David Miscavige lives in Florida when he’s sued in LA, and in LA when he’s sued in Tampa

 
Scientology files pages and pages of confusing stuff to courts all the time, and that’s the case again in the labor trafficking lawsuit in Tampa. Scientology leader David Miscavige had an attorney file a lengthy document this week in order to oppose a motion that is trying to get Miscavige declared an official defendant in the case.

Just as he has in the past, Miscavige is having his attorney whine that the plaintiffs have simply not done enough to serve him.

This dispute will get hashed out in a January 20 hearing, but we wanted to point out one very blatant example of Scientology lying its ass off to American courts in order to keep Miscavige out of lawsuits.

First, we want to remind you what happened just over a year ago in Los Angeles, where the Danny Masterson accusers had similarly tried in vain to get Miscavige served in their lawsuit, which they filed in 2019. In that case, Masterson’s rape accusers are suing the That ‘70s Show actor, the Church of Scientology, and Miscavige not over the sexual assault allegations, but over what they say has been years of surveillance and harassment since they came forward to the LAPD In 2016.

In Miscavige’s reply to the court, written by his bombastic attorney Jeffrey Riffer in January 2021, the Masterson accusers were ridiculed for looking for the Scientology leader at his official business address, 6331 Hollywood Boulevard, which is the Hollywood Guaranty Building and where the Religious Technology Center, which Miscavige is chairman of, has the top floor.

Riffer mocked the plaintiffs for being such dunderheads. Everyone was aware, he chided them just last year, that David Miscavige has been in Florida!

Plaintiffs staged repeated service attempts on Mr. Miscavige in Los Angeles at a time when it was public knowledge that Mr. Miscavige was thousands of miles away in Clearwater, Florida.

And it’s true, Scientology’s own publication Source magazine, a couple of months later, marveled at how, since November 2020, Miscavige was now appearing at weekly Friday night graduations at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater since he essentially moved there during the pandemic.

Here’s what Source said about it in a magazine that we received a copy of in March 2021…

The audience was shocked and then awed the first time Chairman of the Board RTC, Mr. David Miscavige, walked on stage at Flag’s Graduation. It was a rare event — or so they thought — until it happened again and again and again. Since November 20th, Mr. Miscavige has thrilled those lucky enough to be in attendance at nearly a dozen Graduations.

Can you believe these idiotic plaintiffs, trying to serve David Miscavige in Los Angeles, when Scientology’s own magazine, and even Dave’s own attorney, confirmed that he’s clearly become a fixture in Clearwater, Florida?

That was the message that came through quite clear in Scientology’s court papers in 2021.

Ah, but now it’s 2022, and in April a new labor trafficking lawsuit was filed in Tampa, Florida. The plaintiffs in that lawsuit have been trying diligently to serve Miscavige at several addresses in Clearwater. And now what is the message from Miscavige’s attorney, Florida Bar past president William Schifino?

Why, he asks, are these idiots looking for Miscavige in Clearwater when he’s been a resident of California for 40 years!

The allegations of the Complaint are false in many respects, most significantly for present purposes in that they allege that Mr. Miscavige is a Florida resident. He is not and has been a resident of California for the past several decades.

You see the game here. It’s so blatant, and transparent, and a waste of everyone’s time.

If Dave’s sued in California, suddenly he’s living in Florida and can’t be served. If he’s sued in Florida, he’s always been at war with Eastasia and go fuck yourself with your process servers.

Look, we’ve seen this stuff so many times, and it’s all based on a simple idea: The Church of Scientology, with David Miscavige as its leader, is simply not a good faith actor, and until courts start waking up to their methods and motivations, judges will continue to be snowed from California to Florida. We saw it with federal Judge James Whittemore in Tampa, Judge Richard Burdge and Judge Steven Kleifield in Los Angeles Superior Court, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, just to name a few recent examples.

Scientology lies blatantly to courts and judges, and those courts simply never take the time to compare notes. If they did, the game would be up, right?

We hope at the January 20 hearing, Neil Glazer, the attorney for the labor trafficking plaintiffs, has an opportunity to point out that while Schifino ridicules him for trying to serve Miscavige in Florida, just last year Schifino’s predecessor Jeffrey Riffer was belittling the Jane Does because Dave was clearly a Clearwater resident.

Now, will Judge Thomas Barber see how he’s being lied to? Somehow, we doubt it.

 
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Continuing our year in review: The stories of September 2022

The month started out with news that Scientology had won a 9-year fight for tax exempt status in the Netherlands.

What a treat: We talked to Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan for a podcast episode about her years running the Ex-Scientologist Message Board, helping so many people cope with leaving the church.

And then a week later we talked to Paulette Cooper, Miss Lovely herself, about her new memoir.

An exclusive for us: Audio of Minister Louis Farrakhan accusing Rizza Islam, a Scientology/NOI figure, of a “horrible charge.”

And how’s this for a podcast: The inimitable Jesse Prince, who of course surprised us with his views.

On September 18 a bombshell that we would still like to see play out in the Danny Masterson case: Evidence of what legendary Hollywood fixer Marty Singer told a grand jury.

In Los Angeles, the mayor’s race became a contest to see who could denounce Scientology in the strongest terms. It was wild!

Hey, we then got out the first full-length review of Mike Rinder’s book “A Billion Years” published anywhere! And yes, we liked the book a lot.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2021: Bruce Hines on his stunning cross-country run for freedom after ditching the Sea Org. Someone who worked on ‘The Ranch’ with Danny Masterson came forward with info about him. The Oregonian named Scientology’s expensive boarding school the Delphian to be the best small employer in the state. And a couple of Scientology OTs fell victim to the Covid pandemic after staunchly refusing the vaccine.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2020: Dennis Nobbe, big time Miami chiropractor and Scientology donor, drops dead while awaiting trial on Medicare fraud. More spiked ‘Black Ops’ episodes showed up. Tommy Davis showed up in the book ‘Melania and Me.’ Leah Remini won her second Emmy for ‘Aftermath.’ Danny Masterson makes his first court appearance on rape charges. A Scientologist and former Sea Org figure ran for city council in Oregon. We discovered that Danny Masterson had filed nutty federal lawsuits over his Hollywood Hills home.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2019: Miscavige was having even more success with donors, both the lesser whales and the big leviathans. New daily features: Source Code, Overheard in the Freezone, and Random Howdy. Michelle “Emma” Ryan announces she’s archiving the ESMB forum. The Islams try sovereign citizen craziness in court. Dream team files its third lawsuit, on behalf of a Jane Doe in Miami. The strange tale of how Mike Rinder ended up with Richie Acunto’s Scientology trophy.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2018: Two upstate New York Scientologist chiropractors charged in an $80 million Medicare scam. We decoded David Miscavige’s chest ribbons. Jeffrey Augustine tangled with a Scientology PI. Jeffrey also detailed the history of the Freewinds. The US government adopted a Russian Scientologist as a ‘prisoner of conscience.’

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2017: On national television, Leah Remini and her mother Vicki Marshall exposed OT 8 for the shameful scam it is. And then we posted the actual New OT 8 materials for the first time to prove it. Clarissa Adams told us her disconnection story. John Brousseau, Karen Pressley, and Paul Haggis appeared on Aftermath, and Haggis answered Marty Rathbun’s smears. And we said goodbye to Bernie Feshbach.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2016: Marty Rathbun goes on the attack against Ron Miscavige and Louis Theroux. The anonymous drone pilot begins premiering his footage of Scientology bases. Jason Lee ditches Scientology. And Steve Cannane’s excellent book Fair Game comes out.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2015: We marked a full decade since Shelly Miscavige first vanished. Alex Gibney’s documentary Going Clear took home three Emmy awards. And we broke the news that Jim Carrey’s girlfriend, Cat White, was a Scientologist on the SRD when she killed herself.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2014: Nancy Cartwright makes perhaps the creepiest Scientology ad ever. Jim Jackson remembers Lyman Spurlock. And Scientology crows about getting money from Google.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2013: Scientology’s private dancer, live-blogging at the Monique Rathbun temporary restraining order hearing, and day two’s live-blog which set a then-record number of comments for a single blog post at the Bunker (3,442).

 
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Technology Cocktail

“ALL THINGS LIKE TO BE DUPLICATED. A THETAN HAS NO MASS, NO SPACE, NO WAVELENGTH, AND NO TIME. Therefore to get a perfect perception of anything, he thinks the best choice would be to look at something which has no mass, no space, no wavelength, and no time. Of course, this is impossible. But, this is a Thetan being duplicated, and this, indeed, would be the most comfortable frame of mind for a Thetan—to have no persistence or non-persistence of any kind in its vicinity.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1954

THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— The Underground Bunker Podcast

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— SPECIAL: Your Proprietor’s updates on the Danny Masterson trial

[1] Sep 21 [2] Sep 28 [3] Oct 4 [4] Oct 10 [5] Oct 11: Day One [6] Oct 12: Day Two [7] Oct 13: Day Three [8] Oct 17: Day Four [9] Oct 18: Day Five [10] Oct 19: Day Six [11] Special interview with Chris Shelton, Oct 19 [12] Oct 20: Day Seven [13] Oct 21: Day Eight [14] First week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [15] Oct 24: Day Nine [16] Oct 25: Day Ten [17] Oct 27: Day Eleven [18] Oct 28: Day Twelve [19] Second week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [20] Halloween special [21] Nov 2: Day Thirteen [22] Nov 3: Day Fourteen [23] Nov 4: Day Fifteen [24] Third week in review [25] Nov 5, Saturday special [26] Nov 6, Sunday special [27] Nov 7, Day Sixteen [28] Lisa Marie Presley breaking news [29] Nov 8, Day Seventeen [30] Nov 9, Day Eighteen [31] Nov 10, Day Nineteen

Source Code

“I got a frantic wire the other day from a scientific congress that was occurring in, I think, Boston, and they wanted to know if I had any proof I could offer that thought created matter. They’d suddenly stumbled onto some mathematical proof of this one way or the other, and they wanted to know if I had any proof of this at all, and I sent ’em back a wire telling ’em that, yes, we’d had somebody mock up large mock-ups and stuff ’em into his body and increase his weight thirty pounds in a few weeks and then, by getting the reverse flow, to reduce his weight back again. We’ve actually made that experiment. That’s quite an experiment to make, by the way, because it takes a devilish lot of auditing and the fellow has to be awfully good at solid facsimiles and mock-ups and things of that character before you can perform the series. But we have done it, taking thought alone, without increasing somebody’s diet, and increasing his weight and decreasing it. So, I sent ’em this data and I got back a highly enthusiastic wire saying that my data, as sent to them, had been of great assistance, so I hope they were all edified. That’s all I’ve heard about it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, December 29, 1957

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“LIBERTY: You may have a proper 24 hour liberty under more favorable weather conditions in the near future. The barometer, Neptune and acts of god and perils of the sea have operated to delay the 24 hour liberty. Consensus is, Who wants any liberty in this weather? As it is dangerous to use the sled in such weather for large parties and too hard on Division IV, we will run only minimal shore boats and only then for vital business. So that no one can say you had one when you didn’t, we will cancel this one for now.” — The Commodore, December 29, 1970

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Suddenly, in this lonely universe, on a heavy gravity planet on the edge of nowhere, you’re presented with a definite hope of freedom. The catch: that promise of freedom comes at the price of your loyalty to an organization, one organization which is the exclusive owner of the way out. Despite its resemblance to every trap you’ve ever encountered before, it looks like a worthwhile bargain. And so you sign up. And you do get some increases in perception, ability, and the like. But remember, you made an unspoken promise: you would be loyal to this entity, and they would continue to provide you with periodic tastes of freedom, the freedom you hoped for for trillions of years. And as time wears on, this organization to whom you’ve implicitly sworn your allegiance, starts to look like every betrayer you’ve ever encountered down the track. And that freedom they promised you starts to look more and more precarious. You want the freedom. You want it like nothing you’ve ever wanted in the whole rest of your existence. But it starts to look further and further away. And your loyalty to the ones providing it begins to turn to horror at the trap you now seem to find yourself in. Welcome to a carbon copy of the last however many trillions of years of your existence. Can you say ‘confusion?’ And you’re stuck. Because, guess what? You promised.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1997: The secret agreement signed by Scientology and the Internal Revenue Service in 1993 was made public this week by the Wall Street Journal. “The Church of Scientology paid the federal government $12.5 million as part of a broad 1993 settlement with the Internal Revenue Service under which the church’s main branch secured its tax-exempt status. According to a copy of the settlement, details of which have never before been made public, the church also agreed to set up a special ‘church tax-compliance committee,’ composed of high-level church officials, to monitor its adherence to the pact and to laws governing nonprofit organizations. Further, the church agreed to drop thousands of lawsuits filed against the IRS in courts around the country and to stop assisting people or groups suing the agency based upon claims prior to Oct. 1, 1993, the settlement date. Any Scientology member or organization that sues based on those claims could face IRS penalties. The IRS canceled the payroll taxes and penalties it had assessed against certain church entities and seven church officials, including church leader David Miscavige. (The pact doesn’t specify the amount of these bills). It also dropped liens and levies it had filed against these entities and officials for these bills. The church tax-compliance committee was required to give the IRS annual reports for 1993 through 1995 disclosing how much the church paid its 20 top-compensated officials, as well as the finances of 23 member churches, businesses and organizations. Failure to file the reports could result in penalties of as much as $75,000 for each committee member. The IRS can impose as much as $50 million in penalties on certain church entities if the IRS finds that they repeatedly spend church funds on noncharitable purposes, including enriching themselves. The penalties would be in effect through 1999. The IRS dropped its audits of 13 Scientology organizations, including the mother church, the Church of Scientology International, and agreed not to audit the church for any year prior to 1993. The IRS also dropped litigation to enforce summonses for church records. Regulating the activities of churches has long been a prickly area for the IRS.”

 
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Random Howdy

“To my mind all religion is organized superstition and magical thinking that was created to explain the unexplainable and to get people to behave. Also, financial reward and social power for the creators has sometimes played a significant role. Some of it was made up thousands of years ago, some of it was made up much more recently. If you can get people to believe it’s a religion…it’s a religion.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Mistrial declared November 30. Status conference scheduled January 10, retrial scheduled March 27.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Plea deadline scheduled for December 16.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff scheduled to time served with three years supervised release, restitution of $9.7 million.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial hearing December 9.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.

Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 2. Hearing November 17 to argue the arbitration motions, awaiting ruling.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place at least through February 7.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Case settled ahead of scheduled Dec 6 trial.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Juliette Lewis tells the NY Times she doesn’t identify as a Scientologist: What gives?
[TWO years ago] Scientology sounds so different from those still in and those who have left
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s sneaky front groups and building projects under the microscope in 2019
[FOUR years ago] How Marc and Claire Headley’s Scientology lawsuit is being used by the NXIVM defense
[FIVE years ago] Scientology sues Laura DeCrescenzo in latest plot to kill her 8-year forced-abortion claim
[SIX years ago] The disturbing detail other media missed about TMZ’s Scientology scoop yesterday
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s 2015 in review: In September, Erika Christensen was out of this universe
[EIGHT years ago] One Scientologist is out to teach HBO a lesson for its upcoming documentary
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s 2013 in review: A summer of delicious scoops!
[TEN years ago] Scientology’s 2012 in Review: Parting Shots from a Year David Miscavige Won’t Soon Forget
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Goes Upstat for the Final News Roundup of the Year (And Why We’re Grateful)

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 29, 2022 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast