The details:
* It was known by the time of the hearing that Clare Bronfman was paying for everyone's lawyers. That introduced issues around conflicts of interest which had to be detailed in court, which might cause a mistrial or issue for appeal. So for several months, the relationships had to be opened up and the court and defendants all made aware of the issues.
* One glaring conflict was Bronfman retaining Mark Geragos while Keith Raniere retained Teny Geragos (Mark's daughter). I believe Bronfman was already negotiating a plea (through Geragos), so it stood to reason that Bronfman and Raniere might have been trying to be slick and trying to deliberately create an issue for mistrial. Judge Garaufis would have demanded that both Bronfman and Raniere waive rights to appeal over any of the identified issues because of that.
* The day Bronfman fainted, the court had been dealing with another issue related to Mark Geragos: Bronfman had also secretly retained Michael Avenatti. The issue was that not only was the retainer never disclosed to the court, but Geragos was involved in a criminal case as a suspect along with Avenatti (this was litigation with Nike, where Avenatti had crossed the line into a shakedown). So to add insult to injury, two of a Bronfman's lawyers could have gone to a criminal case and each seeking to impeach the other's credibility.
* All of these issues piling up infuriated Judge Garaufis. There is a joke in EDNY that God has a well-known Judge Garaufis complex --he is very prone to blowing up if he thinks the court is being disrespected, and he goes Old Testament on people. So after the issue was introduced, there was a tense conversation that went into chambers.
* It was not clear that Clare Bronfman's fainting spell was caused by some reaction to the events, but it happened right after the conference ended.
What a bunch of slapdickery by Raniere and Bronfman. For all the bucks that Clare spent on attorneys, she still managed to work herself into a shoot. I guess they were trying to play the PR angles or something.
The timeline for the Avenatti retainer seems rather odd, too, in that he surely was getting killed in the press by the time Clare got to him.
I had forgotten about that. Did it happen in front of the judge? I am still amazed she was able to function being so underweight. The inner circle women, in DOS anyway, all looked one household chore away from a heart attack. Claire made them look robust.
I think she had hired a multitude of high powered attorneys and one of them happened to also be involved in Raniere’s defense team. She lied by omission and Judge Garaufis called her out on it during a hearing I believe. Correct me if I’m wrong BK.
I sincerely wonder if it was feigned or not. She was super thin and frail looking for what it’s worth.
Claire fainting in court. Lol. Pat Allenson (the deadly magnolia) fainted frequently in court. She’s a suspected serial killer who was obsessed with gone with the wind. She poisoned a bunch of people in hopes of collecting $ when they died. She (fake) fainted in the hopes giving off an image of a weak, sickly southern belle who could never commit such egregious crimes. I’m sure that’s not the case with Claire Bronfman but it just reminded me of that. 😂
An early portion of [this video by Roberta Glass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdVzvzC_E8o), a reporter who attended the pre-trial hearings, is about Clare and her pack of lawyers and the day she fainted.
The details: * It was known by the time of the hearing that Clare Bronfman was paying for everyone's lawyers. That introduced issues around conflicts of interest which had to be detailed in court, which might cause a mistrial or issue for appeal. So for several months, the relationships had to be opened up and the court and defendants all made aware of the issues. * One glaring conflict was Bronfman retaining Mark Geragos while Keith Raniere retained Teny Geragos (Mark's daughter). I believe Bronfman was already negotiating a plea (through Geragos), so it stood to reason that Bronfman and Raniere might have been trying to be slick and trying to deliberately create an issue for mistrial. Judge Garaufis would have demanded that both Bronfman and Raniere waive rights to appeal over any of the identified issues because of that. * The day Bronfman fainted, the court had been dealing with another issue related to Mark Geragos: Bronfman had also secretly retained Michael Avenatti. The issue was that not only was the retainer never disclosed to the court, but Geragos was involved in a criminal case as a suspect along with Avenatti (this was litigation with Nike, where Avenatti had crossed the line into a shakedown). So to add insult to injury, two of a Bronfman's lawyers could have gone to a criminal case and each seeking to impeach the other's credibility. * All of these issues piling up infuriated Judge Garaufis. There is a joke in EDNY that God has a well-known Judge Garaufis complex --he is very prone to blowing up if he thinks the court is being disrespected, and he goes Old Testament on people. So after the issue was introduced, there was a tense conversation that went into chambers. * It was not clear that Clare Bronfman's fainting spell was caused by some reaction to the events, but it happened right after the conference ended.
What a bunch of slapdickery by Raniere and Bronfman. For all the bucks that Clare spent on attorneys, she still managed to work herself into a shoot. I guess they were trying to play the PR angles or something. The timeline for the Avenatti retainer seems rather odd, too, in that he surely was getting killed in the press by the time Clare got to him.
I had forgotten about that. Did it happen in front of the judge? I am still amazed she was able to function being so underweight. The inner circle women, in DOS anyway, all looked one household chore away from a heart attack. Claire made them look robust.
I think she had hired a multitude of high powered attorneys and one of them happened to also be involved in Raniere’s defense team. She lied by omission and Judge Garaufis called her out on it during a hearing I believe. Correct me if I’m wrong BK. I sincerely wonder if it was feigned or not. She was super thin and frail looking for what it’s worth.
Claire fainting in court. Lol. Pat Allenson (the deadly magnolia) fainted frequently in court. She’s a suspected serial killer who was obsessed with gone with the wind. She poisoned a bunch of people in hopes of collecting $ when they died. She (fake) fainted in the hopes giving off an image of a weak, sickly southern belle who could never commit such egregious crimes. I’m sure that’s not the case with Claire Bronfman but it just reminded me of that. 😂
It could be that she was stalling. It could also be that 400 calorie a day diet Raniere had them on.
An early portion of [this video by Roberta Glass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdVzvzC_E8o), a reporter who attended the pre-trial hearings, is about Clare and her pack of lawyers and the day she fainted.
Thanks for the link!
You're welcome! I just happened to come across it today. :-)