By John Tighe
Yesterday, I learned from Alex O’Hara that his father, Joe, passed peacefully Monday. I do not know the cause of death.
Joe was one of the best and most loyal friends I ever had. He was one of the best and most loyal friends anyone could have.
I first met Joe over thirty years ago. He was a young, powerful mover and shaker in Saratoga Springs in the late eighties and nineties.
He made a name for himself in early software development, but his true love was historic preservation. Saratoga was all the better for his restoration efforts. I first met him while admiring his latest efforts on North Broadway. He saw me, introduced himself, and gave me a personal tour of the home. That began our lifetime friendship.
He took on many projects that others thought were hopeless. Today, his mark is alive and well in many stately properties that dot the city.
Joe had many business interests, and our paths often intersected.
But it was the poisoned cult of NXIVM that defined our relationship. I knew little of them when I started a political blog called “Saratoga in Decline”.
Joe was the one who warned me about NXIVM’s tentacles of evil spreading through the city.
With Joe’s encouragement, I began a campaign against them. Joe was with me every step of the way, and I was with him.
In story after story, we exposed the secrets of NXIVM. We provided information to the great investigative reporter Jim Odato of the Albany Times Union.
We also shared information with anyone in the mainstream press that we could interest in NXIVM.
From Jared Kushner, the publisher of the New York Observer, to Vanity Fair, we fought to get the truth out.
We both would pay a heavy price. Joe, faced with a biased judge and a 20-year potential prison term, pleaded guilty to bullshit charges of bribery and spent two and a half years in federal prison.
Raniere and the Bronfman Brats orchestrated the charges.
The vicious Clare Bronfman with the man she partnered with to destroy the lives of others, Keith Raniere. They were thrilled at the prospect of putting people in prison.
Joe did his time like a man and came out stronger than ever and more resolved to take down the NXIVM empire.
Joe introduced me to Roger Kirsupp of the New York State Police. We both thought he was helping us, but he and many others were in the Bronfman’s pocket. It’s hard to imagine now how powerful NXIVN was, but they had cops, judges, and politicians in their pockets.
NY State Trooper Kirsupp stabbed us in the back after an illegal search of Joe’s, mine, and others’ houses to see what we had on NXIVM.
After holding my computers for months, Roger “found” child porn on an Apple computer I never owned. Then, after threatening to charge my wife with these hideous charges, he was able to coerce a guilty plea out of me.
In addition, I must mention the many bankrupting lawsuits against Joe, myself, and others.
I was broke, hated, and despised. But Joe, who knew my character, along with other close friends and family, stood by me like a rock.
During the five years I spent in federal prison, Joe e-mailed daily. He arranged for me to work with Frank Palato,
From prison, I write to his blog and Frank published my articles.
Throughout my years in prison, Joe kept in touch with my wife and hooked me up with various media outlets from behind bars. Then, after surviving cancer and COVID-19 in prison, I was released.
Joe was waiting for me with a job.
He trusted this ex-con and registered sex offender to be his property manager for his Mansion in Saratoga. Joe had listed it for sale as he moved to Pittsburg to be close to his son Alex and his family.
Looking back at it now, I realize what a life he had. We were up against a nearly unlimited fortune, possessed by ruthless people.
We had ups and downs, and battles were lost and won. Through it all, we were on the right side of history.
While in prison, Joe O’Hara let his hair grow long. He appears in court, in handcuffs, on one of the Bronfman-based charges.
I was shocked to hear of his death. We were in touch almost daily. This is a loss not just for the people lucky enough to have known him, but to many who value truth, the rule of law, and selflessness.
I am heartbroken, but someday in a better world better than this one, we’ll have a good laugh again, exchange some war stories and maybe, if there are any, find an old historic house in heaven and fix it up.
