England

Niumaia Niumataiwalu: Resident Manager of Wakaya Club & Spa

Henk Nooren: Clare’s Former Equestrian Trainer

Christopher Pearson-Smith: NXIVM/ESP Coach

Denise Cristina Reis: Performer at Innovation Acapella Festival

Danielle Roberts: Director of Branding for DOS & Member of the Forgotten Ones Dance Troupe

Leigh Robertson: Long-term Friend & Fellow Equestrian

William F. Savino: One of Clare’s Attorneys

Seremaia Senilagakali: Project Manager, Wakaya Island

Baron Stewart: Retired Mathematics Teacher/Friend

Ronald P. Stewart: Headmaster at York Preparatory School (Clare Attended That School)

Sean M. Sweeney: NXIVM/ESP Student

Derek St. Thomas: One of Clare’s Doctors

Unknown

Unknown: Minor Child of Caretakers of Clare’s Rai Ki Wai Estate in Fiji

Emma Young: Sister of Clare’s Former Classmate

Gregory Zelenay: Clare’s Former CPA

In the coming days, we’ll be reviewing some of these letters in great detail – and evaluating how their contents may impact the sentence that Clare receives from Judge Garaufis.

MK 10's portrait of Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis

MK10ART’s portrayal of Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis

We’ll also be listing some of the many people that didn’t step forward to write such a letter – and speculating why they didn’t do so.

For now, let’s just look at what might have motivated these sixty-six people to step forward on Clare’s behalf.

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Blood Is Thicker Than Water

At least 7 of the 66 letter writers are Clare’s relatives – which would suggest that she comes from a very small family.

But as it turns out, Clare actually comes from a rather large family.

At the time of his death, her father, the late Edgar Bronfman, Sr., had 7 children, 24 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.

Edgar Bronfman Sr. Should the sins of his father, Sam Bronfman,be visited on him?

Edgar Bronfman Sr. He described NXIVM/ESP as a “cult” way back in 2003.

Apparently, none of her father’s 5 children from his first marriage – Edgar, Jr., Samuel, Matthew, Adam or Bhavani Nev (née Holly) – thought it would be a good idea to tell Judge Garaufis what a great half-sibling Clare is – and how proud they are of her decision to stand by her man and her cult no matter what the consequences may be.

And apparently, none of her 24 nieces and nephews felt compelled to take time out from their busy lives to write a letter on behalf of Auntie Clare (In fairness to Clare, it’s doubtful that she ever met most of them).

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And Money is Thicker Than Blood

At least 23 of the 66 letter writers – a little more than one-third of the total – have (or had) some sort of financial relationship with Clare.

And surprise, surprise – in every one of those 23 instances, she (or her family) was the one writing the check.

While it’s understandable that Clare would have sought positive comments from just about anyone, it’s still sad that so many of her supporters were only a rung or two above a bunch of unknowns hired as gig writers off Craigslist.

And, seriously, having the minor child of a married couple that serves as the Caretakers of Clare’s Rai Ki Wai Estate in Fiji write a letter-of-support for her is nothing short of pathetic.

Clare Bronfman purchased about 80 percent of Wakaya Island in Fiji.

Clare Bronfman purchased about 80 percent of Wakaya Island in Fiji. It was supposed to be the perfect get-away retreat for Clare and her Vanguard — but then he was caught hanging around Mexico waiting for a group blowjob. 

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And Cults Are Thicker Than Money

At least 27 of the 66 letter writers – a little over 40%  – have ties to the NXIVM/ESP cult – and while many of these people could probably have also been included in the group of people that are financially dependent on Clare and her family, we chose to list them separately.

That’s because Clare’s attorneys asserted in their most recent filing that the NXIVM/ESP cult was not financially dependent on Clare – and that it “…was profitable and able to sustain itself fully”.

Of course, these are the same attorneys who asserted that “NXIVM was not a sex cult” – and that “…it was not until during Mr. Raniere’s trial that Clare found out about many of the details relating to DOS” (I love the reference to “Mr.” Raniere).

What’s really interesting about the number of NXIVM/ESP-related letter-writers is not many there were – but how few.

Some of NXIVM students at Vanguard Week.

Vanguard Week Celebrants

Seriously, more than 300 Coaches and more than 16,000 students – and all you can scrape up is 27 of them.

Hell, they had almost that many people on the payroll for The Knife of Aristotle.

Where are these people that benefited so much from the teachings of Keith Alan Raniere?

Where are all these formerly-blind people who can now see, all these formerly-lame people who can now walk, and all these formerly-deaf people who can now hear?

And, of course, where are all these people who have become SUCCESSFUL because of the insight and knowledge they gained by taking NXIVM/ESP courses?

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The Elite Eight

So, let’s see who we have left out of that batch of 66 letters-writers…

Justin Arthur Kreizel: Son of a “Close Friend” of the Late Edgar Bronfman, Sr.

Kyle Carlson: Long-term Friend

Mr. & Mrs. D.J. Cleal: Parents of Fellow Equestrians

Veronica Collignon: Mother of Clare’s Godchild

Mark S. Miness: Fellow Equestrian

Leigh Robertson: Long-term Friend & Fellow Equestrian

Baron Stewart: Retired Mathematics Teacher/Friend

Emma Young: Sister of Clare’s Former Classmate

Unknown

All I can say is that it’s a good thing Clare liked to ride horses.

Because if we threw out the equestrian-related letter-writers, we’d be down to just 5 plus one “Unknown”.

And that would be really, really sad…