Attorneys for Keith Raniere, the former leader of the cult-like NXIVM group, want a new federal judge to consider a motion for new trial filed last week that argues federal authorities framed Raniere by planting child pornography on a computer hard drive. Raniere's lawyers take aim at U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in new court papers, alleging he showed a “lack of judicial temperament” and “deep-seated, unequivocal hostility” for Raniere throughout the proceedings that landed the disgraced self-improvement guru in federal prison for 120 years for a sex-trafficking conspiracy.
An attorney for the NXIVM honcho Keith Raniere asked Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis to take himself off the case Friday, alleging the judge’s “personal feelings” made him biased against Raniere.