Susan Dones and Kim Woolhouse NXIVM trial over

FORCES OF DARKNESS GATHER IN TACOMA, WA

As summer comes to an end and we make the transition to fall, there is no change whatsoever in NXIVM’s never ending strategy of harassing and torturing their enemies via the legal system (NXIVM actually continued to sue one poor soul even after he died). And so it is that on a bright, sunny morning earlier this week in Tacoma, WA, the head of NXIVM’s legal beagles, Bob Crockett (a/k/a “The Mad’ Mormon”), was there to berate two more innocent parties who have incurred the wrath of NXIVM’s leader, Keith Raniere: Susan Dones and Kim Woolhouse.

For those of you who have not been following this sad little tale – and for those who have trouble remembering all of the characters who are involved in NXIVM’s multiple lawsuits – let me give you a quick summary of the events that led up to this latest legal atrocity:

- For almost a decade, these two women worked their asses off trying to build up NXIVM’s business in the area around Tacoma, WA. Investing their own money and an enormous amount of time and effort, they created the company’s first free-standing NXIVM Center.

- Tucked away almost 3,000 miles from Albany, Dones and Woolhouse went about their business without any awareness of the controversies and issues that were beginning to build around NXIVM. And when they did hear about some of those matters, Raniere and his ever faithful minions were quick to offer up what turned out to be totally bogus explanations.

- But as their doubts began to grow about some of the “explanations” they were being spoon-fed NXIVM, the two women began to talk to other members who had also grown suspicious about the cult’s operations and its leaders. And the more they compared notes with these other members, the more that Dones and Woolhouse realized that they had been lied to and duped.

- Finally, in April 2009, Dones and Woolhouse (along with several other female members of NXIVM) decided to confront Raniere about some of his personal failings: his loss of excessive amounts of NXIVM members’ money in the commodities markets; his sexual exploitation of numerous female members of NXIVM; the multiple lawsuits that the company had gotten involved in; his track record as an admitted Ponzi schemer; etc. This resulted in the now infamous “3 Days of Enlightenment” where Raniere alternately dodged the women’s questions – and leveled some not so subtle threats about having had people killed for his beliefs.

- So, along with 7 other women, Dones and Woolhouse resigned from NXIVM and made plans to move on with their lives. But even though they were done with NXIVM, NXIVM wasn’t done with them.

- Fast forward a couple of years, and Dones and Woolhouse are now trying to fend off NXIVM’s attempts to short-circuit their bankruptcy cases – and to resume some type of normal lifestyle.

In a 2-day trial that concluded yesterday afternoon, NXIVM laid out all of its claims against Dones and Woolhouse – which, when all is said and done, amounted to (a) their alleged violation of NXIVM’s infamous “confidentiality agreement”; (b) their alleged failure to return all of NXIVM’s documents and records to the cult; and (c) Dones’ alleged failure to include her potential claims against NXIVM on her bankruptcy filings. But along the way, NXIVM decided to drop all of its claims for monetary damages against the two women and to only seek injunctive relief. That’s because Dones and Woolhouse had the brilliant idea to ask NXIVM to produce documents and records to prove its claimed financial damages – something which NXIVM will never do because that would establish a reason for the Feds (and several States) to go after NXIVM for tax evasion, money laundering, illegal immigration activities, etc.

Over the course of the past year, NXIVM has employed 4 different law firms and more than half a dozen attorneys to bury Dones and Woolhouse in a mountain of legal bullshit and rhetoric (Dones and Woolhouse are representing themselves in this epic David vs. Goliath battle). This has included three self-proclaimed “prominent members” of Albany’s legal community: Steve “I-Used-To-Be-The-Man” Coffey; Pam “Lipo” Nichols; and Richard “What-The-Fuck-Am-I-Doing-Here” Weiskopf; two of the largest law firms in the State of Washington; and, of course, the Stormin’ Mormon.

In the days leading up to the trial, there was a flurry of legal filings as NXIVM sought to take the depositions of several women who have nothing to do with the bankruptcy cases – and to introduce some “recently discovered” emails that it had never turned over to Dones and Woolhouse (As it turns out, these emails were apparently turned over to the cult by a guy named Jack Goldenberg, who just happens to be the head of the company that purchased Joe OHara’s old company – and who has been trying to stop OHara from talking to the labor departments in several states about the company’s recently illegal labor practices. More on that story later). That led to all of these filings in the last couple of weeks:

HERE

HERE

HERE

At the end of the trial, the presiding judge announced that he will issue his opinion on October 21st . Which means that Dones and Woolhouse get to dangle in the wind for another month before they find out if they get on with their lives.

And to those innocents dragged into this I can only offer.

Till next time goodnight