Scientology hopping mad after Mike Rinder and Claire Headley help out Leah Remini

 
Last week, we told you that Mike Rinder and Claire Headley had filed new declarations with the Los Angeles Superior Court to help Leah Remini keep Scientology’s Religious Technology Center (RTC) from wriggling out of her lawsuit against the church.

Leah is suing two Scientology entities — the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and RTC — as well as RTC’s chairman, church leader David Miscavige.

But at a hearing we attended on January 16, RTC’s attorney Robert Mangels complained that Leah had not actually connected RTC to the harassment and intimidation she says she’s been going through.

Judge Randolph Hammock pointed out that at this early stage in the lawsuit, Leah only needs to allege that connection between RTC and her harassment, and he gave her time to have supplemental declarations entered in the record to make those allegations.

As we said last week, Mike and Claire were more than up to the task, as they drew on their years at the highest levels of Scientology to describe how no retaliation campaign like the one Leah is going through would happen without the planning and oversight of Miscavige and RTC.

Now, however, Scientology is firing back, and we knew you’d want to see how worked up they are over Mike and Leah’s sworn statements.

The response is written by RTC attorney Matthew Hinks, who has cranked up some rifferific outrage which was no doubt run by Captain Miscavige before it was filed (and emphasis is definitely in the original)…

At the January 19, 2024, continued hearing on Defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion, the Court gave Plaintiff another opportunity to do what she failed to do originally: provide some evidence that RTC has any responsibility for the things that she is suing over. She failed again. The declarations of Mike Rinder and Claire Headley provide no evidence whatsoever that RTC had any role in the acts alleged in the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”). There is no evidence that RTC uttered a single word; no evidence that RTC ever once posted on Twitter; no evidence that RTC maintained a social media account; no evidence that RTC uploaded a video; no evidence that RTC interacted with Plaintiff’s contractors, advertisers, or media; and no evidence that RTC even said the name Leah Remini during the time period at issue. Nothing.

Leah can only offer the statements by her “defrocked” pals, Mike and Claire, who Hinks calls Leah’s “partners in bigotry.”

This stuff is just too much, really.

Hinks then digs into Rinder, saying that he was an employee of CSI not RTC (which, actually, Mike points out himself in his declaration), and that he’s been out of the church for 17 years, so what does he know about how it’s run today?

Even better, Hinks then starts quoting previous statements made by Mike about how actually CSI and RTC are separate and independent, which is not how he describes them in his declaration today.

However, these are quotes that Mike uttered in 1999, when he was still in Scientology!

Come on, you think Judge Hammock won’t do the math on that?

Hinks then turns to Claire, who did, in fact, work for RTC. So the best smear he can dream up for her is that she sued Scientology and lost after she escaped from the Sea Org, and that she was subsequently a guest on Leah and Mike’s television show. And that’s it.

Hinks then asserts that RTC had nothing to do with the harassment of Leah Remini, and he adds that suppositions by Mike and Claire to the contrary, even if based on what they observed while they worked in the church, is not sufficient evidence to keep RTC in the lawsuit.

Well, Matt Hinks certainly earned his (no doubt hefty) paycheck for this filing. But we are looking forward to Judge Hammock applying some of his common-sense cogitation during the resumption of this hearing on Tuesday.

Simply based on how often we saw Judge Hammock refer to the “minimum merit standard” that he says Leah has to meet at this early stage in the lawsuit, we have a feeling he’s going to accept these declarations as sufficient to keep RTC in the case. But what do we know.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Of course the one thing one can’t technically overcome is an SP keeping an area messed up. His case doesn’t improve because of his intentions and overts and fear of people getting better or being bigger than he. When an SP dominates an area, only Ethics actions can handle. The primary indicator of the presence of an SP in an org is a plummeting statistic immediately after he starts handling a portion of it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1966

 
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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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Source Code

“I had the officers of six other ships in my squadron come aboard, and only one of them stood alongside of me, and the other five were trying to convince me that if I kept this up I was going to get everybody killed. I said, ‘Kept what up?’ ‘You keep attacking these submarines.’ I said, ‘What are we supposed to be doing, gentlemen?’ And they said, ‘Well, every time a submarine shows up, you needn’t signal attack! It’s stupid! You’re going to get somebody hurt!’ I proved to them tactically that if you did not suddenly attack a submarine and if you did retire behind the convoy every time one showed up, you’re going to get yourself killed for sure — for sure! This was not in their level of agreement. They never did get it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 1, 1957

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“You realize, Officers and Crew, if you bring this cruise off splendidly, no port of the entire Med or Continental Europe is closed to us. The enemy anti-ship action will have been totally defeated. Keep that in mind when a little extra zing has to go into the action. It will be a big coup if you bring it off.” — The Commodore, February 1, 1970

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“I got a private message from someone who was from Ron’s Org. He claims he has done superstatic rundown at Ron’s org. I asked him if a being went completely out of the physical universe to a complete void and re-entered the physical universe in another time then what would that be. He said that is superstatic rundown. Able to leave this physical universe and enter into any other time period. It happened to me when the class 8 auditor was doing integrity processing on me and asked me a question that would take me into a past life. The past life of this orb [thetan with a location] I’m running is blank, because this orb was created new right out of the source, like inelia Benz, but the meter was reading an incident on one of my timelines. I had to go out of this physical universe to source and re-enter in my other timelines track to erase the incident.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1999: El Pais reported this week that a Spanish prosecutor will ask for Heber Jentzsch to be jailed. “Jose Antonio Hernandez, Madrid the Church of the Scientology will be put under in a opinion for the first time in Spain. From the 1 of June and to September, the Hearing of Madrid will judge by 12 crimes to 18 leaders and followers of the organization, among them its world-wide leader, the North American Heber Jentzsch. This one faces a fiscal request of 30 years of prison by diverse crimes. The Church of the Scientology settled down in Spain in 1968 to expand the doctrine of its founder, Ronald Hubbard, and with the purpose of catching people with problems to put under them a vortex of expensive short courses (up to 50) with the promise to purify its spirits and to heal its evils. The 18 defendants, in their majority leaders of Dianetics Spain and of the centers of Narconon chemical decontamination, will have to respond before the Room Fourth of the Provincial Hearing of a total of 12 crimes: illicit association, against the freedom and security in the work, against the public health, fraud to Property, threats, professional intrusismo, usurpation of functions, illegal halting, injuries, denounce false, you compel and crime simulation. Between the processings they are the president of Dianetics, Arturo Reguera; its ex-presidents Enrique Ayuso, Antonia Navarro and Montserrat Eyrie, and the leaders of this organization Carmen Munoz, Victory of Blas and Enrique Coll, in addition to other leaders of Narconon.”

 
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Random Howdy

“I still keep coming back to the fact that the mind control/brainwashing/undue influence only worked on a very small percentage of those exposed to it. I think that the focus should be on what the 5 percent (or thereabouts) of the exposed population who joined groups like Scientology, the NSDAP or the Khmer Rouge have in common.”

 
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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.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— 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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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] She was branded a Scientologist villain by some online. But is she a villain at all?
[TWO years ago] This document really captures what it’s like to be a Scientology indentured servant
[THREE years ago] Did Tom Mesereau just reveal his strategy for Danny Masterson’s crucial prelim?
[FOUR years ago] What are Valerie Haney’s options after Scientology won its arbitration motion?
[FIVE years ago] NFL great Marshall Faulk plugs Scientology front group on Fox News
[SIX years ago] Viewers react to Tampa NBC affiliate saying Scientology is sponsoring Winter Olympics
[SEVEN years ago] The odd and slightly troubling thing Elon Musk and L. Ron Hubbard have in common
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology faces a trademark fight we’ve been waiting for — but will it get spoiled?
[NINE years ago] About that Scientology ad you saw on TV before and during the Super Bowl
[TEN years ago] Jon Atack takes apart the Scientology E-meter
[ELEVEN years ago] Blogging Dianetics, Part 5: Your Mind is a 1950s Computer

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 1, 2024 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

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone