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 Greetings from Tampa, Florida, where we’re on the scene for an unusual and potentially very entertaining evidentiary hearing in a fraud lawsuit that’s been derailed by accusations of unethical conduct.
We’re anticipating that it will be a fairly grueling day for former Scientologist Brian Culkin as he’s probably going to be something of a hostile witness to both sides that want to question him today. And there’s a lot at stake — Scientology is asking the court to disqualify Ted Babbitt and Ron Weil, the attorneys for Luis and Rocio Garcia in their lawsuit that accuses the church of fraudulent behavior. Continue reading LIVE FROM TAMPA: The Garcia v. Scientology Federal Fraud Lawsuit Mini-Trial!
 Leah Remini and dancer Tony Dovolani on Dancing With the Stars The Underground Bunker has learned that King of Queens actress Leah Remini has agreed to give a deposition in Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. The deposition will take place in Los Angeles on October 15, we were able to confirm today with Monique’s attorney, Ray Jeffrey. Scientology leader David Miscavige is trying to extricate himself from the lawsuit, which alleges that he masterminded a four-year campaign of surveillance and harassment of Monique and her husband, Mark “Marty” Rathbun, who was once Miscavige’s top lieutenant in the church. Miscavige has argued that he has only a limited role as ecclesiastical leader of Scientology, does not care about the Rathbuns, and has no connection to the state of Texas, where the lawsuit was filed. But Jeffrey tells us that Leah Remini has agreed to testify that David Miscavige actually does rule every aspect of Scientology, and that he is obsessed with Marty Rathbun, who defected from the church in 2004. Continue reading LEAH REMINI AGREES TO TESTIFY IN SCIENTOLOGY HARASSMENT LAWSUIT
 The Monique Rathbun harassment lawsuit against Scientology is really heating up, with a judge’s order yesterday that denied the church’s attempt to bounce Monique’s attorneys from the case and now, we’ve learned, former Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis is being dragged into the case to press him under oath about his years working with church leader David Miscavige.
Davis was served with a subpoena Saturday in Austin, and we expect that he’ll be deposed rather soon — at least before the next hearing date in the case, which is scheduled for October 18. The son of actress Anne Archer, Davis was the handsome spokesman who became the face of Scientology from about 2006 to 2010, and made many memorable television appearances. But then, he seemed to vanish, and “What happened to Tommy Davis?” became one of the most frequent questions we were asked by readers and other journalists. We’ve answered that question in the past, but now, Tommy may find himself back in the spotlight, and in a very different role than during his days running interference for David Miscavige. Continue reading FORMER SCIENTOLOGY SPOKESMAN TOMMY DAVIS SUBPOENAED BY MONIQUE RATHBUN
 Ray Jeffrey Comal County Judge Dib Waldrip has denied the Church of Scientology’s motion to disqualify Ray Jeffrey, Marc Wiegand, and Elliott Cappuccio, the legal team representing Monique Rathbun in her harassment lawsuit against the church and its leader, David Miscavige. We expect to get a copy of the order itself a little later this afternoon, but we’ve confirmed that Judge Waldrip was not swayed by the arguments made by Church of Scientology International lawyer George Spencer, which we witnessed two weeks ago at the county courthouse in New Braunfels, Texas. Disqualification motions are common in Scientology litigation, but rare otherwise. After an afternoon of argument by the church that Jeffrey and his team were unethical clowns who deserved to be kicked off the case, we heard attorney Marc Wiegand respond when Tampa Bay Times journalist Joe Childs asked him if he’d ever been the subject of a similar motion. “Never. Not in 32 years as a lawyer,” he said, shaking his head. Continue reading RAY JEFFREY 1, SCIENTOLOGY 0: Disqualify Motion Denied in Harassment Lawsuit
 As Scientology’s big November 8 annual IAS gala nears, curiosity about the church’s tent party rises.
We’ve been reporting about unusual things happening lately in Clearwater, Florida, the spiritual headquarters of the worldwide organization. Normally, the October gala of the International Association of Scientologists is held under a big tent in East Grinstead, England. But this year, with no explanation why, Scientology leader David Miscavige decided to move the event to Florida, and had the tent shipped to Clearwater. Some of our readers have kept us current on the state of the tent with photos like those at right, and we were even given a peek inside the empty tent when it first went up. But that was before work had begun on the elaborate staging. And now, we have some pretty remarkable looks inside at what’s going on. Continue reading LEAKED: A Peek Inside Scientology’s Big Tent As Its Gala Nears
Hey, everyone, the Church of Scientology went and hired a kickass journalist to be the new editor of its humorous house organ, Freedom magazine! It’s John Sugg, a name that’s pretty well known in the part of Florida where Scientology has one of its headquarters. It’s an exciting choice, as we’ll explain. Continue reading Meet the New Editor of Scientology’s Propaganda Magazine, Freedom!
 It’s time for another round of Sunday Funnies, as we take a look at the Scientology mailers and fliers that our tipsters have forwarded to us during the week.
We’ll start with an interesting tip we received yesterday. One of our Clearwater readers reports seeing activity Friday night at the Fort Harrison Hotel and the Super Power Building. We’re thinking that the Executive Director’s Conference which has brought in ED’s from around the world had a bit of a party Friday night, perhaps coinciding with a graduation, and they were taken over to the SP edifice for a tour. If you’ve heard something different, please let us know in the comments. The SP Building has been ready for occupancy since the spring of 2011, and perhaps Scientology leader David Miscavige can’t resist showing it off, even if its official grand opening has been put off indefinitely. Continue reading Sunday Funnies: Nothing But Unstoppable Scientology Expansion in Every Direction!
 Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet.
Jon, for a few weeks now we’ve been bugging you about L. Ron Hubbard’s interest in Sex Magick and Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), which predated his work on Dianetics and Scientology. We know you covered it in depth in A Piece of Blue Sky, as have other writers, such as Lawrence Wright in Going Clear. But we have a reason for bringing it up, and we thought you might ease us into the subject again. Continue reading Blood Relation, Blood Ritual: A Hubbard Family Occult Mystery
 A federal judge has denied a motion by the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Scientology and its drug rehab network, Narconon, but arrived at something of a compromise in a way that we think readers will find interesting.
Beginning a year ago in August, we began telling you about attorney Jeff Harris and his investigation of Scientology’s facility in the Atlanta area, Narconon Georgia, for an unlawful death lawsuit. That suit was settled, but not before Harris uncovered damning evidence that Narconon Georgia’s officials had withheld evidence and lied about it, leading to censure by a local judge. Then, evidence of insurance fraud led to a criminal investigation of Narconon Georgia and a raid of the facility by local and state agencies in April. Continue reading Federal Judge Orders Evidence Preservation Based on Narconon Georgia’s “Misconduct”
 Mary Morton Pete Combs of WSB Radio comes through again. Yesterday, we were both reporting that Scientology’s drug rehab program in the Atlanta area, Narconon Georgia, has worked out a deal with county and state officials which allows the facility to surrender its state license and in return is spared criminal prosecution for credit card or insurance fraud. One person Pete talked to was Mary Morton, whose complaints about the center sparked the criminal investigation to begin with. Morton told Pete (and we have the audio, below) that when she called Narconon Georgia this week, she was told by executive director Jeannie Trahant that the facility was not taking new patients — not because it was closed, but because it was too full. Combs says he took those statements to Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter who admitted that it sounded like Narconon was violating the spirit of the agreement, and if he found they continued to spread those kinds of lies, it could jeopardize the agreement itself. Continue reading Shut-Down Scientology Drug Rehab Claiming It’s Full, Says Mother of Insurance Fraud Victim
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Greetings from Tampa, Florida, where we’re on the scene for an unusual and potentially very entertaining evidentiary hearing in a fraud lawsuit that’s been derailed by accusations of unethical conduct.
