A lawsuit filed by Leah Remini on Wednesday against the Church of Scientology contains a number of disturbing allegations against the organization, its practices and high-ranking members.
The Church of Scientology responded to Remini's lawsuit in a statement to Yahoo Entertainment Thursday, calling it "ludicrous" and "frivolous," characterizing her allegations as "pure lunacy."
"[Scientology] is not intimidated by Remini’s latest act of blatant harassment and attempt to prevent truthful free speech," the statement said. (Read the complete statement.)
Here are the seven biggest bombshell's from Remini’s lawsuit.
1. Remini filed an internal report after TomKat's wedding — and it’s a “high crime” to “criticize” the actor “in any way”
Remini believes her status within the church changed after Cruise’s 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes. In the lawsuit, the actress refers to the Top Gun: Maverick star as Miscavige’s “best friend” who “is essentially second in command in Scientology.”
“It is a High Crime in Scientology to criticize [Tom] in any way,” the filing claims, noting that in 2004, Miscavige supposedly told an audience of Scientologists at a gala in England that Cruise was “the most dedicated Scientologist I know.” (Yahoo reached out to a rep for Cruise regarding the lawsuit, but did not immediately receive a response.)
The event was billed as “the wedding of the century,” so Remini says she was surprised when Miscavige’s wife, Michele ("Shelly") Miscavige, “was nowhere to be found.” Shelly’s “job was to constantly record everything” David said “so that a team of secretaries could later transcribe his words and orders for dissemination throughout Scientology.”
"When Ms. Remini asked a group of Scientology executives and Tom Cruise’s personal handlers ... ‘Where is Shelly?' she was immediately admonished by the group, despite the fact that she and Ms. Miscavige were good friends," the lawsuit claims.
"Ms. Remini witnessed other behavior at the wedding that set off red flags for her, including unethical contacts between various Scientology executives and others at the wedding which she understood to be forbidden by Scientology teachings," per the document.
Remini shared her concerns in a written “Knowledge Report” and it was submitted within the church — “Ms. Remini had been brainwashed into believing that by filing reports like this, she was helping Scientology and saving her religion” — and that apparently didn't go well.
WHAT WAS SAID
“All of these indictments have been called into question because they come right after massive evidence is released about the Biden family. On June 7, the FBI released documents alleging that the Bidens took in $10 million in bribes from Burisma. The very next day, Jack Smith indicted Trump over the classified documents kept at Mar-a-Lago. And then you go to July 26. That’s when Hunter Biden’s plea deal fell apart after the DOJ tried giving him blanket immunity from any future prosecutions. The very next day, Jack Smith added more charges to the Mar-a-Lago case. And now, just one day after Devon Archer gave explosive testimony about Joe Biden’s involvement in Hunter Biden’s business deals, Smith indicts Trump for Jan. 6.” — Maria Bartiromo, anchor on Fox Business Network, on Wednesday
This lacks evidence. Trump and many of his supporters have suggested that the timing of developments in investigations into his conduct runs suspiciously parallel to investigations into the conduct of Hunter Biden and is meant as a distraction.
But there is no proof that Smith, the special counsel overseeing the cases, has deliberately synced his inquiries into Trump with investigations into the Bidens, one of which is handled by federal prosecutors and others by House Republicans.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith as special counsel this past November to investigate Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol as well as the former president’s retention of classified documents. After Republicans won the House that same month, lawmakers in the party said they would begin to investigate the Bidens. (The Justice Department separately began an inquiry into Hunter Biden’s taxes and business dealings in 2018.)
Over the next few months, the inquiries barreled along, with some developments inevitably occurring almost in tandem. In some cases, Smith has little control over the developments or when they are publicly revealed.
The first overlap Bartiromo cited centered on an FBI document from June 2020 that contained an unsubstantiated allegation of bribery against President Joe Biden and his son, and on charges filed against Trump over his handling of classified documents.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the chair of the House Oversight Committee, issued a subpoena in May for the document. The FBI allowed Comer and the committee’s top Democrat access to a redacted version on June 5. That same day, Comer said he would initiate contempt-of-Congress hearings against the FBI director June 8, as the agency was still resisting giving all members access to the document.
Two days later, on June 7, Comer announced that the FBI had relented and that he would cancel the contempt proceedings. Members of the committee viewed the document on the morning of June 8, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., held a news conference that afternoon describing the document.
That night, Trump himself, not the Justice Department, announced that he had been charged over his mishandling of classified documents, overtaking any headlines about the Bidens. The department declined to comment, and the indictment was unsealed a day later.
In the second overlap, on July 26, a federal judge put on hold a proposed plea deal between Hunter Biden and the Justice Department over tax and gun charges. Bartiromo is correct that a grand jury issued new charges against Trump in the documents case on July 27.
The timing of the latest developments in Bartiromo’s third example, too, was not entirely in Smith’s hands.
Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer was first subpoenaed June 12 to testify before the committee on June 16. Comer told The Washington Examiner that Archer rescheduled his appearance three times before his lawyer confirmed on July 30 that he would appear the next day. Archer then spoke to the House oversight committee in nearly five hours of closed-door testimony on July 31. Republicans and Democrats on the committee gave conflicting accounts of what Archer said.
Trump announced on July 18 that federal prosecutors had informed him he was a target of their investigation into his efforts to stay in office, suggesting that he would soon be indicted. Trump’s lawyers met with officials in the office of Smith on July 27. A magistrate judge ordered the indictment unsealed at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 1.
Use the link to read other examples of where they are just lying to try to protect Donald.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
It would have been asking the impossible for Lindsey Keene's kids to wait stoically for her to walk into an airport terminal after a year in Iraq. And they didn't.
Oblivious to the hundreds of other people who were at Evansville Regional Airport Thursday to greet returning members of the Indiana Army National Guard, Lindsey and David Keene's three children tapped anxiously on their welcome home signs. Their faces lit up when they thought the 163rd Field Artillery's nearly 100 returnees were about to walk in — and sagged when bemused passengers of an American Airlines flight from Charlotte appeared instead.
Then it happened. Sgt. Lindsey Keene, a combat medic finishing her second deployment, swept in with other soldiers. Son Gerald Oshsner, 11, clapped his hands to his ears and cried out: "Mom!" In an instant the boy and sisters Marley Ochsner, 12 and Kiera Keene, 9, swarmed Keene, pressing their heads into her chest in an embrace charged with a year's worth of longing.
MaCabe Brown has a photo essay for the paper of the return. Adam Knight (WEVV) notes, "Approximately 300 soldiers with the 163rd Field Artillery Regiment were welcomed home from their deployment on Thursday." 14 NEWS has a video report here.
Again, all should be home. At some point we also need to be asking why the National Guard is being sent overseas -- to Iraq, to Kosovo, everywhere. We need to ask when the Guard is allowed to return to their role?
Questions? Let's grab a few from the e-mails.
A woman wearing blackface went on anti-LGBTQ and pro-Trump rants at a Target store and Starbucks in Colorado.
In one video posted on social media, the woman in blackface, identified as Ersilia Campbell, approached employees at a Target in Aurora, Colorado, demanding they direct her to the Pride section of the store, per TMZ.
Florida is one of the top states with the most new leprosy cases in the country, according to a new research letter from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There definitely is leprosy in the United States,” said Dr. Nicole Iovine, chief hospital epidemiologist and an infectious disease physician at the University of Florida.
For many, leprosy may seem like a problem from biblical times. But Iovine said the disease is very much still around. In fact, the CDC letter said leprosy could now be endemic in Central Florida.
“Endemic means something that is circulating and is present at all times. And it can be at a low level,” said Iovine.
Although many news outlets have stated that the CDC is warning people regarding travel to Southeastern US states, the public health agency released a statement on August 2 saying it had “not issued a travel advisory for Florida, or any other state, due to Hansen’s disease.”
In an email, the CDC wrote, “[We] do not believe there is a great concern to the American public,” noting that the number of cases remain very small.
However, the endemic nature of a disease that usually affects “persons who had immigrated from leprosy-endemic areas” raises significant concerns about the general state of public health in the United States, and the outright dismissal on the part of the CDC is extremely problematic. Moreover, the concerns about leprosy come on the heels of recent reports by the CDC of endemic malaria in Florida and Texas.
[. . .]
Specifically, leprosy cases in Florida account for 20 percent of all national cases, and 81 percent of these have been reported in central Florida. One-third of new cases between 2015 and 2020 were acquired locally. The report notes: “Several cases in central Florida demonstrate no clear evidence of zoonotic exposure or traditionally known risk factors.”
In its report, the CDC highlights the case of a 54-year-old man, landscaper by trade, who sought medical attention at a dermatology clinic with a complaint of a painful and progressive red rash involving his hands, trunk and face.
The patient reported no significant travel history, having resided in Florida his whole life. He was eventually diagnosed with leprosy, though he reported no contact with immigrants from endemic regions nor anyone with leprosy. He had never had exposure to armadillos, which are known as zoonotic sources.
He was referred to an infectious disease clinic, where he began prolonged therapy with a triple regimen of dapsone, rifampin and clofazimine, which has been the mainstay of treatment for more than four decades.
The authors of the article observed: “Our case adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that central Florida represents an endemic location for leprosy... travel to this area, even in the absence of other risk factors, should prompt consideration of leprosy in the appropriate clinical context.”
Tacky Onassis and her husband wanted to lead Florida. So get your ass back to the state and do so. And it shows real gall on Ronald's part that he criticizes Vice President Kamala Harris for visiting Florida when he can't seem to find his own way back to the state he's supposed to be governing.
On the topic of crazy grudge f**king hate, their offspring Marjorie Taylor Green just gets more and more demented. Alex Bollinger (LGBTQ NATION) reports:
Drawing many conspiracy theories and rightwing myths together into a grand, unified rant, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that Donald Trump’s third criminal indictment for his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election is something that “they” are using to distract the American people from how kids are being brainwashed into being transgender.
Trump was indicted on four counts related to an alleged plot to overturn the 2020 elections and install himself as president for another term. His actions culminated in the January 6, 2021 Capitol Insurrection, where five people died as a result of a mob of Trump supporters breaking into the Capitol and trying to kill Mike Pence for presiding over the Senate as it ceremonially accepted each state’s electoral votes.
Greene, a loyal Trump Republican, couldn’t handle her golden calf being held accountable for his alleged actions, and she blamed, well, everyone and everything. She ranted on Twitter about a variety of topics that she suspected “they” – used in the way conspiracy theorists use that word – are trying to distract the American people from, claiming that there are “record numbers” of homeless people now (homelessness is down since the mid-2000s, according to the 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report), that 63 million abortions occur in the U.S. (an outlandish rightwing myth), that the U.S. is “number one for child pornography and sex trafficking,” and several other topics.
“They tell women abortion is healthcare & birth control – killing over 63 million, that men can get pregnant, they brainwash children they can change their gender and amputate their growing body parts,” she said. It’s not clear who “they” is in this context and most transgender people’s experience is the opposite – they had to either hide their trans identity from intolerant adults as children or they came out and had to fight for even basic recognition as their gender. No one is brainwashing kids into being transgender and no one can be brainwashed into changing their gender identity. Moreover, trans men can get pregnant.
This week, REBEL HQ noted some of Marjorie's many incoherent ravings.
Let's note Paul Rudnick.
+ There’s some comfort in seeing how badly DeSantis is getting crushed by Trump (54% to 17%). But it’s pretty cold: “Mr. Trump still received 22% among voters who believe he has committed serious federal crimes — a greater share than the 17% that Mr. DeSantis earned from the entire G.O.P. electorate.”
+ In Iowa, a 15-year-old interested in military service told DeSantis, “I can’t vote, but I struggle with major depressive disorder.” DeSantis interrupted the teenager with a bizarre joke: “It’s never stopped the other party from not letting you vote.”
+ Some New Hampshire residents were stunned to hear DeSantis vow “we are going to start slitting throats [of federal bureaucrats] on Day One.” Throat-slitting seems to be a favorite metaphor (assuming it is a metaphor) for the man who as a JAG at Gitmo mocked detainees as they were being tortured. The Florida governor also claimed that he wanted a Defense Secretary with “a sharp blade” and a “killer instinct” who would have to be willing to “slit some throats.” DeSantis also said that under his administration the Mexican drug cartels would be “shot stone cold dead.”
+ DeSantis reminds me of Phil Gramm, the TX politician who amassed millions from banks and oil companies and seemed to be the prohibitive favorite in ’96 GOP primaries, but was soon exposed as just a mean SOB with no real political skills at all other than shaking down corps for PAC $$$.
+ When DeSantis’ campaign ran low on money and he began firing staffers, he hired them to fill government-funded positions in Florida instead.
+ More than half ($5 million, in fact) of the funds in RFK, Jr’s SuperPAC came from Timothy Mellon, scion of the Mellon banking fortune, who has denounced social spending as “slavery redux,” donated $53 million to state of Texas border wall construction fund, and gifted $1.5 million toward the legal defense of Arizona’s vicious anti-immigration law.
[. . .]
+ DeSantis claims the new history standards for Florida schools, the one’s that proclaim the benefits of slavery, were needed to prevent the indoctrination of school kids. Yet, some of the materials which will now be inflicted on Florida students are produced by Prager U., whose founder, Dennis Prager, openly brags about indoctrinating children:
+ Florida has now effectively banned AP psychology in the state. A lot of students hoping they’ll ban Trigonometry next!
We will return Thursday, Sept 7th
Meanwhile, please drop by our archives:
Past Issues
Cartoons
Art
Read issue 966
Our email address is BlackCommentator@gmail.com
Our voicemail number is 856.823.1739
-
Alzheimer’s In Color2 hours ago
-
-
Le Tigre's feminist rage has always been fun3 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
Why does FOX "NEWS" hate parents?8 hours ago
-
-
That crazy GOP8 hours ago
-
-
Can we charge DeSantis too?8 hours ago
-
-
-
-
How badly will he destroy Florida?8 hours ago
-
-
Vacation Autopsy13 hours ago
-
-
-
