A company in San Francisco that prosecutors likened to a sex cult has embarked on a campaign to court allies of President Trump as it seeks pardons for its two convicted leaders, CBS News has learned through interviews and records.

OneTaste, a self-described "orgasmic meditation" company, is on the hunt for clemency for its former CEO and founder Nicole Daedone and former head of sales Rachel Cherwitz. In late March, a federal judge sentenced the two women to prison — nine years for Daedone and over six for Cherwitz — after their conviction in 2025 for forced labor conspiracy.

OneTaste has taken the traditional step of submitting pardon applications to the Justice Department for Daedone and Cherwitz, according to federal records.

But it is also adopting some of the elaborate back-channel protocols of a new, less-formal pardon process during Mr. Trump's second term. The undertaking involves efforts to win support from allies of the president by approaching attorneys, political operatives, media figures, and others in his orbit — all part of a playbook used by others to land clemency since last January.

Rachel Barkow, a law professor at New York University and expert on executive clemency, said OneTaste's efforts to make outreach to MAGA allies and influencers shows how pardon-seekers increasingly navigate informal channels to get the president's attention.

"It's of a magnitude that I've never seen before," Barkow told CBS News. "We don't seem to have a functioning clemency process for everyone else who doesn't have these connections."

3mo ago

Some of my baguettes

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 3mo ago

3mo ago

Superman fans is Clark and Lois in character here?

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 3mo ago

Spider-Man is not a thing in the DC Universe

There have been at least one official cross-over comic where Spider-Man goes into an alternate reality and meets Batman. IIRC the story was something like Spider-Man accidentally arrives in Gotham, batman thinks he is some new villain and fights him.

3mo ago

Permanently Deleted

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 3mo ago

I hate it when people just put a link and title and I have to get off Lemmy. Why not copy paste a few paragraphs??

Twenty-two Sri Lankan monks returning from Thailand were arrested on Sunday at the main international airport with a record 242 pounds of powerful cannabis, officials said.

A Sri Lanka Customs spokesman said the group, returning home after a four-day vacation in the Thai capital, had Kush -- a potent, plant-based strain of cannabis -- hidden in their luggage.

"Each carried about five kilos of the narcotic concealed within false walls in their luggage," the spokesman said, adding that the monks had been handed over to police.

They were to be taken before a magistrate later on Sunday.

The monks were mostly young students from temples across Sri Lanka and had been on a holiday sponsored by a businessman.

Customs officials said it was the largest single detection of Kush at the South Asian country's main international airport.

3mo ago

Trump says that he did not fall down while being evacuated from the WHCD. He says he was asked to get closer to the ground by agents

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 3mo ago

When accessing direct link, it said address not found. I was using Mullvad's extended DNS (DoH). It worked when I disabled it. I'm not sure why Mullvad is blocking it.

3mo ago

Trump says that he did not fall down while being evacuated from the WHCD. He says he was asked to get closer to the ground by agents

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 3mo ago

It's neither playing in voyager, nor in the browser, for me. Any mirrors?

3mo ago

Trump says that he did not fall down while being evacuated from the WHCD. He says he was asked to get closer to the ground by agents

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 3mo ago

Video isn't playing.

3mo ago

Docker Desktop on Linux?

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 3mo ago

A lot of people don't know that Docker Desktop is actually proprietary.

4mo ago

'He’s got to pay': Chaos as Republican caught pantless in town hall refuses to resign

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 4mo ago

The incident involving Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney and has outraged — and also amused — people in the town nicknamed Race City USA after its long history with NASCAR.

"The episode occurred in 2024 but is now bubbling up on multiple fronts," The Journal reported. "Three former town employees are suing Mooresville officials, alleging retaliation for their efforts to preserve the footage or investigate. Town commissioners passed a no-confidence vote this month urging Carney to quit. And a judge last week ordered the town to release video of the incident, a move the town forestalled by appealing Wednesday."

I couldn't find the video footage. Can someone link it?

4mo ago

How does this platform work?

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 4mo ago

The people are much nicer, here, in my experience.

4mo ago

Ahoy

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 4mo ago

Thanks for fixing it!

4mo ago

Permanently Deleted

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 4mo ago

4mo ago

Space Worms! UK scientists launch microscopic crew into orbit to support future Moon missions

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 4mo ago

Tldr?

4mo ago

In search for a new self-hosted LLM

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nutbutter @discuss.tchncs.de 4mo ago

Have you tried the new gemma4 models? The e4b fits in the 12gb memory and is pretty good. Or you can use 31b too, if you're okay with offloading to CPU.