[Editor’s Note: Neil Glazer is an attorney who represents many ex-Nxivm and ex-DOS members in a soon-to-be-filed civil lawsuit against Nxivm and its principal leaders. He also represents several women who appeared as witnesses in the criminal trial of Keith Raniere, such as Daniela, Jaye, and Nicole].
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By Neil L. Glazer
Now that the trial of Keith Raniere is over, I would like to make a statement about some of the comments and guest posts that appear of this blog.
As Frank, Joe, KR Claviger and one or two other of his guest contributors know, although we are extremely protective of our clients, we don’t take issue with accurate statements on this blog even if at times we don’t love what’s being written.
Frank and those particular guest writers have been quite good at identifying when they are making statements of opinion or conjecture rather than fact – and they have generally been good at checking their facts or at least trying to rely on credible sources even if they do not always adhere to the gold standard of double- or triple-sourcing facts.
Frank is to be lauded for shedding light on some dark events, and he has demonstrated time and again his willingness to protect real victims when there is a genuine need to do so. We may not agree with all of his methods, and he knows very well we don’t like everything posted here, but he deserves credit for his contribution to the real justice that is finally being done.
Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for the comments section or certain guest posters.
Up until now, however, there was little we could do to protect our clients from what we believe are instances of defamation, false light defamation, and invasion of privacy. That’s because there was a criminal trial going on – and we were uncertain as to which of our clients might be called as witnesses.
But as we move forward now to seek further justice for our clients via civil litigation, we will be much more aggressive in reviewing – and responding to – comments and guest posts that concern our clients. That’s because we cannot allow such public statements to be used to attack our clients and put their legitimate claims at risk. There is still a lot more justice to be done – and we intend to see that happen.
Only cowards disparage people, disclose confidential information or invade people’s privacy while hiding behind pseudonyms.
We have never asked Frank to reveal a source or the identity of any commenter or guest poster, and we will not do so in the future. We have no interest in disrupting the lively conversation here, some of which in the comments section is just nonsense and noise. But there are lines that cannot be crossed, and from this point forward, we will be paying closer attention to those who cross them.
Complete anonymity is almost impossible to achieve on the Internet.
It’s unfortunate that some people derive pleasure at the expense of others. It’s even more unfortunate that some people feel free to compound the suffering of people who have experienced unspeakably traumatic events.
We support and encourage Frank’s legitimate investigative journalism, and he knows there are people who read this blog regularly because of his ability to dig up and report important facts.
But this blog is a public outlet and every statement made on it, whether in posts or comments, is a public statement. The First Amendment has its boundaries, and we intend to enforce them if we feel such actions are necessary to protect our clients.
Opinions must be stated as opinions, and not disguised as facts, because false statements of fact can be actionable. And if someone reveals information that has been gleaned from purloined documents – they may also be engaging in tortious acts.
My email address is nglazer@kohnswift.com and if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to drop me a note. Please do not ask me to screen anything you are contemplating writing here, because you are all big boys and girls and you can figure out what’s appropriate on your own.
