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The spiritual leader of an alleged New York sex cult was hit with child pornography charges Wednesday, escalating a case that already featured allegations of female “slaves” forced into having his initials branded onto their flesh.
The additional charges against Keith Raniere, 58, were revealed hours after Nancy Salzman, the co-founder of the Albany-based group known as NXIVM, pleaded guilty to a charge of racketeering conspiracy.
Federal prosecutors said in court papers that Raniere, who was known inside the organization as “Vanguard,” engaged in relationships with two underage girls, including a 15-year-old.
The government has images of the 15-year-old, “constituting child pornography, that were created and possessed by Raniere and electronic communications between the victim and Raniere reflecting their sexual relationship and indicating that it began when she was fifteen years old,” prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn said in court papers filed Tuesday.
Raniere’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, disputed the new charges in a sharply worded statement.
“These eleventh hour charges three weeks before the trial begins serve only to taint the jury panel,” Agnifilo said. “Had they been legitimate, the government would have brought these charges a year ago.”
Earlier Wednesday, Salzman, 65, admitted to committing racketeering offenses, including stealing the identities of some critics of the group, while working as the president of NXIVM.
Nancy Salzman exits court following a hearing at the United States Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn on July 25, 2018.Brendan McDermid / Reuters file
Salzman, who was known to her followers as “Prefect,” faces 33 to 41 months in prison. Her sentencing is set for July 10.
“I did things I knew were wrong and justified it was for the greater good,” Salzman said in a hushed voice during a hearing at Brooklyn Federal Court. “Some of what I did was not just wrong but criminal. If I could do it all over, I would, but I cannot.”
Salzman, Raniere and four other members, including “Smallville” actress Allison Mack and Seagram’s liquor heiress Clare Bronfman, were indicted last July for their roles in running the controversial group. Salzman’s 43-year-old daughter, Lauren, was also ensnared in the case.
Allison Mack is escorted away from federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday.Frank Franklin II / AP
Supporters say it was a self-help group committed to changing the world. Prosecutors describe it as a criminal enterprise built around a pyramid scheme designed to enrich the top officials and supply the leader with a stable of sex “slaves.”
Members paid thousands of dollars for NXIVM-sponsored classes promising personal and professional development. Prosecutors say the courses forced many into debt, drawing them into a multilevel marketing scheme that rewarded the recruitment of others with payments and increased status.
The group was led by Raniere, a self-described ethicist who prosecutors say used the organization to satisfy his sexual appetite.
Raniere is accused of creating a secret society within NXIVM that coerced women into having sex with him and having his initials branded on the skin below their hips.
The secret group was called DOS, an acronym for “Dominus Obsequious Sororium,” which translates to “Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions,” according to court papers.
Prosecutors say DOS masters groomed their slaves for sex with Raniere and forced them to turn over “collateral” — sexually explicit photos and damaging secrets — that would be made public if they ever disclosed the existence of the secret society.
Raniere denies that NXIVM was a cult or pyramid scheme and says any sexual relationships were consensual. He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Mack, 36, who prosecutors say recruited “slaves” for Raniere, pleaded not guilty to several charges including sex trafficking conspiracy, racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud.
Bronfman, 40, who prosecutors say helped bankroll the organization and is paying the legal fees for her co-defendants, pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit identity theft and other charges.
A trial is scheduled for mid-April.
Adam Reiss is a reporter and producer for NBC and MSNBC.
Rich Schapiro is a reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
Image caption
A US judge said the proposal would cause “irreparable harm” to families
A US judge has temporarily blocked a rule proposed by President Donald Trump that would require immigrants to prove they will have health insurance within 30 days of arrival in the US, or can pay for medical care.
Judge Michael Simon, a district judge in Oregon, granted a preliminary injunction against the proposal.
Seven American citizens and an NGO had filed a lawsuit opposing the rule.
They argued it would block hundreds of thousands of legal migrants.
The lawsuit said the number of immigrants who enter the US with family-sponsored visas would drop considerably, or be eliminated altogether.
Judge Simon said the potential damage to families justified a US-wide ban.
“Facing a likely risk of being separated from their family members and a delay in obtaining a visa to which family members would otherwise be entitled is irreparable harm,” his legal order read.
Media captionPresident Trump wants to move away from an immigration system that favours people with family ties to the US
Would-be immigrants had been struggling to establish how to get the required insurance coverage. The US healthcare system is complex, and has not generally catered to people yet to arrive there.
The policy is part of Mr Trump’s effort to shift the US away from a family-focused immigration system.
Judge Simon’s 28-day temporary restraining order will prevent the rule from coming into effect on 3 November, but the legal battle is likely to continue.
The Trump administration has argued that legal immigrants are about three times more likely to lack health insurance than US citizens, and that taxpayers should not bear their medical costs.
However, US policy experts say immigrants are less likely to use the healthcare system than American citizens.
Research from George Washington University found that recent immigrants without insurance made up less than a tenth of 1% of US medical fees in 2017.
Russia’s defence minister tells President Vladimir Putin that Moscow’s forces “have established full control over the city of Lysychansk” in Ukraine’s Luhansk region.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says his country is being “provoked”, claims Ukraine fired several missiles at military targets inside Belarus.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says “colossal investments” are needed to rebuild his war-torn country.
Ukrainian forces hit a Russian base with more than 30 strikes in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol without causing any casualties.
Here are all the latest updates:
12 mins ago (11:46 GMT)
‘Lysychansk capture is strategically significant if confirmed’
Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from Kyiv, said that if the capture of Lysychansk is confirmed, it would mean that the Russians have control of the whole of Luhansk region.
“Add that to the gains that the Russians already made in Donetsk, that means that the whole of the Donbas area would be under Russia’s control,” he said.
“That is strategically significant because that is where the Russians moved their military attention to after they failed to move into Kyiv in the early days of the war when they were beaten back from the capital.”
2 hours ago (10:02 GMT)
Russia’s defence minister reports capture of Lysychansk
Russia’s defence minister says Moscow’s forces have taken control of the last major Ukrainian-held city in Ukraine’s Luhansk province.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin that “as a result of successful military operations, the armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with units of the People’s Militia of the Luhansk People’s Republic, have established full control over the city of Lysychansk”, according to Russian news agencies.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu [File: Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP]
Ukrainian separatists backed by Russia say they had “completely” encircled the key city of Lysychansk in the eastern Luhansk region.
“Today the Luhansk popular militia and Russian forces occupied the last strategic heights, which allows us to confirm that Lysychansk is completely encircled,” Andrei Marotchko, a spokesman for the separatist forces, tells the TASS news agency.
The Ukrainian army, however, rejects the claims that Lysychansk has been surrounded, but says heavy fighting was ongoing on its edges.
“Fighting rages around Lysychansk. (But) luckily the city has not been encircled and is under control of the Ukrainian army,” Ruslan Muzytchuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian National Guard, says on Ukrainian television.
“The Russians are entrenching themselves in a district of Lysychansk, the city is on fire,” Sergei Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, adds on Telegram. “They attacked the city with inexplicably brutal tactics,” he says.
4 hours ago (08:18 GMT)
‘Some of Ukrainian missiles may have hit Belgorod’s residential area’
“We are trying to piece together exactly what happened through social media reports. Al Jazeera cannot confirm anything that either side is saying at this point,” said Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from Kyiv.
“What appears is that somewhere around 25 missiles were fired towards the airport which is a Russian base in Belgorod. It appears that some of those missiles may have hit a residential area. That’s certainly what the media is saying …” he said.
“This of course comes on the back of a Russian attack last week which hit a shopping centre and then on Friday we saw 21 people killed in Odesa and the Ukrainians were accusing the Russians of deliberately targeting residential areas.”
5 hours ago (06:29 GMT)
Ukraine hits Russian base in occupied Melitopol: Exiled mayor
Ukrainian forces have hit a Russian base with more than 30 strikes in the Russian-occupied southern city of Melitopol in the region of Zaporizhia, according to the city’s exiled Ukrainian mayor, Ivan Fedorov.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine do everything to return peaceful life and Ukrainian statehood to Melitopol. All the invaders can do is flee from our city,” he said in a video address published on his Facebook page.
Russia’s RIA news agency also reported that Ukraine had hit the area of Melitopol where the city’s airport is located.
It cited local Russian-appointed official Vladimir Rogov as saying that the Ukrainian strikes partially damaged houses in the airport area, without causing any casualties.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said “about 20 units of enemy equipment and two field ammunition depots were destroyed” in Melitopol.
7 hours ago (04:29 GMT)
At least three killed in Russia’s Belgorod: Official
At least three people have been killed and dozens of residential buildings damaged in the Russian city of Belgorod, according to the local governor.
Vyacheslav Gladkov said at least 11 apartment buildings and 39 private residential houses were destroyed.
Al Jazeera could not verify the claims independently.
8 hours ago (03:48 GMT)
US funds software for Russians to slip past censors
A US-backed campaign is giving Russians access to anti-censor software to dodge Moscow’s crackdown on dissent against its invasion of Ukraine, reports the AFP news agency.
Groups involved in the campaign told AFP that the US-backed Open Technology Fund is paying out money to a handful of American firms providing virtual private networks (VPNs) free of charge to millions of Russians, who can then use them to visit websites blocked by censors.
“Our tool is primarily used by people trying to access independent media, so that funding by the OTF has been absolutely critical,” said a spokesman for Lantern, one of the involved companies.
9 hours ago (03:16 GMT)
Explosions reported in Russian city of Belgorod
A Russian official says blasts in the city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine, resulted in a fire in a residential building.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, said three wounded people were taken to a hospital.
“Reasons for the incident are being investigated,” he said on the Telegram messaging app. “Presumably, the air defence system worked.”
8 hours ago (03:28 GMT)
Ukraine adviser concedes Lysychansk could fall
An adviser to Zelenskyy has conceded that the city of Lysychansk, Ukraine’s last big bastion in the eastern province of Luhansk, could fall to the Russians.
“This is indeed a threat. We shall see. I do not rule out any one of a number of outcomes here. Things will become much more clear within a day or two,” said Oleksiy Arestovych.
“If Lysychansk is taken, strategically it becomes more difficult for the Russians to continue their offensive. The front lines will be flatter and there will be a frontal attack rather than from the flanks.”
9 hours ago (02:32 GMT)
‘Colossal investments’ required to rebuild Ukraine, says Zelenskyy
The Ukrainian president has called for international aid to help rebuild his devastated country once the war is over, sounding a rare hopeful note after four months of brutal conflict.
“It is necessary not only to repair everything the occupiers have destroyed, but also to create a new foundation for our lives: safe, modern, comfortable, accessible,” he said in his night-time address.
This would require “colossal investments, billions, new technologies, best practices, new institutions and, of course, reforms,” he said. “No matter how difficult it is for us today, we must remember that there will be a tomorrow.”
10 hours ago (01:38 GMT)
Regulator urges Germans to prepare for possible gas shortage
Fearing Russia might cut off natural gas supplies, the head of Germany’s regulatory agency for energy has called on residents to save energy and to prepare for winter, when use increases.
Federal Network Agency President Klaus Mueller urged house and apartment owners to have their gas boilers and radiators checked and adjusted to maximise their efficiency.
“Maintenance can reduce gas consumption by 10 percent to 15 percent,” he told Funke Mediengruppe, a German newspaper and magazine publisher.
12 hours ago (00:15 GMT)
Lukashenko says Ukraine fired missiles on Belarus
The Belarusian president says his army has shot down missiles fired into their territory from Ukraine and promised to respond “instantly” to any enemy attack.
“We are being provoked,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying by state news agency Belta.
President Trump has nominated federal appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Barrett testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.
“We have a violent crime crisis, quite frankly a gun crisis, in the city,” Christopher Geldart, the deputy mayor for public safety and justice, told residents last month at a meeting on Capitol Hill, where three people were fatally shot in separate attacks in October, including one on a sports field after a dispute at a flag football game.
“The notion that passing a tepid version of an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) bill—alone—is even close to getting the job done in addressing rampant gun violence in the U.S. is wrong and would be an ineffective cop out,” Schumer said in a statement.
He added that Democrats “are not going to settle for half-measures so Republicans can feel better and try to push the issue of gun violence off to the side.”
Schumer’s comments come as several Republican senators have floated passing legislation to provide incentives for states to pass red flag laws in response to last weekend’s mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas.
Red flag laws, as discussed by Republicans, would let family members petition for court orders to prevent dangerous individuals from being able to buy a gun. It would also let family members petition for court orders to have law enforcement temporarily remove a firearm.
“Even the strongest [extreme risk protection order] legislation won’t be fully effective without strong universal background checks. As long as the gun show and online sales loopholes exist, someone prohibited from possessing a gun under an ERPO law could still purchase a firearm far too easily,” Schumer said in a statement.
The House passed its background check bill earlier this year with only eight Republicans voting for it. The Senate companion bill has 42 backers, none of whom are Republicans, leaving it well short of the 60 votes needed to pass the chamber and head to Trump’s desk. The White House has threatened to veto the bill.
But Schumer added that Democrats would try to force a vote on the House bill if Republicans bring red flag legislation to the Senate floor.
“Democrats in the Senate will seek to require that any ERPO bill that comes to the floor is accompanied by a vote on the House-passed universal background checks legislation,” he said.
The local district attorney blocked police from making arrests immediately after the Feb. 23 shooting death of unarmed jogger Ahmaud Arbery, two county commissioners said Friday — with one accusing the two of being in cohoots because they were friends.
Cops at the scene of the Georgia shooting had believed they had probable cause to make arrests, Glynn County Commissioner Peter Murphy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — but were told to stand down by the DA’s office.
“They spoke to an assistant, who relayed their request to [Glynn County District Attorney] Jackie Johnson,” Murphy told the paper of the cops at the scene.
“They were told not to make the arrest.”
“She shut them down to protect her friend McMichael,” a second county commissioner, Allen Booker, told the paper.
Johnson had recused herself from the case entirely a few days after the shooting, Booker said.
Travis McMichael, 34, and his father, Greg, 64, were arrested Thursday, more than two months after Arbery was shot.
The father is a former cop who had worked as an investigator for the DA’s office, the paper reported earlier Friday. He had helped prosecute Arbery in the past, when he was in high school, on a weapons charge.
Johnson’s office did not respond to the Journal-Constitution’s request for comment on Murphy’s account.
Arbery’s 26th birthday would have been today.
“I saw the tape and it’s very, very disturbing,” President Trump said Friday of a video that emerged Tuesday showing the pair scuffling with the unarmed Arbery before he is shot and falls to the ground.
Ahmaud Arbery
VIA REUTERS
Glynn County DA Jackie Johnson
Glynn County
A memorial at the spot where Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed in Brunswick, Georgia.
For instance, in discussing cooperation agreements with Central American countries to stop illegal immigration, he had this to say: “We have great agreements where when Biden and Obama used to bring killers out, they would say don’t bring them back to our country, we don’t want them. Well, we have to, we don’t want them. They wouldn’t take them. Now with us, they take them. Someday, I’ll tell you why. Someday, I’ll tell you why. But they take them and they take them very gladly. They used to bring them out and they wouldn’t even let the airplanes land if they brought them back by airplanes. They wouldn’t let the buses into their country. They said we don’t want them. Said no, but they entered our country illegally and they’re murderers, they’re killers in some cases.”
At another point, he took a jab at Mr. Biden’s mental acuity. “Let him define the word carbon, because he won’t be able to,” Mr. Trump said. That has been a theme of his lately, unsubtly implying that Mr. Biden has grown senile. Just last week, Mr. Trump, 74, boasted that he had recently taken a cognitive test and “aced it,” while insisting that Mr. Biden, 77, “couldn’t pass” such an exam.
The disjointed monologue, however, may not have been the most convincing evidence. On Twitter, his critics quickly compared him to a grandfather who had broken into the sherry cabinet. “Trump is a truly sick individual,” wrote Jon Favreau, who was President Barack Obama’s chief speechwriter. Rick Wilson, a founder of the Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans, called it “rambling verbal dysentery.”
They’ll also be eligible to get the vaccine in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced Thursday that the state will drop its residency requirement for vaccine appointments beginning April 19, meaning that people who live in neighboring states — or literally “anywhere” — will be allowed to come over the border for a shot.
The change comes after Sununu faced criticism for prohibiting out-of-state college students from getting the vaccine in New Hampshire. However, the Republican governor now says that New Hampshire — which is currently leading all states in vaccine supply used and first doses administered per capita — expects to have enough supply for out-of-state college students, vacation home owners, and just about anyone willing to make a trip to the Granite State.
“We are incredibly proud of the fact that our success allows the state to offer the vaccine to any person from anywhere beginning on April 19,” Sununu said in a statement to Boston.com. “New Hampshire is getting the job done.”
According to Sununu’s office, individuals must register on the state’s vaccine website to book an appointment. And out-of-staters will have to wait until April 19 to do so; the registration currently requires a New Hampshire address, and a spokesman for Sununu says that won’t change until eligibility officially expands on April 19.
The move comes after New Hampshire opened vaccine eligibility to its own residents over the age of 16 on April 2. As of Thursday, officials said 60 percent of the state’s eligible population has either been vaccinated or has scheduled an appointment. Just over 45 percent have gotten at least one shot, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.
President Joe Biden recently set April 19 as the date all states should make the vaccine available to its residents over the age of 16. It’s also the date that Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont had set to fully expand eligibility. However, officials in Massachusetts and across the country have cautioned that it may take several weeks for residents to book an appointment due to high demand.
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Grace Oria|ÚN.-El Presidente de la República, Nicolás Maduro, destacó que la “nueva inquisición imperialista” se basa en un “bloqueo financiero” a Venezuela.
Destacó que una jugada de la “inquisición” es el comunicado del banco estadounidense CitiBank, que avisó que cerrará en 30 días las cuentas del Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) y el Banco de Venezuela.
“Hoy recibimos la comunicación del CitiBank, banco estadounidense, con el cual pagamos en 24 horas todas las cuentas que necesita pagar el país para las transacciones en el país y en el mundo, y el Citibank, sin aviso y sin protesto, dice que en 30 le va a cerrar la cuenta al BCV y el Banco de Venezuela”, destacó Maduro, durante un Consejo de Ministros.
Manifestó que el cierra de la empresa estadounidense Kimberly Clark fue una “orden imperial”. Agradeció al ministro de Trabajo, Oswaldo Vera, la celeridad para reactivar la empresa y no dejar indefensos a los trabajadores.
“A Venezuela no la detiene nadie, con CitiBank o sin CitiBank nosotros vamos, con Kimberly Clark o sin Kimberly Clark, también”, expresó Maduro.
Manifestó que la misma “inquisición” que persiguió a Francisco de Miranda acosa actualmente a Venezuela, pero con nuevos rostros. Criticó el hecho que el presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, donde vaya habla mal de Venezuela.
“Atiendan sus problemas que son muy graves y dejen de meterse con Venezuela, con nuestra dignidad”, expresó Maduro.
HOUSTON — A 32-year-old U.S. citizen has died after being arrested by Border Patrol agents in South Texas, the U.S. government said Wednesday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not identify the man in a statement issued Wednesday, but alleged that he was a suspect in a human smuggling incident. The man was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday by agents assigned to the Border Patrol station in Brackettville, about 30 miles east of the border with Mexico.
CBP said the man “began exhibiting signs of distress” at about 6 p.m., while he was being processed in Brackettville. Agents trained as emergency medical technicians “immediately administered first aid” and eventually called local emergency services, CBP said. The man was taken to the hospital at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday and pronounced dead at 9:37 p.m.
The Border Patrol does not ordinarily detain U.S. citizens, but it routinely arrests Americans accused of trying to smuggle immigrants who have crossed the border illegally. Those arrested can be charged with a felony in federal court.
The agency did not immediately provide the circumstances of the man’s arrest or the allegations against him.
Fox News correspondent David Spunt joins ‘Special Report’ with more from the Justice Department.
Disturbing video from Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol shows what appears to be a Capitol Police officer being crushed between a riot shield and a metal door as a mob of rioters force their way into the building.
The young officer, who is bloodied at the mouth, screams in pain and cries for help.
The unidentified officer’s medical condition following the incident was not immediately known.
The rioters, armed with pipes and pepper spray, shoved and kicked officers – even using their own shields against the Capitol force — to push their way through the front entrance.
Capitol Police officers in riot gear push back as demonstrators try to break a door of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (Associated Press)
In the chaotic video, rioters shout “Heave ho!” as they use a riot shield to break through the door. One of the protesters appears to spray a chemical irritant toward the officers and another person can be heard shouting “Grab their g—-mn shield!”
Another Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died in a hospital Thursday of injuries suffered during the riot and a female rioter from California was fatally shot. Three other people died of medical emergencies before or during the riot, police have said.
Only a few dozen officers were stationed at the building’s entrance when the group marched down the National Mall intent on storming the Capitol the same day lawmakers were certifying the Electoral College results.
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