In a deep dive into the woman who has helped spearhead the anti-lockdown protests in California, the San Diego Union-Tribune discovered someone who is currently under fire for controversial health clinics she runs in the state -- and who refused to say who bankrolled her movement.
Investigating the group "We Have Rights" that suddenly popped up after Governor Gavin Newsom shut down the state in an effort to deal with the growing COVID-19 health crisis, the UT noted, "The group, which popped up in just the last two weeks, has a professional-looking website and growing social media presence, which provide details for upcoming events, instructions for dealing with the media, highly produced Instagram videos, as well as T-shirts and other branded merchandise for sale."
According to the report, the movement is the brainchild of "a charismatic front woman with something of a controversial past: 38-year-old Vivienne Nicole Reign."
"Reign, who has been living with her husband in a $3 million home in Newport Beach, according to legal documents, is currently embroiled in legal challenges concerning several neuropathy treatment clinics she owns and operates with a chiropractor," the report continues. "The defendants have maintained their innocence, denying claims brought by former clients of medical negligence, financial elder abuse and fraud."
According to Reign, she started the group after having to let some of her employees go, saying in an interview, "I’ve had to let go of people that have worked with me for 10 years, and it happened overnight. I’ll find a way to make it through this, but there are people who depend on me, and I feel a great sense of responsibility to provide them a paycheck.”
Those employees come from among the "at least eight active companies operating under 17 different business names," that Reign owns, including one company she co-owns with "Orange County chiropractor Philip Straw called Neuropathy Solutions, which has been the subject of at least one patient lawsuit alleging fraud and financial elder abuse."
According to the report, "Reign and Straw have worked together for years, including with his previous business Optimal Health Straw Chiropractic, which has been the subject of about a half-dozen similar lawsuits. Straw was cited by the Board of Chiropractic Examiners in 2012 for falsely portraying himself as a neuropathy expert and advertising his services in a potentially deceptive way. The businesses have also been bombarded by angry online reviews and drawn the attention of the local media."
In an ongoing lawsuit where an elderly couple paid for peripheral neuropathy treatment, which wasn't covered by their insurance, the couple "agreed to take out a line of credit and make monthly payments at nearly 15 percent interest for a final sum of $18,655, according to the complaint."
However, as their attorneys allege, "the staff at the businesses were not trained or licensed to treat peripheral neuropathy and deceived the couple into thinking otherwise. The treatments included massages and exposure to light and electrical stimulation," adding that the husband, "was badly burned when staff used administered electrical shocks to his legs using a device dubbed the 'HAKO-MED'."
According to Arnold Gross, the attorney handling the couple’s case, "It’s like the old West salesman setting up shop in a town and selling bottles of snake oil. This is not a recognized treatment.”
The report goes on to note that the regular doctor for the woman in the case told her that she didn’t have neuropathy.
As for Reign's previous political history when it comes to conservative political causes, she appears to have come from nowhere, according to a local conservative activist.
"[Dan] Summers, a 70-year-old resident of Ramona, has long been plugged in to conservative politics and activism in the San Diego region," the comprehensive report from the UT's Joshua Emerson Smith states. "He’s served on the Republican Party’s local central committee and currently heads up an umbrella group called The Circle, which coordinates efforts between prominent conservative and libertarian groups throughout the region."
According to Summer's he's never heard of Reign, but appreciates what she is doing.
“I got a phone call from the guy who organized these four rallies who wanted to know if I could help him in San Diego, and I said, ‘Yes, I can,’” Summers explained before adding that representative would only identify himself as "Thomas Paine."
“They’ve got a very good website," Summers admitted.
As for that professional-looking website that also sells branded merchandise, Reign -- who also changed her name from Nicole Melanie Anderson -- was not entirely forthcoming on who is funding it.
"Reign said the campaign has a wealthy backer but would not identify the person," the UT reported with the activist stating, “Yes, we do have people who have contributed and we do have a benefactor who has contributed, and my husband and I have put money out of our own pocket."
The UT notes, "In something of a twist, Reign sent an email to the Union-Tribune on Friday, a day after her interview, saying that she had decided to donate the website and social-media accounts to a unnamed nonprofit," with a note stating, “I will let them decide when they would like to announce who they are."
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