Once again, I have written to U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis regarding documents that the attorneys for Nancy Salzman are attempting to keep secret from the general public.
This time I have also asked him to make public all the Victim Impact Statements that have thus far been filed with respect to any of the defendants in the case of the U.S. v. Raniere Et Al/Case No. 1-18-cr-00204 plus any more than are filed in conjunction with the sentencing of Kathy Russell on October 6th.
MK 10’s portrayal of Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis
Shortly after I sent my first letter, and not necessarily because of it, Judge Garaufis issued a sua sponte order in which he directed Nancy’s attorneys “…to file a redacted copy of her sentencing submissions by 12:00 PM on September 7, 2021”. That order – which notably was filed on Labor Day – was necessary because Nancy’s attorneys had originally filed her Sentencing Memorandum (and all the attachments thereto) “under seal” even though they had not been granted permission to do so.
On Tuesday, September 7th, Nancy’s attorneys filed a redacted version of their original filing. But, in addition to redacting significant portions of the Sentencing Memorandum itself, they entirely redacted all of the attachments – which included letters of support from 7 family members, 9 close friends, and 23 former members of the NXIVM community as well as various exhibits that contain medical information about Nancy.
As might be expected, Judge Garaufis did not react well to the new hide-and-seek antics employed by Nancy’s attorneys. On the contrary, he issued another sua sponte order on September 15, 2021 – in which he directed Nancy’s attorneys “to provide the court with her legal rationale for each redaction made in her sentencing submission, including exhibits, by September 20, 2021” (That deadline was later extended by an additional week at the request on Nancy’s attorneys).
On Monday, September 27, 2021, Robert A. Soloway, one of Nancy’s team of attorneys, submitted a letter to Judge Garaufis in which he explained why he believed that all the redactions in the September 7th filing were justified. In arguing why all the letters of support for Nancy should remain sealed, Soloway claimed that “…many of those who wrote letters on behalf of Ms. Salzman did so fearfully, not because of any reluctance whatsoever to support her, but because of the scandalous, hurtful uses to which their sentiments, if made public, would likely be put”.
Robert A. Soloway
And just to be perfectly clear what he was really worried about, Soloway went on to explain “As this Court is aware, the Frank Report weaponizes statements made in support of the Nxivm defendants, and exists for virtually no purpose other than to damage the reputation and fortunes of remaining “loyalists.” Revealing the identities and supportive views memorialized in letters to the Court will add little to the record that has not already been stated publicly by the Court and counsel, and will potentially result in harm to those whose aim was to furnish the Court with firsthand information about Ms. Salzman to facilitate a fully informed sentencing proceeding…Revealing the content of the letters and names of such individuals will likely have a chilling effect on those who wish to assist other defendants and courts in future high-profile cases”.
Needless to say, I take umbrage with Soloway’s effort to hide whatever claims are contained in the letters-of-support that were submitted on behalf of Nancy – and his ham-fisted attempt to suppress my First Amendment rights to publish factual information about a woman who was the co-founder of – and the public face of – a multi-national criminal enterprise that harmed many people over the course of its 20-year existence.
That is why I am issuing the following “Open Letter to Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis”:
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September 30, 2021
The Hon. Nicholas G. Garaufis
U.S. District Court Judge
United States Courthouse
Room 1426 S
225 Cadman Plaza East
Brooklyn, NY 11201
RE: Request To Unseal Filings in U.S. v. Raniere Et Al/Case No. 1-18-cr-00204
Dear Judge Garaufis:
I previously wrote to you on September 5, 2021 to urge you to unseal the Sentencing Memorandum (and all the attachments thereto) that Nancy Salzman’s attorneys filed on or about August 30, 2021 – and the revised version of those documents that they filed on or about September 3, 2021.
As I noted at the time, “…federal courts have previously recognized that the public’s right to access court records is rooted in the First Amendment, the Sixth Amendment, and common law”.
And as I also pointed out, “Nancy is an inveterate liar: i.e., a person who lies without thought or remorse – and who does so even when telling the truth would lead to a similar outcome as lying. As a result, allowing her lawyers to file their Sentencing Memorandum ‘under seal’ will only increase the likelihood that the document contains lies and mistruths since her attorneys were, in large part, dependent on whatever information Nancy provided them in response to issues that were raised in her Pre-Sentencing Report”.
I was pleased when you subsequently ordered Ms. Salzman’s attorneys to file a redacted version of her sentencing submissions because I truly believe that the general public has the right to know what goes on in criminal cases like this. That feeling was short-lived, however, when I read what Ms. Salzman’s attorneys actually filed on September 7th.
Not only did her attorneys redact large portions of the Sentencing Memorandum, they also redacted all the attachments to it in toto. This included letters of support from seven family members, nine close friends, and twenty-three former members of the NXIVM community – as well as various exhibits that contain medical information about Nancy.
While I certainly understood why her attorneys would want to redact any information concerning Ms. Salzman’s medical condition, I did not understand why they believed they have the right to totally redact all the other information and materials. Nor apparently did you – because you subsequently ordered them to provide you with the “legal rationale” for each of their redactions.
On Monday, September 27th, Ms. Salzman’s attorneys responded to your order. In explaining why they believed that all the letters-of-support should remain under seal, they claimed: “…many of those who wrote letters on behalf of Ms. Salzman did so fearfully, not because of any reluctance whatsoever to support her, but because of the scandalous, hurtful uses to which their sentiments, if made public, would likely be put”.
And just to make it perfectly clear what they were really worried about, they went on to note: “As this Court is aware, the Frank Report weaponizes statements made in support of the Nxivm defendants, and exists for virtually no purpose other than to damage the reputation and fortunes of remaining “loyalists.” Revealing the identities and supportive views memorialized in letters to the Court will add little to the record that has not already been stated publicly by the Court and counsel, and will potentially result in harm to those whose aim was to furnish the Court with firsthand information about Ms. Salzman to facilitate a fully informed sentencing proceeding…Revealing the content of the letters and names of such individuals will likely have a chilling effect on those who wish to assist other defendants and courts in future high-profile cases”.
To begin with, I take umbrage with the fact that Ms. Salzman’s attorneys are attempting to limit the First Amendment rights of Frank Report (and my other publications) to publish factual information about a criminal case. In addition, I also challenge their claim that Frank Report “weaponizes statements made in support of Nxivm defendants, and exists for virtually no purpose other than to damage the reputation and fortunes of remaining ‘loyalists’”.
To begin with, Frank Report has reported about the various letters of support that were provided for other defendants in this case.
In addition, the claim that “…revealing the content of the letters and names of [the authors] will likely have a chilling effect on those who wish to assist other defendants and courts in future high-profile case” is a pathetic attempt to provide a legal rationale for redaction where none exists. That claim becomes even more ludicrous when it is placed in the context of all the redacted letters of support that have already been released in this case.
I implore your Honor to reject Ms. Salzman’s attempt to continue hiding the truth from her victims and the general public – and to release all the letters of support that were submitted on her behalf with appropriate redactions, if necessary, to shield the names of the authors. In addition, I also request that you release the two letters that Ms. Salzman wrote in response to two of the Victim Impact Statements that were filed in her case.
Finally, in an effort to shine as much light as possible on the deep and dark secrets of Ms. Salzman and her NXIVM/ESP cohorts, I request that this Court release all of the Victim Impact Statements that have been submitted with respect to the case of the U.S. v. Raniere Et Al/Case No. 1-18-cr-00204, provided that the authors of those statements agree to make them public. In this regard, I believe that making all those statements public will help others to understand just how dangerous and destructive this cult was – and, hopefully, lead to a full-scale investigation as to why it was allowed to operate and flourish in the Northern District of New York for almost two decades.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Parlato
Frank R. Parlato
Owner/Publisher
Frank Report
