Outside the Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, Defense Council Jennifer Bonjean spoke to press about her client’s case. Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz are charged with an alleged single-count conspiracy of forced labor for their leadership roles at the company OneTaste, which teaches Orgasmic Meditation.
After a hearing before US District Judge Diane Gujarati on Wednesday, Bonjean answered questions from the journalists from the New York Post, Law360, and the Daily Mail who had attended the hearing.
Bonjean highlighted FBI agent misconduct discussed in the courtroom, which she noted would be especially relevant for the new administration, given the recent interest in DOJ and FBI reform.
Jennifer Bonjean: We think that if the Department of Justice looks at this case closely, and we hope they are, that this is exactly the type of case where you have extraordinary FBI misconduct. And I don’t say that lightly, but this is the case. This is, you know, this is the case that they should be looking at, and particularly on this specific administration that seems to have such interest in looking at what the FBI has done systemically. This is the case right here. So yes, we hope they will, and we hope that it will result in the right result, which is dismissal.
Reporter: Clarify who you are calling to be prosecuted, or at least investigated because there was that exchange at the end of the hearing today that seemed tense. So who do you believe should be investigated and or prosecuted as a result of the alleged misconduct?
Jennifer Bonjean: So agent Elliot McGinnis, who was the lead FBI investigator in this case, we believe and have shown and demonstrated to the court and it is on the public record that he is engaged in a series of misconduct, not just as it relates to these journals. This is the same FBI agent who obtained attorney client privilege materials and created an investigation around it. It’s the same agent who instructed Ayries Blanck or suggested, directed her to delete an entire email account that had exculpatory material in it. It’s the same FBI agent that told witnesses, hey, send me this discovery in this civil case, so you don’t have to produce it there. Okay, is the same agent, who, and I’m not going to name names here, who tried to convince people that they were victims when they said, I’m not a victim. That’s not what happened. You have it all wrong. And like, you know what you need, you need to speak to some witness. Some some expert is gonna persuade you you’re a victim. There is a range of misconduct. Oh, and we also know, and I will say this is an important piece the media should be covering is that some of these witnesses are getting paid. And I don’t say that lightly, they get it through alleged restitution. At least one, maybe more, have already been paid $30,000 allegedly for reimbursement for therapy. That’s a lot of money. That’s a lot of money, and this is paid by New York State victim services, but through the apparatus of the federal government.
And what I said to the judge today, when she, in that tense, she thought that maybe my language was too harsh, but I don’t take that lightly, I would not accuse the prosecutor, or even at the law enforcement of misconduct unless I had the goods. And as for McGinnis, we have the goods, there is a record, and yes, absolutely, it should be investigated for criminal misconduct. If this is what he did, I’m sorry there isn’t an exception, FBI agent exception to obstruction of justice. The government has said they’re not going to call him [as a witness, but], we’re going to call him. We’re going to call him. But in what case does the government say, hey, we’re not going to call our lead agent. I know what case.
View the complete interview below:
