Jeffrey Riffer is back! Scientology leader David Miscavige’s personal attorney has once again made the scene, and he’s doing his best to keep Dave out of the lawsuits filed by Leah Remini and Jane Doe 1.
We know it’s hard for our international readers to understand, but Riffer is making a “special appearance” in court so his client, David Miscavige, can claim that he has not been served the lawsuits and is not a defendant in either of them.
Now, one would think that if Dave sends his personal attorney down to the courthouse to argue about something, that’s a pretty good indication that Miscavige is actually aware of the lawsuits and has been properly notified of them.
But that’s not how our court system works. Once again, Dave is arguing through an attorney that he’s not been legally made aware that he’s being sued, and so he’s not involved, but he will take this opportunity to throw a few jabs at Leah anyway.
“Plaintiff Leah Remini is a former Church of Scientology parishioner. She was expelled from Scientology for serious misconduct. Plaintiff has made a career of publicly attacking her former religion and Mr. Miscavige personally. This lawsuit is just her latest effort to harass Mr. Miscavige.”
Then we get some classic sneering by Riffer, who says that Remini doesn’t think the rules apply to her, and so she sent someone to serve Miscavige at Church of Scientology facilities where he neither lives nor works.
Can you believe the nerve of this woman?
“Nonetheless, Plaintiff filed a proof of service claiming to have served Mr. Miscavige at his ‘usual place of business.’ Plaintiff has not done so. Moreover, at no time were any papers left with a person in charge of Mr. Miscavige’s office or usual place of business, as claimed by Plaintiff’s process server. Mr. Miscavige was not served.”
Now, we all know that David Miscavige micro-manages every aspect of Scientology, and every Scientology facility is his domain. But Riffer ridicules Remini for sending process servers to places that have nothing to do with Religious Technology Center, the particular Scientology entity that Miscavige is the “chairman of the board” of.
And the result is Riffer is asking the court to grant a motion to quash the service and to keep Miscavige out of the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Riffer filed the same thing in Jane Doe 1’s forced-marriage lawsuit, which we told you involved the same reports by process servers who were looking for Miscavige and attempted to serve him by “substitute service.”
Are these two judges (in Remini’s lawsuit Judge Randolph Hammock, and in Jane Doe 1’s case Judge Robert Broadbelt) going to let Dave get away with this stuff, or will they, like the federal court in Tampa, decide that Dave’s antics are clearly a case of purposely evading service?
Riffer has asked for court dates in February to find out.
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Technology Cocktail/
“The Time Track is actual in that it is made of matter, energy, space and time as well as thought. Those who cannot confront Mest think it is composed only of thought. A grouper can make a pc fat and a bouncer thin if the pc is chronically stuck in them or if the track is grouped or made unavailable through bad auditing.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1963
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?
[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
— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond
[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman
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“People look all the way through books of philosophers, the Bible, life, to find something that will agree with them. At first glance, they’re trying to look for something to agree with. Nah, they’re not looking for something to agree with, they’re looking for something on which they have sufficient experience to establish a certainty. And you go down and you get a book — old Will Durant’s book The Story of Philosophy — whenever you get it out of the library you’ll find page after page, underscore, underscore and an underscore here and an underscore there and exclamation points over in the borders and it’s all marked up, old copies of it. Libraries have to replace it every time they turn around. Because people in their great enthusiasm will underscore ‘God is good.’ Here these rather clever statements one way or the other which are quite profound and quite interesting of which somebody could be certain and then they pick all the way through. The thing they find ‘God is good.’ Fine.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 3, 1953
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“ETHICS: Fair Game for current week for no report of stats are, Annabelle Buchanan, Jo Albert, Donna Tidman, Clarisse Barnett, Ron Stone.” — Lt. Jeff Walker, I&R, November 3, 1970
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“The Christian principal of forgiveness is fine as it goes, but some of us, maybe most of us, have committed overts of such considerable magnitude that it would be impossible for another to atone for us; this is one we have to face up to on our own, Jesus can’t do it for us, the anonymous priest in the confessional with his five Hail Mary’s and two Our Father’s can’t do it. You could walk away from the therapist’s couch, or the church, and be more spun in than you were before — you’ve still got your motivators, the undeserved low opinion of the person you’ve actually harmed…The degree to which we are monitored by opinions is so fantastic, as to be utterly incredible. It is even more incredible that LRH found a way through.”
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1999: Bob Minton announced the formation of the Lisa McPherson Trust this week. “The Lisa McPherson Trust is a direct outgrowth of several very significant events relating to Lisa’s death: A) the fateful call by Fanny McPherson to an attorney by the name of Ken Dandar who was and is both courageous enough and pure enough to withstand the assaults of scientology; B) the internet awareness campaign started by Jeff Jacobsen which helped bring the tragic death of Lisa McPherson to national attention; C) the death-bed request by Fanny McPherson to Ken Dandar that she wanted Ken to let the world know what scientology did to Lisa; and D) the continued courage of Lisa’s remaining family led by Dell Liebreich to make scientology accountable for Lisa’s tragic death. The Lisa McPherson Trust has been charged by the memory and suffering of Lisa McPherson and her family to be like the Surgeon General’s report on cigarette packages and we will stick to the side of scientology as a WARNING to consumers that ‘scientology and all other destructive mind control cults are dangerous to your health, your emotional well-being, your bank account and your very life.'”
“Opus Dei wields more political influence around the world than the Church of Scientology could ever dream of.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing October 30.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.
Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, Scientology submitting anti-SLAPP response Oct 26.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Discovery phase.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.
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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] Scientology’s favorite LAPD shill now in hot water over Les Moonves ‘allegiance’
[TWO years ago] Scientology had an historic day in court yesterday, and the experts weigh in
[THREE years ago] Luke Catton still being ‘Fair Gamed’ years after he exposed Scientology’s rehab racket
[FOUR years ago] Add ‘The Last Samurai’ to Tom Cruise movies Scientology uses for themed fundraising
[FIVE years ago] Never public: L. Ron Hubbard Jr.’s devastating 1972 takedown of his father and Scientology
[SIX years ago] EXCLUSIVE: DA’s office asked Leah Remini not to air episode about Danny Masterson
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology strikes back at Leah Remini as publicity for her upcoming series explodes
[EIGHT years ago] Ten years ago, ‘South Park’ rocked Scientology in a way it’s never recovered from
[NINE years ago] Dani Lemberger, who led a breakaway Israel mission, sues Scientology for libel and fraud
[TEN years ago] Sunday Funnies: Roslyn Cohn’s One-Woman Show Set to Skewer Scientology
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology’s Policy of “Disconnection”: A Mother’s Open Letter to Her Children
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,202 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,717 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,267 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,257 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,138 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,442 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,313 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 2,418 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,865 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,207 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,773 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,692 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,859 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,441 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,702 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,738 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,454 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,018 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,333 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,508 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,059 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,190 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,528 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,383 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,502 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,858 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,161 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,267 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,665 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,541 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,106 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,619 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,873 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,982 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 3, 2023 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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), 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
