On Friday, Monique Rathbun upped the ante on her objections about Scientology’s legal behavior by filing a motion for contempt in her harassment lawsuit against the church and its leader, David Miscavige.
Previously, she had filed a motion for sanctions, complaining that Scientology was holding back evidence that she was entitled to. Now, she’s gathered more proof that the church is holding back documents, editing video it is required to turn over, and otherwise engaging in “dirty tricks” that she charges is a traditional part of Scientology’s long litigation history.
In the motion, Monique Rathbun puts her struggles getting documentation from Scientology in the context of Scientology’s record of litigation tactics, and even reaches back to Scientology’s notorious “Guardian Office,” the church’s spy wing that was involved in a four-year-long infiltration of the US government in the 1970s, resulting in the prosecution of 11 top Scientology officials.
At the time, Scientology made a big show about purging Guardian Office members, saying that the illegal break-ins and spying was done by a “rogue” group that didn’t reflect the church itself. But if that’s the case, why, Monique asks, are there former Guardian’s Office members involved in her lawsuit today, all those years after the GO was supposed to be purged?
It’s a bold assertion, but it’s difficult to know, at this point, if Comal County Judge Dib Waldrip will be in a mood to punish Scientology. Lately, he’s seemed fed up with both sides in the case.
In the motion, Monique objects to Scientology’s antics…
Mrs. Rathbun’s position is that Miscavige and RTC have directed and controlled extensive investigations and “dirty tricks” operations in Texas, including the multi-year harassment of the Rathbuns that is the basis of this lawsuit. She has filed numerous sworn declarations that provide detailed, circumstantial evidence that Captain Miscavige, from his position as the commanding officer of the Sea Organization, personally controls such operations.
She writes that her attempt to obtain evidence about Miscavige’s connection to Texas “has been met with obstruction, evasion, spoliation of evidence, and outright perjury.”
The best single piece of evidence of Scientology wrongdoing, she says, is the editing of a video segment that we wrote about earlier.
“The disobedience of CSI occurred in the presence of the Court and was evidenced by the video clips admitted into evidence at the February 3, 2014 hearing before this Court…Plaintiff asks that a show cause order be entered commanding CSI, RTC, Cartwright, and Miscavige to appear in person in Court and show cause why they should not be held in contempt.”
Monique wants Judge Waldrip to understand Scientology’s tactics in a larger context…
“For the Church of Scientology, litigation is a blood sport. In a 2013 article in the Rutgers Journal of Law & Religion, the authors observed: ‘Of all the contemporary sectarian groups operating in the world today, Scientology’s litigation aggression is unrivalled.’…Scientology has a long and inglorious history of judicial and extra-judicial warfare against litigants, witnesses, and even judges.”
One of the most famous examples of that kind of warfare was the Guardian’s Office “Snow White Program,” which involved the infiltration of government offices by Scientology spies.
The [Guardian’s Office] ran the larges domestic espionage operation in United States history. Eleven key Scientology conspirators were convicted and sent to federal prison. Depite Capt. Miscavige’s sworn statements that the GO staff was “purged”, and more than 800 members were dismissed, the following GO veterans are on the Defendants’ team today:
Kendrick Moxon. Mr. Moxon, an unindicted co-conspirator in connection with the GO’s illegal activities, was in the GO’s Legal Bureau. He is a regular courtroom fixture at the hearings in this case…
Warren McShane. Mr. McShane is a GO veteran. He is Defendant RTC’s designated corporate representative, and its President/CEO…
Allan Cartwright. Mr. Cartwright is a GO veteran. He is Defendant CSI’s designated corporate representative and its Director of Legal Affairs for OSA…
Linda Hamel. Ms. Hamel is a GO veteran. She is the Commanding Officer of OSA…
Neil O’Reilly. Mr. O’Reilly is a GO veteran. He runs OSA investigations, including some or all of the Rathbun investigations…
Laurisse Henley-Smith. Ms. Henley-Smith is a GO veteran. She is Capt. Miscavige’s Personal Communicator and Assistant…
Michael L. Hertzberg. Although not a GO member, Mr. Hertzberg represented the GO’s Supervisor, Mary Sue Hubbard (wife of Scientology’s founder), in her prosecution by the United States Government. For decades, he has represented the Corporate Defendants. He is another fixture at the hearings in this case.
Eric M. Lieberman. Although not a GO member, Mr. Lieberman was an attorney of record in the Wollersheim case. For decades he has represented the Corporate Defendants. He is another fixture at the hearings in this case.
Attorneys Moxon, Hertzberg, and Lieberman attend every hearing in this case as part of the defense team, but they have never identified themselves to the Court or sought admission pro hac vice. All the former GO members identified above are members of Scientology’s paramilitary Sea Organzation or “Sea Org.” Captain David Miscavige is the commanding officer of the Sea Org. According to Mr. McShane’s sworn testimony, Miscavige relies on the Sea Org’s “fully dedicated, thoroughly trained, and unflinchingly loyal Scientologists.” In the words of CSI’s worldwide spokesperson, Tommy Davis, the Sea Org is a “crew of tough sons of bitches.” He added: “The Sea Org is not a democracy. The members of it agree with a man named L. Ron Hubbard. They abide by his policies…and we follow it to the T, to the letter, to the punctuation marks. And if you disagree with that and you don’t like it, you don’t belong. Then you leave.”
The motion goes on to assert that video evidence turned over was late and inaccessible. And Scientology has still turned over no e-mails, but the plaintiffs themselves turned up evidence of e-mails about the Squirrel Buster operation, e-mails from Ed Bryan and Joanne Wheaton.
Here’s the motion itself. We look forward to your thoughts.
Monique Rathbun v. Scientology: Motion for Contempt Pt 1
The exhibits to the motion are mostly in a second pdf. Here’s the breakdown of what’s in the exhibits, much of which we’ve previously posted…
Exhibit A: Allan Cartwright deposition
Exhibit B: Warren McShane deposition
Exhibit C: Tommy Davis deposition
Exhibit D: Mike Rinder deposition (2007 text messages)
Exhibit E: RTC’s objections to first set of requests for production
Exhibit F: Plaintiff’s notice of taking depositions
Exhibit G: Document requests
Exhibit H: Defendant replies to document requests
Exhibit I: Hubbard policies
Exhibit J: Hubbard policy: “Phones are psycho. They have no memory.”
Exhibit K: Hubbard phone tips
Exhibit L: Hubbard policy: Order Board and Time Machine
Exhibit M: Sea Org policy, data files
Exhibit N: Sea Org policy, operations compliance
Exhibit O: Warren McShane affidavit
Exhibit P: Riverside Sheriff’s Department report
Exhibit Q: Riverside Sheriff’s Department FAQ
And here’s the rest of the exhibits themselves…
Monique Rathbun v. Scientology: Motion for Contempt Pt 2
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 24, 2014 at 14:00
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