Mr. Raniere’s organization, NXIVM, was a self-development and human-potential company that served more than 17,000 people across 30+ countries from 1998–2018.

Its leadership included the adult sons and daughters of powerful figures — many already in their 30s and 40s — including former Presidents of Mexico and the billionaire owner of one of the largest media empires in Latin America. Some of those powerful fathers deeply resented them becoming heavily involved in NXIVM instead of pursuing the paths they wanted for them, viewing Mr. Raniere as a threat to their influence over their family.

The #MeToo era later provided the public climate that enabled this longstanding hostility toward Mr. Raniere and NXIVM to escalate into coordinated government-media lawfare.

There is significant overlap with many of the same officials, institutions, and media outlets involved in the lawfare against President Trump. But here it happened on a smaller scale, was more brazen, and left behind an extraordinary level of proof.

What happened, in seven verifiable points:

• The “Cult” Narrative Was Driven by Media Companies Later Linked to Breaches of NXIVM Servers, Confirmed by NYS Police These included media companies later heavily involved in anti-Trump media coverage: Dow Jones, the Albany Times Union, and Advance Publications. New York State Police confirmed breaches into NXIVM servers that were traced via IP address to the corporate offices of the media companies.

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• Years Later, A New York Times Story at the Height of the #MeToo Movement Fueled the Public Outrage Used to Justify the Case The New York Times story itself reported that New York State Police had deemed the alleged conduct involving a secret women’s group co-founded by Mr. Raniere — including the so-called “branding” allegations — to be “consensual.” The alleged conduct also occurred in Albany, where federal prosecutors had already been approached months earlier but did not bring charges. Yet according to the lead EDNY prosecutor herself, in Brooklyn — 160 miles away — she read the New York Times article, believed there was criminal conduct, and within days assembled a federal task force.

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• Former FBI and DOJ Officials Found “Clear Evidence of Indictable Government Crime” — Covered Up by Jack Smith’s FBI Expert Seven experts — including four former FBI examiners — as well as an independent Newsweek expert unanimously determined key evidence was falsified with government involvement. Former FBI agents also uncovered fabricated crime scenes, forensic misconduct, and false testimony to the courts. Later, the same FBI expert used to dispute these findings appeared in Jack Smith’s prosecution of President Trump.
  Expand Trump overlap

  Many of the same officials, institutions, and tactics seen in the lawfare against President Trump also appear here:

  • The FBI expert used to cover up evidence fabrication in this case was brought into only one other major prosecution over a four-year span: Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against President Trump.
  • Attorney General Merrick Garland later gave awards to DOJ personnel involved in this case — even after evidence of misconduct had already been publicly filed.
  • The prosecution was supervised by U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue, who made serious false statements to the media after the verdict.
  • A retired FBI Unit Chief who personally knew Director Chris Wray warned him about the evidence fabrication and alleged cover-up in this case. Wray failed to act.
  • Prosecutors from Alvin Bragg’s office who later prosecuted President Trump were approached by a former prosecutor in that office with evidence of FBI crimes in this case and refused to engage.

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• The Actual Charges Were Worlds Apart from the Headlines — and the Legal Elements Were Not Met For example, one woman in a secret women’s group was told by another woman to ask Mr. Raniere to take a nude photo of her. She refused, left the group, and nothing further happened. This was charged as attempted sex trafficking — and resulted in a conviction.

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• Exposure of the Government Misconduct Has Been Actively Suppressed After evidence of DOJ misconduct surfaced publicly, a Newsweek article featuring their own independent expert confirming DOJ evidence tampering disappeared from Google search results within 24 hours. TMZ affiliates promoted a recorded Alan Dershowitz interview about the misconduct allegations, then TMZ later claimed no record of the interview existed. Seven years after trial, and shortly after new misconduct evidence emerged publicly, seven major outlets re-amplified the original “cult” narrative while ignoring the corruption allegations entirely.

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• Biden’s Bureau of Prisons Retaliated During Active Litigation — Including Opening Legal Mail and Sending It to Prosecutors During active litigation, prison officials opened Mr. Raniere’s legal mail and sent privileged communications to prosecutors, according to the prosecution’s own filing. He was also kept in solitary confinement for 245 days after medical staff had already cleared him to leave.

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• The Courts Never Allowed a Hearing on the DOJ Misconduct The courts refused even an evidentiary hearing, taking the word of Jack Smith’s expert who never testified in the case and provided an undated report that contained no proof. Several of the same judges later ruled against President Trump in major cases — including the $83.3 million E. Jean Carroll defamation verdict.

  See how review was blocked →