Editing NXIVM (section)

==== 2008–2010 ====
In 2008, the Bronfman sisters allegedly pressured Stephen Herbits, a confidant of their father, to ask [[Albany County, New York|Albany County]] [[District Attorney]] David Soares, [[Governor of New York|New York Governor]] [[Eliot Spitzer]], and [[Attorney General of New Jersey|New Jersey Attorney General]] [[Anne Milgram]] to begin criminal investigations into NXIVM's critics. NXIVM reportedly kept dossiers on Soares, Spitzer, political consultants [[Roger Stone]] and [[Steve Pigeon]], U.S. Senator [[Chuck Schumer]], and Albany ''[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]]'' publisher [[George Randolph Hearst III]] in a box in the basement of Nancy Salzman's home.<ref>{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Gavin |title=NXIVM's files on 'enemies' debated in court
|url=https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/NXIVM-s-files-on-enemies-debated-in-court-13844301.php
|date=May 14, 2019|access-date=January 22, 2022|newspaper=Times Union}}</ref><ref>Gavin, Robert (May 16, 2019). [https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/NXIVM-13851004.php "Witness: Bronfmans tried to apply political pressure"]. ''Times Union''.</ref> According to the ''Times Union'', NXIVM "developed a reputation for aggressively pursuing critics and defectors who broke from its ranks, including using litigation to punish critics of Raniere, the organization, or its training methods."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/FBI-shifts-mountain-of-data-in-NXIVM-s-seized-13254160.php |title=FBI shifts mountain of data in NXIVM's seized computers |first=Brendan J. |last=Lyons |date=September 24, 2018 |website=Times Union}}</ref>

The World Ethical Foundations Consortium, an organization co-founded by Raniere and the Bronfman sisters, sponsored a visit to Albany by the [[14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]] in 2009. The visit was initially canceled by the Dalai Lama owing to negative press about NXIVM,<ref>{{cite news |last=Ettkin |first=Brian |date=April 6, 2009 |url=http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Dalai-Lama-cancels-his-visit-to-Albany-118447.php |title=Dalai Lama Cancels His Visit to Albany |work=[[The News-Times]] |access-date=November 2, 2011}}</ref> but was rescheduled; the Dalai Lama spoke at the Hart Theater at [[The Egg, Albany|the Egg]] in Albany in May 2009.<ref>{{cite web |last=Caprood |first=Tom |date=May 7, 2009 |url=https://www.troyrecord.com/article/TR/20090507/NEWS/305079979 |title=Dalai Lama fills Palace with message of compassion |work=Troy Record |access-date=February 10, 2018}}</ref> The Bronfman sisters announced at the talk that they were broke and could not pay him.  He said that he gives talks to spread dharma, not for money.{{cn|date=November 2025}} In 2017, [[Lama]] Tenzin Dhonden, the self-styled "Personal Emissary for Peace for the Dalai Lama" who had arranged the appearance, was suspended from his position amid corruption charges; the investigation also revealed a personal relationship between Dhonden and Sara Bronfman, which began in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Suspended Lama Tenzin Dhonden Had A Lover Too! |url=https://www.tibetanjournal.com/suspended-lama-tenzin-lover/ |work=Tibetan Journal |date=November 1, 2017 |access-date=August 13, 2018}}</ref>

NXIVM has been described as a [[pyramid scheme]],<ref name="TimesUnion20171113">{{cite web |last=Odato |first=James |title=Lawyer attacks NXIVM 'scheme' |url=http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Lawyer-attacks-NXIVM-scheme-1032548.php |website=TimesUnion.com |date=February 27, 2011 |publisher=The Hearst Corporation |access-date=November 13, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Slate201803">{{cite web |title=The Only (Alleged) Sex-Slave Cult Story You Need to Understand: Kirsten Gillibrand's Weakness as a 2020 Candidate |website=Slate |date=March 28, 2018 |access-date=May 18, 2018 |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/kirsten-gillibrand-alleged-sex-slavery-and-the-2020-primary.html}}</ref><ref name="NYT18Oct">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/nyregion/nxivm-women-branded-albany.html?pagewanted=all |title=Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded |last=Meier |first=Barry |work=The New York Times|date=October 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207013003/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/nyregion/nxivm-women-branded-albany.html?pagewanted=all|archive-date=December 7, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Newsweek20180328"/> a sex-trafficking operation,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47563045 |title=Associate pleads guilty in 'sex cult' case |date=March 13, 2019 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> a cult,<ref name="TheNation20141118">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/190881/how-strange-secretive-cult-company-waging-legal-war-against-journalists |title=How a Strange, Secretive, Cult-like Company Is Waging Legal War Against Journalists |last=Cohan |first=William D. |date=November 18, 2014 |work=[[The Nation]] |access-date=May 27, 2015}}</ref><ref name = TUBronf>{{cite web |url=https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Bronfman-Russell-to-plead-guilty-in-NXIVM-case-13780718.php |title=Bronfman, Russell plead guilty in NXIVM case |date=April 19, 2019 |website=timesunion.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/members-alleged-sex-cult-nxivm-federal-court/story?id=60645426 |title=Members of alleged sex cult NXIVM appear in federal court |website=ABC News}}</ref> and a sex cult.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44946059 |title=Heiress among four arrested in 'sex cult' |date=July 25, 2018 |publisher=BBC |access-date=January 14, 2019}}</ref> In a 2010 ''Times Union'' article, former NXIVM coaches characterized students as "prey" for Raniere's sexual or gambling-related proclivities.<ref name="TimesUnion20101122">{{cite web |last=Odato |first=James |title=Ex-NXIVM trainer: Students are prey |url=http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Ex-NXIVM-trainer-Students-are-prey-824046.php |newspaper=[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]] |date=November 22, 2010}}</ref> Kristin Keeffe, a longtime partner of Raniere and mother of his child, left the group in 2014 and called Raniere "dangerous", saying, "All the worst things you know about NXIVM are true."<ref name="TimesUnion20140512">{{cite web |last=Odato |first=James |title=A split from NXIVM |url=http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/A-split-from-NXIVM-5468731.php |location=Albany, New York |newspaper=[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]] |date=May 12, 2014}}</ref>