NXIVM Update.
Would you believe the NY Times finally printed a story on Keith Raniere and NXIVM? Titled "Once Idolized, Guru of Nxivm ‘Sex Cult’ to Stand Trial Alone" Naturally, it glosses over any larger connections that we've been looking at, and includes just enough tawdry details to draw their audience's attention. The comments on the article are a mix of tragedy and comedy. Suffice it to say, the comments quickly devolve to Trump-bashing. I think I've found Q's "4-6%"...
The judge has made a ruling whether the prosecution can introduce Raniere's photos of his then 15-year old rape victim. They can introduce the photos as evidence of predicate acts related to his current charges.* Note, the child crimes are NOT being prosecuted in this trial. Once this trial is over, we would anticipate that this evidence will be used by the Northern District of NY, where the crimes occurred, in a follow-on trial against Raniere and others.
*Note: while I was composing this, the article linked above now shows a 404 error. Also, all stories on the Frank Report website after April 30, have disappeared. In case it's just a hiccup, I'm leaving the link above even though it goes nowhere at the moment.
Here is another article that discusses the ruling.
Judge Garaufis will need to rule on three more topics before trial starts on Tuesday. First, whether NXIVM corporation can assert attorney-client privilege. Clare Bronfman and Nancy Salzman are still on the board of directors. If they try to assert privilege, I can imagine the judge will consider that in a negative light at their sentencing.
Second, can a Jane Doe testify that Raniere raped her repeatedly at the age of 12-13 YO? Those charges are also not on the table at this trial, and again the prosecution is seeking to show a pattern of criminal predicate acts to establish the racketeering and conspiracy charges that Raniere faces.
Third and finally, will witnesses have to reveal their full names to the public, or will they be allowed to use aliases or first names only?
Court will convene on Monday to complete the process of selecting 12 jurors and 6 alternates from a pool of around 50. Defense will have ten opportunities to disqualify jurors, and the prosecution will have six.
The judge has ruled that Nancy Russell can move from NY back to her family in Georgia. She had made this request, citing she couldn't find work in NY. Because of her probation, the judge had to approve it. He also approved her request to not have to continue wearing her ankle locator. Odd. Oh, she's a bookkeeper. Don't they hire bookkeepers in NY? She's still a felon no matter where she goes. Her sentencing is in July.
Three more days. Will Raniere survive the weekend before his trial starts?
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