MAGA Pushes Trump to Pardon ‘Sex Cult’ Leader Convicted of Forced Labor

The MAGA crowd is throwing its weight behind a shocking cause: securing a pardon for Nicole Daedone, the disgraced founder of OneTaste, a “sex cult” whose leadership was convicted last year of running a forced labor and sex trafficking scheme. Daedone was sentenced to nine years in prison after a jury found that she and her top lieutenant coerced women into unpaid labor and sexual acts under the guise of “orgasmic meditation” classes.

This push to pardon Daedone is not a fringe effort. It involves some of Trump’s closest allies and longtime pardon fixers. Alan Dershowitz, notorious for defending Trump’s impeachment defense with legally dubious arguments, is reportedly lobbying behind the scenes. Dershowitz has a track record of leveraging his access to Trump for clemency deals, including for clients convicted of sex crimes.

Disgraced former Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Trump loyalist and outspoken advocate for pardon campaigns, has amplified the case on his far-right media platforms, framing Daedone’s conviction as a political witch hunt targeting Trump supporters. Other key figures include Roger Stone and Heritage Foundation’s Mike Howell, both entrenched in the Trump loyalist network pushing for clemency.

The campaign also involves Cynthia Hughes of the Patriot Freedom Project, a close associate of the current U.S. pardon attorney Ed Martin. Hughes previously championed pardons for January 6 insurrectionists, which Trump granted early in his post-presidential tenure. Now, she is applying the same pressure to free Daedone.

Federal prosecutors described OneTaste’s operation as a manipulative scheme that trapped women in debt and forced them into sexual servitude, all while withholding wages. Breon Peace, then-U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, condemned the defendants for exploiting “empowerment and wellness” rhetoric to mask their abuses.

This pardon push reveals a deeper rot within the Trump pardon machine. Under Trump, pardons have become a currency of loyalty and bribery rather than justice or reform. The MAGA movement’s readiness to defend a convicted sex cult leader exposes their hypocrisy, especially given their supposed stance as “victims’ advocates.”

Adding insult to injury, this effort unfolds as the Trump administration continues to stonewall transparency around the Jeffrey Epstein files, fueling public outrage and skepticism about their true priorities. Whether or not Trump ultimately pardons Daedone, the campaign lays bare how easily the former president is manipulated by his inner circle and how pardon power is weaponized to protect the corrupt and criminal.

This story is a stark reminder: Trump’s pardon pen is not a tool for justice—it is a shield for the worst abuses of power, and the MAGA base is complicit in this corruption.