Keith Raniere Files Motion Requesting New Trial After Discovery of Alleged Illegal Evidence Tampering Critical to Conviction

NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Digital Strategy Ltd
Brian Glicklich, 818-867-9096 or Brian@digitalstrategyltd.com

Former FBI Special Agent & Senior Forensic uncovers evidence tampering leading to the filing of this motion

NEW YORK May 3, 2022— A motion seeking a new trial for Keith Raniere presents evidence of tampering with a hard drive and CF card and the digital photographs found on them. Three experts reviewed the evidence and conclude that “the most reasonable explanation for the plethora of anomalies on the WD HDD and the CF card – which all support the government’s narrative – is that the government, acting with malfeasance, tampered with the evidence – destroying, constructing, and altering it.”

The motion states, “In its prosecution of Keith Raniere, the government manufactured child pornography and planted it on a computer hard drive to tie it to him. Additionally, the government falsified, fabricated, and manipulated all the key evidence it used to convict Mr. Raniere of the most heinous crimes he was charged with, that is, possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child.”

The plain evidence of tampering, in this case, is established by the findings of Dr. J. Richard Kiper, Ph.D., a retired FBI Special Agent of 20 years who served as a case agent, a supervisor, a computer forensic examiner, a Unit Chief of the FBI Academy in Quantico, a whistleblower who was lauded by the United States Senate and who was the “raison d’etre” of the FBI Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2016. Dr. Kiper found that the evidence tampering at issue “definitely took place while the devices alleged to contain child pornography were in the custody of the FBI. Therefore, in the absence of any other plausible explanation, it is Dr. Kiper’s expert opinion that the FBI must have been involved in such evidence tampering.” 

Keith Raniere’s lawyer, Joseph M. Tully said of this motion, “This new evidence must be shown to a jury, as it provides extremely disturbing proof of FBI tampering. This conclusion was reached by multiple independent experts with decades of experience. The government should support this motion and a full airing of these issues.”

Eduardo Asúnsolo, a supporter of Raniere and one of the co-founders of Make Justice Blind, a criminal justice reform organization, said, “Everyone in America is entitled to due process. When there is proven government corruption, it cannot be seen as a fair trial.”

Some of the experts’ key findings alleged in the motion include:

• Two FBI agents “broke protocol and checked the camera and CF card out of Evidence Control twice, for a total of 24 days.”

• “The backup folder [on the WD HDD] containing the alleged contraband has all the hallmarks of fraud…” with dates and folder names being “manually altered to look autogenerated in a manner that comported with the government’s narrative.”

• “While in FBI custody, the CF card was accessed improperly, without authorization, and was altered. It was undoubtedly tampered with, as the thumbnails of a brunette impossibly became thumbnails of a blonde.”

Raniere is currently serving a 120-year sentence in federal prison. The case is 20-3520 -3789 in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The Rule 33 motion is available at https://www.scribd.com/document/572676968/Keith-Raniere-Rule-33-Motion-for-New-Trial-Based-on-Government-Criminal-Tampering.