Mike Rinder – The Underground Bunker

Scientology wastes no time making a move on the new president, but where does Trump stand?

Tony Ortega — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 12:00:10 +0000

[Then-candidate Donald Trump and Trish Duggan, during the campaign]

Back in August, we pointed out that while many people have noted similarities between Donald Trump and L. Ron Hubbard, at least in their personal styles (something we’ve acknowledged as well), we hadn’t really seen any substantial connections between the Republican candidate and the Church of Scientology itself.

But now that he’s president, we’re very curious to find out what Trump thinks about Scientology, which increasingly faces calls from the public to be investigated by federal agencies like the FBI and IRS.

We’ve heard from several conservative friends — even some with fairly impressive connections in Washington — that they feel confident Trump can be convinced to crack down on Scientology in a way his predecessors have not. And indeed, especially since the airing of A&E’s Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, we’ve seen much more interest in the church’s controversies from the conservative media after Leah publicized Scientology’s use of forced abortion against Sea Org workers.

On the other hand, there’s Trish Duggan.

Our tipsters spotted her at the inaugural Friday, chatting with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista, as well as with Kellyanne Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager and has been appointed presidential counselor.

Trish Duggan and her husband Bob are the wealthiest Scientologists in the world, currently worth about $2.5 billion. Each year, the Duggans are listed as Scientology’s biggest donors, and we last estimated (conservatively) that their giving just to one Scientology fundraising arm, the IAS, has reached about $70 million. They’ve given millions more to various Scientology construction projects, particularly in South Africa, where they’ve also had an odd family arrangement.

Photos of Trish Duggan at the inaugural were posted online by another wealthy Scientologist, Grant Cardone, who last year started spending a lot of time with the Duggans.

[Trish and Callista Gingrich, photo posted by Grant Cardone]

[Trish gets a word in with Newt Gingrich, who was ID’d by Cardone]

We asked former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder for his thoughts on whether Trump might be swayed one way or the other about looking into the church.

“Generally, Republicans are helpful to Scientology,” he says. “The Christian Right has a lot of influence. They may hate Scientology, but they will do a lot to protect from any erosion of First Amendment protections. They worry that if Scientology gets attacked or loses its tax-exempt status, then it will be the Christian Scientists or Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons next, and then their denominations. But I do not know how much influence they have with Trump. He seems wholly uninfluenced by anything other than money and his ego. So, perhaps they won’t have much say and the angle could be to generate revenue for the Treasury by revoking Scientology’s tax exempt status. Trump is so unpredictable…it’s impossible to tell what he might do and whether his is a good or bad administration for seeking government action against Scientology.”

As we pointed out in August, the few connections that have been drawn between Trump and Scientology have been very tenuous…

Three things are usually cited: 1) In 2006, Trump donated a paltry $1,000 to the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Fund, a Scientology front set up by Tom Cruise to deliver L. Ron Hubbard’s quack sauna-and-vitamins “detoxification” cure for first responders to the 9/11 attacks. 2) That Trump is friendly with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who went easy on Trump University and declined to prosecute it for fraud, while Bondi has also been friendly with Scientologists, who have hosted fundraising parties for her. And 3), that Trump’s chief fundraiser, Hollywood producer Steve Mnuchin [and now nominated to be Treasury secretary], is involved with a film funding company owned in part by James Packer, who was involved in Scientology from about 2002 to 2006.

While those ties aren’t very substantial, there are signs that Trump’s administration isn’t unwelcoming to pseudoscience.

In August, Trump met with Andrew Wakefield. Writes Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times…

Wakefield is the former British physician whose paper claiming a link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and autism has been shown to be fraudulent, costing Wakefield his medical license in Britain. Wakefield later moved to Austin, where he still promotes anti-vaccine claims. After meeting with Trump, Wakefield told Statnews.com that he found the candidate to be “extremely interested, genuinely interested, and open-minded on this issue…. For the first time in a long time, I feel very positive about this.”

Hiltzik also pointed out that earlier this month, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he had been invited by Trump to chair a commission “on vaccine safety and scientific integrity.”

The Trump team soon denied that the invitation had been issued, but acknowledged that Trump was “exploring the possibility” of such a commission and that he had “enjoyed his discussion with Robert Kennedy Jr. on a range of issues and…looks forward to continuing the discussion about all aspects of autism with many groups and individuals.” If you missed what happened there, the Trump team effectively reiterated the discredited claim of a link between autism and vaccination.

In 2015, we noted that RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine message had led him to give an alarmist address at, of all places, a Church of Scientology.

Trump’s embrace of pseudoscience has also raised alarms from climate scientists and LGBT advocates.

But with conservative media finally getting interested in Scientology and its abuses, could Trump be swayed to back IRS or FBI action?

“I think anyone who says they know what Trump will do is blowing smoke,” Rinder tells us. “Probably the only people in the world I think might know are his kids and Jared Kushner. And I would not bet any money on even their predictions.”

Scientology isn’t taking any chances, and we’re not surprised to see Trish Duggan trying to get close.

Does that mean that Tom Cruise isn’t far behind?

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John Travolta’s co-star weighs in

Riveted to #ScientologyTheAftermath – each episode has smoked me emotionally — raw, inspiring & courageous — Bravo @LeahRemini @MikeRinder
— Barry Pepper (@BarryPepper) January 23, 2017

You're inspiring Leah, thank you for your grace & strength. ox BP https://t.co/McWJIhIgaV
— Barry Pepper (@BarryPepper) January 23, 2017

Thank you for your courage & commitment, Mike — much respect, BP https://t.co/dKQZnACo9g
— Barry Pepper (@BarryPepper) January 23, 2017

no — I've worked with "celebrity" Scientologists & they were all lovely people, but the church recruiters raised the hair on my neck. https://t.co/h5bFTK2qS3
— Barry Pepper (@BarryPepper) January 23, 2017

Wow. Barry Pepper played Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, the lead role in John Travolta’s 2000 film version of L. Ron Hubbard’s science fiction novel, Battlefield Earth. And now it turns out he’s a big fan of Leah Remini’s hard hitting A&E series. Does Travolta know?

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Claire Headley on the radio this evening

Speaking of conservative media showing more interest in Scientology, Claire Headley will be talking about her forced abortions in the Sea Org tonight on an Internet radio program.

You can catch her at 7 pm Eastern at the March 4 Life NY radio channel.

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June will be here before you know it

HowdyCon 2017: Denver, June 23-25. Go here to start making your plans.

[Thank you, Observer.]

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on January 23, 2017 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes 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 book, 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 about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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 | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Tonight on ‘Leah Remini’: L. Ron Hubbard’s stolen valor, and Leah’s tearful goodbye

Tony Ortega — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 22:30:29 +0000

Tonight’s episode of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath is not the last we’re going to hear from this A&E series. There’s yet another special episode scheduled for next Tuesday that is apparently going to focus on Leah herself.

But tonight’s is the last episode that Leah, Mike Rinder, and their production team filmed. And so there is a sense of finality to it when Leah signs off tearfully, thanking fans for so much support. And we can’t help feeling a little thrill when she says that this is the end of filming “for season one,” which sure seems to imply that there’s going to be a season two. At this point, however, we’ve heard nothing definitive about that.

So what’s in this episode, the second of the “Reddit AMA” specials? Leah and Mike answer more questions that have been sent in by viewers, including questions about celebrities in Scientology and the church’s reputation for homophobia.

Three special guests also take part: author Lawrence Wright, attorney Ray Jeffrey, and cult expert Steve Hassan. (We wrote at some length about Ray Jeffrey on Sunday.)

We were very happy to see Wright take on a subject that has been a little played down in the rest of the series: Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Wright described how, when he was writing his 2011 New Yorker profile of Paul Haggis, then-church spokesman Tommy Davis arrived at the New Yorker offices with seven linear feet of documents in an attempt to derail the article.

Instead, Tommy set himself up for a fall, saying that if it weren’t true that Hubbard was severely wounded in World War II, then it also wasn’t true that he’d healed himself with Dianetics, and that the entire movement of Scientology was a fake.

Wright explains to Leah and Mike what a tantalizing challenge that was coming from Tommy Davis — Hubbard’s war injuries was something they could actually fact-check!

So Wright went to St. Louis to talk to a war records archivist and got Hubbard’s entire file. And the funniest thing happened — the documents on file with the US military didn’t match what the Church of Scientology had turned over. The Scientology documents were fakes!

Wright goes through some specific differences between the church’s fake documents and what was actually in military records, and we’ll just say that some of the differences are downright hilarious. This may be covered at this level of detail in Wright’s book Going Clear, but it sure felt like fresh material, and a laugh riot.

And infuriating, of course. Add Hubbard’s stolen valor to the unforgivable list of Scientology chicanery that Remini has been uncovering all season.

Please join us tonight at 10 pm and live-blog the episode with us in the comments section.

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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 17, 2017 at 17:30

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

On the ‘Leah Remini’ Reddit special this week: A powerful Texas duo

Tony Ortega — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 12:00:36 +0000

Cult expert Steve Hassan let the cat out of the bag last night, saying at his Facebook page that he’s one of three guests on this week’s “Reddit AMA” special episode of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath which is airing on A&E Tuesday at 10 pm. We can tell you who the other two guests are as well.

Remini did a previous Reddit special episode where she took questions from the website, but also used the occasion to bring on Paulette Cooper, Chris Shelton, Karen de la Carriere and Jeffrey Augustine. All of them are very familiar faces here at the Underground Bunker, and they did a superb job helping Leah explore areas that hadn’t been covered in her other episodes.

This time she has a really intriguing slate of special guests. Besides Hassan, she’s invited a powerful duo from Texas: author Lawrence Wright and attorney Ray Jeffrey.

Wright, of course, is the Austin journalist who penned “The Apostate,” an amazing 25,000-word New Yorker magazine feature in February 2011 about director Paul Haggis and his defection from Scientology. Wright subsequently turned that article into his book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, which was released in January 2013. And two years after that, Alex Gibney used Wright’s book as a basis for his documentary film version, also titled Going Clear, which HBO premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 before airing it on the network that March, becoming the most-watched HBO documentary in a decade and the winner of three Emmy awards. (And full disclosure, we appeared in the film.)

Including attorney Ray Jeffrey in Tuesday night’s episode, meanwhile, is a very interesting decision for Leah Remini and Mike Rinder to make. Jeffrey, a former local Texas mayor, first became familiar to us when he was hired as defense counsel for Debbie Cook, who was sued by the Church of Scientology for an email she sent out on New Year’s Day 2012.

By merely daring to criticize Scientology leader David Miscavige, Cook was sued for violating the terms of draconian contracts she had signed when she left the church’s hardcore “Sea Org.” We were in a San Antonio courtroom in February 2012 watching as Ray Jeffrey argued in a preliminary hearing that Cook had signed those contracts under duress, and he wanted to put Debbie on the stand to talk about the abuse she had been through before she had signed the draconian agreements. Scientology objected, but Judge Martha Tanner said she wanted to hear from Debbie.

Guided by Ray’s questioning, Debbie’s testimony was devastating. She described horrific conditions in a prison called “The Hole” that Miscavige had created for his top executives at Scientology’s International Base near Hemet, California. The next day, Scientology’s attorneys waived the rest of the hearing. And weeks later, they settled the case, paying millions, we think, to Debbie Cook to end the lawsuit that Scientology had actually started.

Later that year, Ray Jeffrey was back. This time he represented two former Scientology private investigators, Paul Marrick and Greg Arnold, who were suing the church over breach of contract. The two were former police officers who had been hired in 1988 to follow one man, Pat Broeker, for the church. They said they had been told that they had jobs for life. And for the next 24 years, that appeared to be the case as they followed Broeker no matter where he went, even for a time to the Czech Republic. But then, when the man who had originally hired them, former top church enforcer Mark “Marty” Rathbun, defected in 2004 and then began to speak publicly in 2009, he obliquely mentioned the Marrick and Arnold operation in a press article. The two private eyes said things noticeably changed after that, and then they were fired in 2012. So they decided to take the church to court.

Jeffrey arranged for the two former Scientology spies to give interviews — to us, and to the guys at the Tampa Bay Times — and after just a day of interviews Ray heard from the church that they were ready to talk settlement. Again, we can only guess at the amount that Ray secured for his clients, but we’re figuring it was probably in the seven figures.

Now on a pretty amazing winning streak, Ray next took on his biggest project yet, representing Monique Rathbun, Marty’s wife, as she filed a harassment suit against the church in August 2013. For the next three years, Ray and his team — Marc Wiegand, Elliott Cappuccio, and Leslie Hyman — fended off a ferocious legal onslaught from Scientology’s small army of lawyers. Ray’s team survived a disqualification motion by the church, and also knocked down an anti-SLAPP motion that was then confirmed on appeal. And after those three years, our legal experts told us, the case was poised to begin causing Scientology serious pain and might even have put church leader David Miscavige in the witness chair.

And then, mysteriously, in January 2016, Monique Rathbun fired her entire legal team, and badmouthed them in the process, accusing them of things that Jeffrey denied. A few months later, she dropped the case entirely and again blamed Ray Jeffrey and his colleagues for inadequately representing her in a case that they were actually winning by any objective standard. Meanwhile, Marty Rathbun, whose blog had, from 2009 to early 2014, been a powerful and constant source of criticism of David Miscavige’s leadership of the Church of Scientology, went quiet about David Miscavige’s shortcomings. And last year, in September Rathbun began defending Miscavige as he tore into Ruthless, the memoir penned by David’s father, Ron Miscavige. And less than a week later, Rathbun wrote another screed, this time in what looked like a heavy-handed attempt to sabotage Louis Theroux’s film, My Scientology Movie, which was about to open in theaters in Australia.

Since then, Rathbun has gone completely silent about Scientology, and has begun to write about politics. It didn’t really surprise us, then, that Marty — who was once such a powerful symbol of the rebellion against David Miscavige’s leadership — did not show up in any of Leah Remini’s episodes (though she does list him in end credits among those she thanks as people who came before her to criticize the church).

We received a lot of questions from readers about that. Why wasn’t Marty in the show? And we understood where people were coming from. If they hadn’t read his blog in a while, it’s understandable why they might be mystified not to see Rathbun in a project that so obviously had come in a straight line from the 2009 Tampa Bay Times “Truth Rundown” series through Gibney’s Going Clear. If you put it in that context, it does seem bizarre that Rathbun is not involved.

And now, Leah Remini and Mike Rinder have put on their latest show the attorney the Rathbuns badmouthed so roundly last year — Monique in official court papers, and Marty at his blog, where he referred to Ray Jeffrey as a “bottom-feeder.”

We have a feeling that’s not how Ray is going to come off Tuesday night on Scientology and the Aftermath.

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Scientology should reveal its Super Bowl ad any day now

One of our readers in Tampa — Chukicita — saw a Scientology ad last night during the Seattle-Atlanta NFC divisional playoff game. What Chukicita saw was a version of an ad that Scientology posted a week ago to its YouTube channel.

But we don’t think that’s the ad that will play during the Super Bowl itself.

If you remember, on New Year’s Eve, we posted leaked audio of Scientology’s New Year’s event that was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Near the end of the event, David Miscavige can be heard announcing that he would play for the audience their Super Bowl ad of 2017.

What we could hear then sounded very similar to the Apple-like ads of the past few years, and here was the voiceover narration of it…

There are words to describe every step we take
Every moment
Every memory
Every landmark
And milestone
Words for the joy
And the sorrow
The victories
And the triumphs
The defeat that pushes us into the shadows
And the inspiration that brings us back
But through all of life’s journey
There’s no language adequate to describe
The ultimate heights you can attain…
Your full potential

We figure that means the title of the ad will be “Your Full Potential,” and Scientology does not appear to have posted it yet. But they may begin airing it soon — perhaps during one of tonight’s playoff games or next week’s championship games.

Let us know if you see it!

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June will be here before you know it

HowdyCon 2017: Denver, June 23-25. Go here to start making your plans.

[Thank you, Observer.]

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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 15, 2017 at 07:00

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

VIDEO: Tiziano Lugli’s “Shit Scientologists Say,” Featuring Prominent Ex-Church Members

Tony Ortega — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:00:24 +0000

In an Underground Bunker exclusive, we’re giving you the first look at two slick videos shot and assembled by Tiziano Lugli and numerous other former members of the Church of Scientology. Among those you’ll see are video blogger Tory Christman, former church spokesman Mike Rinder, and character actor Michael Fairman. Also taking part was Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Scientology leader David Miscavige, who has a memoir coming out next month. (Also, a few actors helped out — hey, it’s Hollywood.)

First up, Shit Scientologists Say…to outsiders.

When we were in Los Angeles recently and videotaped Lugli playing a now-infamous rap song featuring Nazanin Boniadi, he also showed us preliminary edits of these videos. Since then he’s added more cuts and finished up these first two.

Why did you do it, Tiziano? “There have been many popular YouTube videos in the ‘shit people say’ vein. I just thought it would be funny to make a Shit Scientologists Say.”

And what are you hoping to do with them? “I hope they get seen enough that church members might stumble upon them. I’m hoping they would realize how bizarre is the lingo and attitude that Scientologists usually have. And I hope it will help to maybe prevent new people from walking into the trap of Scientology.”

Expecting a reaction from the church? “I don’t think about a reaction from the cult. It already messed with me my whole life. Nothing they can do would compare to subtle and gradual brainwashing we all had to endure.”

Here’s the second video, Shit Scientologists Say…to each other:

We asked Lugli for a glossary to help non-Scientologists with the lingo in this video, and he sent us these definitions…

J&D: Joking and Degrading. Pretty much anything that’s funny and has a mocking or sarcastic tone. Very frowned upon in the cult.

A to J: Ten steps that anyone who has been declared a Suppressive Person has to go through in order to get back in ‘good standing.’

Non-E: Condition of Non-Existence. A series of steps you have to do when starting anything new. Let’s say you just got hired as a waiter, you’d talk to the people you’ll be working with and ask them what they would like you to do, and then do it. Pure magic. (That was a bit J&D.)

2D: Second Dynamic. Anything that involves another person you might get romantic or physical with. Pretty much the source of most trouble anyone gets into in the cult.

[Tiziano Lugli was born into Scientology and was declared “Clear” at only 10 years old. In his 20s, he became a pop star in Italy, then moved to Los Angeles, where he produces music from a home studio. He left the church in 2010 and then endured months of harassment by church private eyes, which he captured on video. — ed.]

Sign my Liability: You fucked up so badly that you have to beg others to let you back in.

Cognition: You’ve become suddenly enlightened by having read something.

Flunk: A mistake. Whatever you were doing in the course room, you did it wrong.

Make it go right: No excuses, get shit done.

I totally got it: A robotic response that actually may mean, “I might have heard what you said…but I don’t really care.”

[Jamie (Sorrentini) Lugli is a film actress who left Scientology in 2010 and was then “disconnected” by her father and sister. She and Tiziano have a 20-month-old daughter named Veda that Jamie’s father has never seen.]

1.1: Covert Hostility on L. Ron Hubbard’s “Tone Scale.” The way to describe someone with a smile on their face and a knife hidden behind their back. Also, how Scientologists describe any homosexual.

Black PR: Anything in the media about Scientology.

Very Well Done: A robotic response you hear after you’ve been extorted for more donations, or you finished a program on the menu (which also requires a donation).

Constant vigilance and willingness to fight back: The price of freedom. Can include violating the law, corrupting the course of justice, engaging in human trafficking, brainwashing, child labor, beatings, forced abortions, extortion, harassment, and defamation. (The image of knights on white horses helps with the brainwashing.)

[Mike Rinder ran Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs, overseeing the church’s legal and PR efforts for decades. He left the church in 2007 after enduring more than a year in “the Hole,” a hellish sort of prison for high-ranking executives at Scientology’s International Base in California. He talked about those experiences in video interviews we posted in April.]

IAS: International Association of Scientologists. Church members are constantly pressured to “up their status” in this slush fund, which defends the church from external attack. It is said to exceed a billion dollars.

Excalibur Patron Meritorious with Honor and Valor: In order to keep people donating, odd titles are continually added to make you sound cool for turning over your life savings.

Xenu: Galactic overlord that put you on this planet 75 million years ago. This fact is kept a secret from you until you’ve paid a hundred grand or more, so it must be kept hidden from low-level church members as well as outsiders. Best to play dumb when critics shout it at you.

Restimulated: “I have a headache.”

[Tory Christman left Scientology after 30 years in 2000 and since then has become well known for her entertaining videos about the church.]

Entheta: anything that can have a bad influence on you, that could restimulate you, or reflect badly on Scientology. Basically everything on this blog.

SP: Suppressive Person. An inherently evil human being, or just any Scientology critic.

Whole Track: The awareness and/or recollection of your past lives, going back quadrillions of years.

Out-Int: You’ve been trying to extrovert while looking inward, trapping you into a push-pull from which you are unlikely to become exteriorized. At the same time, you’re worrying and wrestling with the mystery of some incorrectly-designated error. What, this was supposed to make sense?

[Jenna Miscavige Hill is the niece of Scientology leader David Miscavige, and she made news by talking to Nightline in 2008 about what she endured growing up in the church. We have a feeling that her memoir, coming out next month, will have even more impact.]

Out-Ethics: the condition of being human. Or in other words, when you’re departing from any moral code dictated by the cult.

You pulled it in: If something bad happens to you, it has to be your own fault. Cancer, disease, natural disasters, car accidents: You are always at cause and the source. (Not to be confused with The Source, Ron Hubbard)

CSW: Complete Staff Work, a piece of paper that you have to write asking permission to do anything in Scientology that needs approval by anybody else. A basic method of control.

Indicate: What an auditor (a Scientology counselor) uses as a prefix before saying anything that would apparently be true to you.

2D flowing: Flirting

[Marc Headley escaped from Scientology’s Int Base in 2005, and then wrote about his harrowing experiences there in his 2009 book, Blown for Good.]

The Dynamics: This is Hubbard labeling things in a way to make his ideas sound more profound than they really are. First dynamic: the self. Second: Sex and the family. Third: Groups of people. Fourth: Mankind. Fifth: Animals. Sixth: The physical universe. Seventh: Spirits or “Theta.” Eighth: Infinity or God.

The greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics: Scientology’s way of saying the ends justify the means.

Graduation: A funny, forced celebration that happens every Friday night at your local Scientology organization, where church members exchange certificates and give testimonials and applaud each other. Perhaps the saddest party in the entire sixth dynamic.

The new release: Something that David Miscavige (the current dictator of the cult) forces all cult members to buy at the end of one of his 5 yearly self-indulgent propaganda events.

[Michael Fairman is a well-known character actor who became one of the few church celebrities to speak out after leaving in 2011.]

Wog: Hubbard adopted this British slur for people of non-white races to mean anyone who is not a Scientologist.

To blow charge: Orgasmic euphoria Scientologists convince themselves that they experience after being hypnotically interrogated with the same question over and over for hours and hours.

The Bridge: Hubbard’s path to total freedom. The only way out of this trap. The only road of salvation for this planet and this sector of the universe. The menu they sell you where each course keeps tasting better and gets more and more expensive as you consume it. In the end you explode, have no money left, can’t pay the bill and feel like you have to throw up (although some meals along the way were really tasty).

Clear: The point where you have wiped away your reactive mind and can begin spending the serious money.

OT Levels: Once Clear, you can begin experiencing the Operating Thetan levels. Those that aren’t there yet assume the OT levels come with superhuman abilities. Those that have finished them for some reason refuse to show off their new powers. Weird.

[Joy Graysen is married to Michael Fairman, and they filed a lawsuit when, after they had announced they they were leaving the church, Joy was dropped by her chiropractor, who was a church member. Alleging discrimination, they won their lawsuit.]

“The Level”: Another name for OT VII. The closest thing to the dessert on the Bridge menu. A place where you counsel yourself in a room by yourself, talking to yourself, pretending to talk with somebody else. Usually 6 times a day, for a minimum of 2 years and sometimes as many as 15 years.

Verbal Tech: Saying anything about Scientology without backing it up by showing the original writing of the founder Ron Hubbard. A serious crime.

K.R.: Knowledge Report, submitted to snitch on another person. It is a crime not to snitch in the cult.

KSW: Keeping Scientology Working is Hubbard’s lengthy explanation that everyone has to follow proper instructions to a T. There is no negotiation. Either you’re in like the rest of us, or you’re out.

Enturbulated: Agitated and disturbed. In other words, restimulated.

[Luis Garcia was featured in last year’s Tampa Bay Times series, “The Money Machine,” because he gave so much money to help build Orange County, California’s “Ideal Org,” which he later characterized as a money pit.]

Lugli also showed us two other videos that really pack an emotional wallop as these people talk about the people, time, and money they lost to the church. Tiziano says he hopes to finish those videos soon after the the new year.

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Links of Note

There’s been so much going on here at the Bunker we’ve hardly had time to provide links to interesting things happening elsewhere. But we don’t want to fall too far behind as we head into year-in-review mode for the holidays.

In England, a fascinating decision as a High Court judge ruled that Scientology orgs are not “places of worship” and therefore are not suitable as venues for official, religious weddings. The case will now be heard by Supreme Court justices. As we pointed out when this case first came up, this is a bit alien to us here in the US where the government can’t get involved in religious affairs (thanks to the First Amendment, praise Xenu). But as long as the UK government takes it upon itself to decide what is a place of worship, then it is an interesting question with Scientology. Is it “worship” to solo audit yourself with an e-meter to recover million-year-old memories of yourself running a prison planet somewhere? In 1970, the government there decided that Scientology auditing and other Hubbard hilarity was not, in fact, worship. And maybe the funniest notion in that story we linked to is the question of whether anything has changed in Scientology since 1970. Not if things are still being delivered standardly and according to Source it hasn’t!

And finally, if you haven’t seen this video invitation to Scientology’s big New Year’s Eve celebration, you really must.

We’re going to have to work on some “Celebrate Like Only a Scientologist Can” T-Shirts for the Bunker.

Scientology Accused of Spending Millions to Influence Florida Judges

Tony Ortega — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 09:00:38 +0000

Last night, the St. Petersburg, Florida CBS affiliate, WTSP, broke news that Marty Rathbun has made blockbuster allegations in sworn testimony that the Church of Scientology spent millions in an attempt to influence Florida judges as it was fighting the criminal investigation and then civil litigation following the 1995 death of church member Lisa McPherson.

We’ve talked to Rathbun about his testimony, we have a copy of his deposition, and we’ve also asked our legal department — Manhattan attorney Scott Pilutik — to give us his thoughts about these stunning new allegations that Scientology spent freely to influence judges in Florida.

First, some background: on October 31, Florida attorney Ken Dandar, who represented McPherson’s family in the wrongful death civil litigation, filed a federal lawsuit against the Church of Scientology and two of its attorneys, alleging that his civil rights were being trampled by Scientology through its manipulation of the state court system. Dandar claims that in a closed hearing scheduled for November 26, a Florida state judge will saddle Dandar with $1 million in court fees the church is asking for. In his federal lawsuit, Dandar is asking for a court injunction to stop the November 26 closed hearing.

To support his lawsuit, Dandar deposed Rathbun, who was once the second-highest ranking official in the church, and who oversaw the church’s fight against the criminal investigation into the McPherson death and then the wrongful death litigation. In other words, it was Rathbun’s job to strategize against the state investigators and Dandar. But now, Rathbun has provided startling testimony that tends to bolster Dandar’s position.

McPherson was a troubled church member who had a mental breakdown in 1995 in Clearwater, Florida and then was taken by Scientology officials to its spiritual mecca, the Fort Harrison Hotel, where she died 17 days later. Pinellas-Pasco medical examiner Joan Wood initially found the cause of McPherson’s death to be “undetermined.” But later, under intense media scrutiny and pressure by the church, she changed the finding to “accidental,” and the state dropped its criminal investigation. (Wood died in July 2011.)

Rathbun now alleges that the church influenced Wood through her attorney, Jeffrey Goodis, who was plied with Super Bowl tickets and other gifts by Scientology operatives. WTSP reported that Goodis denied Rathbun’s allegations.

Rathbun also testified that former state prosecutor Lee Fugate was hired by Scientology in order to hold “ex parte” meetings with judges — meetings, in other words, that were held outside the presence of Dandar and, Rathbun says, were intended to paint Dandar and his clients in the worst possible light for judges. (Fugate told WTSP that he cannot comment on a federal lawsuit.)

“Well, Fugate was, you know…he was convincing [Judge Robert] Beach this case had nothing to do with justice. It had nothing to do with recompense. It had to do with a bunch of money-hungry relatives who didn’t care about McPherson, with an ambulance-chasing attorney, and they’re going to tie up the courts, and this thing’s going to — you know, he got Beach on board to — to consider this case something that just ought to be settled because it’s all about the money,” Rathbun testified.

Rathbun also talked about stories we’ve covered before — that local Republican party operative Mary Repper was hired by the church to influence local pols by hosting parties that featured Scientology celebrities. And that Rathbun had said on camera that he destroyed evidence in the McPherson case while being supervised by church attorney Elliot Abelson. In all, Rathbun says, the church spent between $28 million and $30 million to fight the criminal and civil litigation.

WTSP reported that the church filed a “lawsuit” yesterday — we’re assuming they meant a motion — asking for Rathbun’s testimony to be stricken. An emergency hearing is scheduled in federal court for Monday.

We talked to Rathbun last night, asking him about making allegations about sitting and retired Florida judges and high-profile attorneys supposedly being in the pocket of Scientology. Was he concerned at all about the consequences?

“I’m trembling in my boots,” he said sarcastically. “I told Dandar they’re going to have to think long and hard what to do about me. I’m best when people are questioning me. If they cross-examine me, it’s going to get five times as bad.”

Twice previously this year, Rathbun has been involved in Scientology lawsuits — he was prepared to testify on former church executive Debbie Cook’s behalf in a suit brought against her by the church, and he was a party in a suit brought against the church by two of its former private investigators. In both cases, the prospect of Rathbun testifying against his former employer loomed as Scientology settled its case against Cook and is still negotiating an end to the suit brought by the private eyes.

“I think they’re ultimately going to have to back out of this thing too,” Rathbun says. “They’ll at least drop the damages against Dandar.”

That’s still to be seen. But Rathbun’s testimony certainly has raised the profile of a lawsuit that was not garnering much attention until last night.

We asked attorney Scott Pilutik to read Rathbun’s testimony and give us his thoughts…

To start with, let me disclaim that Ken Dandar is a friend and that I worked for Ken in a relatively minor capacity on the Lisa McPherson case. Not that I’m commenting on this to advocate for him, but for credibility reasons I need to put my bias on the table.
You probably don’t need a legal expert to tell you that these are serious allegations, ranging from the outright criminal to serious ethical violations, by lawyers, judges, and whatever manner of political creature Mary Repper can be said to be.
Some of this we’ve heard before, such as Elliot Abelson ordering the destruction of evidence.
But this is the first time we’ve heard of Joan Wood’s lawyer Jeffrey Goodis accepting what would appear to be outright bribes in exchange for what I’m guessing was his agreement to exert pressure on his client Wood to change her cause of death determination. Too bad Wood isn’t around to answer whether Goodis disclosed to her the thousands of dollars in perks he was receiving.
He alleges Wally Pope, Ed Armstrong, and especially Lee Fugate having countless ex parte communications with judges presiding over cases involving Dandar and Scientology. An ex parte communication is when one party to a lawsuit speaks with the judge out of earshot of the opposing party, about the case. The trickiness here is that Marty doesn’t quite allege that an ex parte communication took place about the case because everyone involved was sophisticated enough to recognize that that just isn’t done.
What Marty’s alleging, rather, is a conspiracy to engage in ex parte communications not actually concerning particular cases but nevertheless purposed on influencing those cases’ outcomes. Actually, he alleges that Fugate deliberately communicated with Beach about the case Beach was about to preside over. The response will be, I’m guessing, that these allegations are smoke, that lawyers and judges talk about lots of things, including other lawyers, and that Marty’s allegations need to be far more specific. Oh, and they’ll obviously go into full-metal Marty character assassination mode as well.
Marty implies that Judge Beach actively sought, on Scientology’s behalf, to get assigned to the McPherson case so that Scientology might have better luck than they were having with Judge Schaeffer (which, allegations aside, is precisely what happened). This may be the most serious allegation here.
Marty’s testimony is somewhat scattered and difficult to pin down since he’s mostly on the fringes of the allegations, not often a direct witness to it. He’d be more helpful to Dandar if he discusses particular ways in which he himself conspired and carried out actions to scuttle Dandar’s cases. But the testimony does ring true, at least to anyone who watched it go down at the time or who cares to look now.
The good news for Dandar is that Marty’s testimony supports his civil rights violation complaint, whereas before this Dandar’s complaint was mostly a recitation of the litigation history from the McPherson to Brennan cases. But for the purposes of a motion to dismiss, surely forthcoming, Marty’s testimony must be taken as true, and to the extent that testimony suggests all manner of impropriety and illegality willfully committed by both lawyers and judges in pursuit shutting down cases brought by Dandar-represented plaintiffs, Dandar could, and should survive that motion to dismiss.
Whether Marty’s testimony stands up is another question, but one we’ll hopefully hear answered. Perhaps too Dandar will serve up Rinder’s testimony next? This could certainly use bolstering.

We asked Rathbun about that: Would Dandar be deposing Mike Rinder, Scientology’s former executive who ran its legal affairs wing?

“I think he already has,” Rathbun responded, and he pointed to the confident way that Dandar spoke in the WTSP report.

“I think he just set them up,” Rathbun added, referring to Scientology asking to strike his testimony. “Dandar has Rinder’s deposition, corroborating me, in his back pocket.”

We’ll be checking on that as soon as we get a chance. In the meantime, take a look at Rathbun’s testimony and give us your thoughts…

Marty Rathbun Deposition (Dandar lawsuit)