Vicente continues on direct examination. The first part of his testimony on this day outlines the immunity agreement he has with the government for his testimony. Then they move onto 2008 when Barbara Bouchey, Susan Dones, and others left NXIVM. In total 9 people left.
Vicente says Raniere’s excuse for the 9 who left was that they were engaged in criminal activities and dubbed them as suppressives. Vicente says he was asked to contact law enforcement regarding those who left.
Vicente says he was promoted soon after and asked to join the new executive board. Says loyalty was extremely important to Raneire. Says the structure was Raniere at the top, then Nancy Salzman, then the executive board.
Vicente clarifies that NXIVM and ESP are terms used interchangeably. Says the executive board met weekly either in person or on the phone. Says Raniere was the ultimate authority. Also mentions there was an inner circle of sorts.
Vicente says seeking Raniere’s approval was also important. He names off several people in Raniere’s “trusted group.” Says his promotion allowed him the opportunity to help open the Vancouver Center.
Prosecution shows Vicente a photo of Sarah and he confirms it. Vicente says some people in leadership within NXIVM were “not to be trusted.” He says this seemed to change often.
Vicente now testifies about Kathy Russell, another NXIVM defendant who has previously plead guilty to her role and is known as the bookkeeper. Also says Clare Bronfman had access to Raniere.
Vicente describes one-on-one time with Raniere as taking lots of walks. Says those within the trusted group were treated with a lot of respect within NXIVM. Says Raniere was ultimate decision maker.
Vicente describes one time when it was suggested lower ranking EMs should be paid and Raniere said no. Says he also approved life decisions outside of NXIVM. This included traveling, etc. Vicente mentions Nicki Clyne.
Vicente says there were public efforts to protect NXIVM. Says he even mentioned Raniere once in a TED Talk. Vicente says enrolling high profile people would also earn favor with Raniere. Says he enrolled movie stars and filmmakers.
Vicente says other high ranking NXIVM members would do the same. Says they would enroll “high net worth individuals” and “people with a lot of political clout.” The prosecution now asking again about how money was made by people within NXIVM.
Vicente says money was exchanged in an online system, but cash was the only option from Mexico and it was brought to Albany. Vicente says the term TLL was code for cash within NXIVM. Says he thinks it was someone’s initials but wasn’t sure the significance.
Vicente says he traveled by plane for NXIVM, often in and out of JFK after taking the train to/from Albany. Vicente describes communication within NXIVM, says often by apps like WhatsApp and Telegram.
Now Vicente testifying about “ethical breaches” within NXIVM. Says it was generally unclear what the nature of the breaches were. Says he never knew anyone to recover from this. Says many people were accused of pride.
Says this would happen if they weren’t giving tribute. Vicente says this happened to him several times. Says the exec board would say he had “and inability to recognize …the greatness of Raniere.”
Vicente says there were consequences like a stall on the stripe path or dock in pay for being prideful. Describes “penance” as a consequence of pain you would take upon yourself. Eventually this evolved into someone else doing penance for your failures.
Vicente says feedback was also used, and required to advance in NXIVM. Says all feedback was considered true. Vicente says it was “strictly forbidden” for NXIVM members to talk with nonmembers about issues. Describes again Barbara Bouchey as a person who was shunned.
Vicente mentions others who were being shunned. Says “I am currently still being shunned. Now we move onto a question about NXIVM attempting to acquire political power.
Vicente says there were attempts to curry favor with the Clintons. Also says Senator Joe Bruno was also at one meeting. Says there was a fundraising attempt to make a campaign contribution to the Clintons.
Says this happened because Clare Bronfman wanted to make a donation but couldn’t make it over a certain amount in her name. Says it was made in someone else’s name then repaid. Says total number was around $30K.
Vicente says there were several lawsuits against journalists and newspapers. Mentions Vanity Fair and former TU reporter Jim Odato. Vicente says there were explanations in NXIVM saying these people had done something criminal. Names Susan Dones, Toni Natalie, Barbara Bouchey.
Vicente recalls making videos of V Week, tribute videos. Also talks about a video he was asked to remove from Facebook. Then he was asked to re-edit without a certain person in it. He did, and it was reposted.
He talks about Society of Protectors, readiness drills, and the fact that it was a men’s empowerment group. Says there were weekend trainings at New Karner Road NXIVM location.
This is where the mid-morning break happens. Will tweet more later. Once I've read through the whole day I'll post a PDF of my notes to FB.
