Scientology
There are a lot of uncorrected formatting and ocr errors in this 65 page
declaration but you can see what DM has to say. (If anybody wants to clean
this up it would be greatly appreciated.)
Much Thanks
Bob Minton
Samuel D. Rosen, pro hac vice
PAUL, HASTINGS, JANOFSKY & WALKER LLP
399 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, New York 10022-4697
Telephone: (212) 318-6000
Alan K. Steinbrecher, SBN 79201
PAUL, HASTINGS, JANOFSKY & WALKER LLP
555 South Flower Street, 23rd Floor
Los Angeles, California 90071-2371
Telephone: (213) 683-6000
Attorneys for Non-Party
RELIGIOUS TECHNOLOGY CENTER
Case No. C 332 027
Judge Charles W. McCoy, Jr.
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
LARRY WOLLERSHEIM
Plaintiff,
vs.
CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF
CALIFORNIA,
Defendant.
DECLARATION OF
DAVID MISCAVIGE
DATE: October 15, 1999
TIME: 8:30 a.m.
DEPT: 24
I, DAVID MISCAVIGE, declare and say:
1. I am over 18 years of age and a resident of the State of
California. I have personal knowledge of the matters set forth in
this declaration and, if called upon as a witness I could and would
competently testify thereto.
2. I am, and since 1987 have been, the Chairman of the Board
of Directors of Religious Technology Center ("RTC"), a section
501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit Religious corporation, whose sole
purpose is to maintain the orthodoxy of the Scientology religion.
RTC is not part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Scientology, or
is it involved in the day to day affairs of churches and missions
of Scientology.
3. RTC was formed in 1982 to ensure that the Scientology religion
was kept pure and true to its source. A primary reason for RTC's
creation was to have a church organization that performed these
functions separate from the provision of ecclesiastical guidance to
churches and missions of Scientology around the world. Not only is
RTC not involved in the governance of the international hierarchy
of Scientology churches, but its existence and the performance of
its functions depend on the fact that it is not part of that
hierarchy.
4. RTC's authority stems from the ownership of the religious
trademarks of Dianetics and Scientology. In brief, RTC protects
and maintains these marks in three ways: A) ensuring that when
something is represented as Dianetics or Scientology, that it
actually is; B) seeing that any organization representing itself
as Dianetics or Scientology (and using those names), while actually
being something entirely different, is prevented from doing so;
and C) seeing that anyone ministering Scientology, but calling
it something else (a name other than Dianetics or Scientology) is
prevented from doing so. Where necessary, RTC litigates to protect
the proper use of the Scientology marks, and has prevailed in every
instance.
5. RTC is exclusively concerned with the orthodoxy of the
Scientology religion so that it forever remains faithful to the
teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, the Founder of the religion and the
one Source of its Scripture. Prior to the formation of RTC no other
Scientology church performed this function.
6. As Chairman of the Board, the most senior position in RTC, I
am uniquely interested in the standard application of the Scripture
of Scientology as detailed in Hubbard Communications Office Policy
Letters (HCO PLs) and Hubbard Communications Office Bulletins
(HCOBs) and the spoken words of Mr. Hubbard
2
on the subjects of Dianetics; and Scientology as recorded on audio
tape, video, film and in written transcriptions of these materials.
I inspect and correct departures from the standard application of
the Scripture of the religion. I also ensure that any attempted
perversion of the technology of Dianetics and Scientology is
rapidly dealt with, to keep the religion pure so that all people
may benefit from the application of Mr. Hubbard's breakthroughs in
the fields of the mind, the spirit and life.
7. A great deal has been made of my role and authority in the
Scientology religion because of my position as RTC's Chairman
of the Board. Let me emphasize that I am not "Chairman of
Scientology." It is RTC, as a whole, that is responsible for
the orthodoxy of the Scientology faith. It then follows that as
Chairman of RTC, its most senior executive, I am entrusted with the
ecclesiastical position that has the highest scriptural authority
within the religion. My authority derives exclusively from that
position and extends no further than RTC's mission. In summary,
my job is to ensure RTC carries out its function of assuring the
orthodox and proper use of the Scientology religious "technology."
My duties are completely unrelated to, and I do not participate
in, the ecclesiastic governance of the many churches of Scientology
around the world. That function is performed by Church of
Scientology International.
8. As Chairman of RTC, I am not the "successor" to L. Ron
Hubbard. Plaintiff attempts to mislead the Court regarding Mr.
Hubbard's and my role in the religion. My role is described above.
Mr. Hubbard was the Founder of the religion and the sole Source of
its Scripture. In that capacity, he will never have a "successor."
I do not offer this distinction merely as a "corporate matter,"
so as to defend against plaintiffs allegations. Rather, this
distinction is religious in nature and goes to the heart of
Scientology beliefs. A primary and fundamental doctrine
3
of our faith is that the teachings be kept pure and that the
only source of those teachings is Mr. Hubbard. Indeed, my role
encompasses the responsibility of seeing the religion does not lose
its original teachings and that no one ever assumes Mr. Hubbard's
role as the source of its religious teachings. When plaintiff and
his witnesses say I am "just like L. Ron Hubbard," that is the
highest compliment one could receive in the Scientology religion,
if their intention were to communicate that I am keeping the
religion true to his teachings. Of course, their statements are
accompanied by an inaccurate and negative description of Mr.
Hubbard's character and role in the religion. But even if that were
not the case, I would still reject their compliment as I simply am
not and never will be what Mr. Hubbard was to the religion. By way
of analogy, consider an apostate Roman Catholic claiming, in the
context of litigation, that the Pope is "just like Jesus Christ,
and assumed his role after Christ's death." Needless to say, this
would be offensive to any Roman Catholic, as a matter of religious
belief. The Pope may be the keeper of the Roman Catholic faith, but
it would be heresy to say he was, in any manner, Christ himself.
While neither I nor Mr. Hubbard, ever claimed Mr. Hubbard to be (or
be like) Jesus Christ, the analogy is apt. L. Ron Hubbard is the
Source of the teachings of the Scientology religion.
9. Church of Scientology International ("CSI") is the Mother
Church of the Scientology religion and has been since its
inception. CSI is responsible for the activities commensurate with
such a role, including the ecclesiastical guidance of subordinate
churches, dissemination and propagation of the faith and the
defense of its activities, including external and legal affairs.
Indicative of these distinct roles, RTC has approximately 60 staff,
dedicated exclusively to the orthodoxy of Scientology theology.
CSI, on the other hand, has well over a thousand staff members
who deal with international dissemination efforts and provide
ecclesiastical guidance and support to Scientology churches around
the world.
4
These are the activities of international and middle management
of the religion, which has an entirely different purpose and sphere
of activity than RTC. Neither RTC nor I have any corporate
authority over any Scientology church, including CSI.
10. The distinct nature of RTC's relationship to the Scientology
hierarchical structure is even evident in its name. Churches of
Scientology ministering to parishioners of the Scientology faith,
are all called "Church of Scientology (followed by their name)."
For example, "Church of Scientology of New York," "Church of
Scientology of Miami," "Church of Scientology International." Each
one is dedicated either to directly administering to congregants
of the religion or to providing ecclesiastic guidance to churches
serving congregants of the religion. There are two Scientology
churches that are unique in this regard, in that they are not
charged with ministering to congregants or guiding those that
do. One is Religious Technology Center; the other is Church of
Spiritual Technology ("CST"). Their names are unique in recognizing
their separation from the hierarchy of Scientology churches. As
stated above, RTC is strictly concerned with protecting the
orthodoxy of Scripture and gains its legal authority to do this
through the trademarks of Dianetics and Scientology. CST owns
the copyrights of the religious Scriptures and through that legal
authority, is exclusively engaged in archival preservation of the
Scripture for the many future generations to come.
11. just as I do not manage the affairs of CSI, RTC's affairs are
not managed by CST or any other entity. Corporate boundaries and
responsibilities are distinct and firm. While CST does not manage
the affairs of RTC, there can be no question that, as the owner of
the copyrights to all the Scientology Scripture, bequeathed to CST
by Mr. Hubbard at his death, CST and not RTC "owns" Mr. Hubbard's
religious legacy. Plaintiff levels his accusations at RTC because
of his motivation to target
5
me, regardless of corporate realities. The fact is, apart from the
role Mr. Hubbard had in the religion of Scientology when he was
alive, he also held distinct legal rights including copyrights
for his religious writings that form its Scripture. Plaintiff's
mischaracterization of both the succession of Mr. Hubbard's
religious role, and the transfer of his legal rights, is
contradicted by both the tenets of Scientology and where Mr.
Hubbard's intellectual property rights currently reside. No
individual anywhere in the Scientology religion personally owns
Mr. Hubbard's rights or has succeeded to Mr. Hubbard's position
as Founder. Hence, it is disingenuous to allege either play a
role in corporate or ecclesiastic "unity."
12. I have been a member of the Scientology religion since 1971.
In 1976, at the age of 16, I joined the Sea Organization ("Sea
Org"). The Sea Org is a descriptive name for individuals who have
pledged themselves to eternal service of the Scientology faith.
Sea Org members express their commitment by signing contracts
dedicating themselves to the religion for the next billion years,
in accordance with Scientologists' belief that man is an immortal
spiritual being. The Sea Organization is a religious fraternal
order, like the Catholic priesthood, with its own rituals and
traditions that exemplify and foster members' shared and
deeply-held commitment to the religion. It confers no corporate or
ecclesiastic authority. Sea Org members are staff in many churches
of Scientology across the globe. Any authority they have in the
church entity that employs them derives from their position in
that church structure and not their honorary status in the Sea
Organization. The Sea Organization is so named as it began aboard
a ship at sea. Hence, even though now on land, members of the Sea
Org carry forth a nautical tradition, sometimes wearing nautical
uniforms and holding honorary ranks. I currently hold the honorary
rank of Captain. Many other individuals also hold the rank of
Captain in RTC, CSI and other churches of Scientology. Many of
those who hold the rank did so before I myself was a Captain.
Just as I do not "outrank" them, they do not
6
outrank" me. Moreover, most of the staff in RTC, of which I am
Chairman, hold lesser ranks than Captain. Yet no Captain in CSI
can, or would, issue orders to RTC staff or direct them in any way.
That is because RTC is a separate church corporation and operates
internally based on its own lines of authority. Similarly, one
Sea Org member with the honorary rank of Captain is, in fact, a
ship captain. The Motor Vessel Freewinds is home to Church of
Scientology Flag Ship Service Org ("FSSO") and serves as a
religious retreat for Scientologists. I could not, and would not,
even attempt to issue orders to that Captain on the way in which
he should navigate the Freewinds, or anything else for that matter.
Nor could he, or has he ever attempted to, direct the activities
of RTC or its staff from his honorary Sea Org rank of Captain. Any
allegation that the "power structure" of Scientology stems from
membership or rank in the Sea Organization is ludicrous. It is an
invented story that ignores the realities of corporate separateness
in an attempt to forward a legal strategy to extract monies from
Scientology churches that have never had anything to do with
Wollersheim. My authority stems from my corporate position, and I
neither need nor use my rank in the Sea Org in the performance of
my duties.
13. All of the foregoing facts were submitted to, and thoroughly
reviewed by, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") prior to the 1993
recognition of the separate tax-exempt status of RTC. These facts
were confirmed by the IRS, not just as of 1993, but retroactive to
the date of incorporation of RTC in 1982, as recognized by the IRS
in its recognition letter, a true and correct copy of which I
attach as Exhibit A. The corporate independence and integrity of
RTC was reaffirmed by the IRS while this case was on appeal last
year. I attach a true and correct copy of that reaffirmation as
Exhibit B.
7
WOLLERSHEIM'S ALLEGATIONS
14. I have read the plaintiffs Motion to Amend Judgment to
Include Real Party Defendants and Judgment Debtors and the
supporting declarations that accompany it. Wollersheim and his
"witnesses" are dishonestly attempting to make me the centerpiece
of this litigation through mischaracterization of my role in the
Scientology religion despite the fact that I had no participation
in the underlying litigation. I have never been a party to this
action, and I have never met nor spoken with the plaintiff, Larry
Wollersheim. However, seeing how mischaracterization of my duties
and unsupported testimony could mislead Judge Shook into issuing
his earlier order, since reversed by the Court of Appeal, I realize
it is important I present the true facts. I am aware that other
declarants and lawyers for RTC are providing substantive responses
to Wollersheim's claims, supported by documentary evidence, which
disprove all of his allegations and those of his declarants.
However, because Judge Shook's ruling was based in large part on
false and misleading testimony concerning me, I am making this
declaration to correct the record. The cloud of these scurrilous
allegations impinges on my ability to carry out my ecclesiastical
responsibilities to millions of Scientology adherents around
the world. The now-reversed ruling of this Court's predecessor
inflicted so much damage that I was compelled to seek leave, to
file a brief amicus curiae on appeal to demonstrate that the chill
on the practice of my religion was of constitutional dimension. A
true and correct copy of that brief is annexed to this declaration
as Exhibit C.
15. I state the following clearly and unequivocally:
A) I have never met, spoken, or corresponded with Larry
Wollersheim. I did not participate in any of the events which were
the subject of his complaint in this action. His complaint raises
allegations about events which began when I was 8 years old, and I
was in my teens when
8
Wollersheim left the Scientology religion;
B) I did not direct, control or supervise Church of Scientology
of California's ("CSC") trial strategy, trial, post-trial strategy,
or post-trial proceedings in this case;
C) I did not attend a single day of the trial;
D) I did not order the destruction of Wollersheim's "religious
counseling folders" or any other documents related to this
litigation. Counsel has advised me that Wollersheim's counseling
folders were turned over to the Court and remain there;
E) At the time of the Wollersheim trial, I was employed
by Author Services, Inc. ("ASI"). Wollersheim claims RTC is
responsible for his judgment against CSC by alleging RTC is CSC's
alter ego, because I am RTC's Chairman and act as the "dictator"
of all Scientology. While Wollersheim's characterization of my
authority is false, the fact is I was not employed by RTC until
March of 1987, almost a year after the Wollersheim trial. Prior to
that date, at no time did I take any actions to direct, supervise,
manage or administrate the affairs of RTC. During the time of the
Wollersheim trial, while I worked at ASI, neither Wollersheim nor
any of his declarants (Aznaran, Prince, Young) worked with me or
were in a position to observe me conduct my daily activities;
F) Since joining RTC, and holding the position of its Chairman, I
have not directed or controlled the Wollersheim litigation and nor
has any staff of RTC until, of course, Wollersheim tried to make
RTC a party. Wollersheim. and his declarants who allege otherwise
have no personal knowledge to say otherwise. Since becoming
Chairman of RTC, neither Wollersheim, nor any of his declarants
worked with me or were in a position to observe me conduct my
day-to-day activities;
9
G) RTC is a separate, individually recognized tax-exempt church
that shares no personnel, no corporate or ecclesiastical function,
and no bank accounts with any other church of Scientology. It
occupies its own offices and maintains its own segregated corporate
records. It acts, and always has acted, exclusively in its own
name, and not by or through CSC or any other entity. It has never
exercised control of CSC, did not receive any assets from CSC, and
performs no function CSC ever performed; H) I do not disregard the
corporate lines of authority, responsibility or control of any
church of Scientology. Contrary to the allegations of Wollersheim's
declarants, lines of corporate authority in RTC, and its
relationship to other churches of Scientology, are firm and I see
to it they remain that way; I) The same allegations being made
by Wollersheim, and his declarants, in an attempt to hold RTC
responsible for his judgment against CSC, have previously been
made by other civil litigants in their attempt to obtain windfall
judgments from individual churches of Scientology, with which they
had no relationship. Because of these allegations, the IRS review
of RTC and all other churches of . Scientology, had as a primary
focus of investigation the corporate and financial integrity of
those churches. After the most exhaustive review of any non-profit
organization in history, the IRS found such allegations to be
without basis, not only with respect to Mr. Hubbard's relationship
with the churches of Scientology when he was alive, but with
respect to the relationship and integrity of all Scientology
churches since that time. The result of their investigation was
the recognition of the tax-exempt status of RTC (and many other
Scientology churches) as an independent and separate corporation.
10
16. The above paragraph responds to the substance of all
allegations offered by Wollersheim and his declarants. Beyond that,
Wollersheim's and his declarants' "evidence" is littered with
other voluminous, scandalous and sensational allegations; about me
having nothing to do with this case. In doing so, they have only
offered more fiction in an attempt to give greater credence to the
misstatements they have provided concerning my "relationship" to
Wollersheim, a person with whom I have had no relationship. That
is, they recite events that never took place, but if they had
occurred or were true, would seem to confirm the allegations
relevant to this case. I am left in a position of "my word against
their word," which is precisely the effect I feel they have tried
to create. It is only for this reason I feel it important for the
Court to understand not only the truth concerning these false
accusations, but to understand Wollersheim and his declarants'
efforts are orchestrated pursuant to a well-used litigation
strategy that has been employed against L. Ron Hubbard, various
churches of Scientology, and me, for years - namely, the gathering
of apostates in search of money who are then used as a traveling
road show to present packaged, yet false testimony, concerning
Scientologists, churches of Scientology and me. The primary
motivation behind this strategy is personal enrichment. But to
avoid being tainted by that obvious, yet discreditable reason, it
is necessary for them to level voluminous, yet. unfounded charges,
at the individuals and entities from whom they are attempting to
extract money.
11
17. Most notable in the declarations filed concerning RTC, CSI
and me, is a complete lack of any documentary evidence to support
the most serious charges. Here, as has been done many times in the
past, several individuals are employed to swear out declarations
appearing to "independently" corroborate each other. And just as
I have experienced in the past, these "corroborating" witnesses
uniformly fail to inform the Court of their common and mutual
interests. They are neither independent nor objective. Each and
every one is connected to each other in their "anti-Scientology"
business, with the purpose of extracting large sums of money from
Scientology churches. This is a fact beyond dispute. Indeed, if
asked, I do not believe even they would deny it, since there is
too much evidence supporting their true motivation. But just as
certainly, they avoid candor in reciting these circumstances.
Instead, it is easier to make no mention of it because then they
can say they did not really lie, since, "We didn't say we didn't
have a personal stake in this litigation." Not one of the proffered
"witnesses" has not already tried to extract large sums of money
from Scientology churches and RTC.
18. This tactic is part of a common, and well-known strategy of
"anti Scientology" litigation. In earlier years, with litigation
against Scientology churches, Mr. Hubbard, and me, the same tactic
was employed. Indeed, Wollersheim uses some of the very same
witnesses as his predecessors in this tactic, notably Gerry
Armstrong. Then, as now, there existed a stable of apostate
Scientologists who acted as "expert witnesses" regarding
Scientology. Then, as now, these same witnesses testified in every
anti-Scientology case, each providing "corroborating evidence" for
one another. Ultimately, the cases were settled on a "global"
basis, meaning many cases were settled for a single monetary
payment, its precise allocation to be decided by the attorney
for the plaintiffs, since they were all represented by the same
attorney. While confidential in nature, plaintiffs ultimately
disclosed the sum and exact amounts paid to each individual, and
that list showed that those "witnesses" received a "cut" of the
settlement, even though they were not parties in any of the suits.
19. In raising the allegations they have, Wollersheim, and his
declarants; have also failed to inform the Court their allegations
are not new, but rather the exact same ones leveled by other
apostates in earlier years. Allegations concerning "unity
12
of control," "violation of corporate boundaries," and "control
through the Sea Organization" have been made repeatedly over the
years by those attempting to extract money through litigation. I,
and many others, have already had to defend against these very
charges, at great effort and expense, and every one of them has
already been disproved, but not before causing Scientology churches
and myself a great deal of harm. It seems not to matter to
Wollersheim and his declarants that these allegations have been
proven false. Instead, they seem to feel that by repeating
something "alleged" in an earlier time, their claims will more
easily be believed since, "others have said it, and we are now
reconfirming it." What is actually happening, and why their
statements seem to corroborate one another, is they are reviewing
those earlier (proven false), allegations and then writing
declarations "consistent" with those allegations. This tactic has
been admitted to by a former litigant, Vicki Aznaran, whose former
testimony given before her admission of this tactic, is being
presented now by Wollersheim.
20. Most offensive to me are the allegations that I or any church
has taken any steps to harass the plaintiff or his witnesses.
It is I and others in the Scientology religion who have been,
and currently are being harassed in the most despicable manner
possible. I am aware that as a member of a new and minority
religion, what I am experiencing is nothing new in history. Indeed,
any prominent member of society is subject to attack and scrutiny.
As such, I do not respond to every allegation or threat leveled at
me. If I did, it is highly likely I would spend my entire life
responding to charges such as those in this case.
21. It is for this reason I did not respond to Wollersheim's
charges against me during the earlier proceedings in this Court. I
held the view that the objective facts were sufficient to disprove
the false claims, especially since I had already defended against
those same claims in earlier years, and was vindicated. However,
13
after seeing how a Court could be misled based on rhetoric by
plaintiff's counsel interpreting my failure to respond as an
"admission of guilt," I cannot stand quiet any longer. Even though
the Appellate Court reversed the earlier decision, its impact was
still felt by me. Indeed, based on Judge Shook's findings, which
were based exclusively on plaintiffs "evidence," I was subjected
to a lawsuit concerning a matter to which I was not even remotely
connected. After this Court's predecessor's ruling, Gerald
Armstrong (one of Wollersheim's declarants) filed a lawsuit in
Nevada, concerning something a Scientologist in Texas allegedly
said about him. I was named as a defendant in that action based
solely on Judge Shook's finding that I control all aspects of
Scientology. This illustrates the real purpose of plaintiffs
instant motion - to create a finding that can be used to harass me
anywhere in the world, concerning anything allegedly done by any
Scientologist, at any time, under any circumstances. In this way,
they hope to substantially burden my ability to carry out my
functions as Chairman of RTC.
22. The aforementioned case was ultimately dismissed and
Armstrong was found not credible. Only later did I find out,
through the sworn deposition of Armstrong in another case, that he
had been paid $100,000 through FACTNet Inc., a computerized data
base created by Wollersheim to support anti-Scientology litigants,
and Robert Minton (director of or a member of the Board of
Directors of FACTNet) to bring that case against me. I am also
informed that it is Minton and FACTNet who have paid all of the
witnesses on behalf of Wollersheim here, as well s his attorneys,
and that Minton has a stake in the litigation himself. From my
perspective, anti-Scientologists' harassment of me merely because
of who I am, is ad enough. But it is particularly burdensome when
they make false statements about me in a legal proceeding for
compensation. In effect they are attempting to buy a judicial
finding with a barrage of purchased false testimony, not only
in an attempt to gain personal profit, but to gain an advantage
to further harass me
14
through erroneous legal findings based on their false testimony.
23. The personal attacks on me, as well as many other irrelevant
and malicious falsehoods that have been brought in this case, have
largely been introduced through declarations of Mr. Prince, Ms.
Young and Ms. Aznaran. All of them left Scientology years ago,
and have no personal knowledge of the current activities of me,
RTC, or any other part of Scientology. Neither Jesse Prince, Stacy
Young nor Vicki Aznaran ever worked with me or even near me during
the entire time I have been employed by RTC. They are all, however,
generally aware of the fact that, through the years, attempts to
malign me personally and create a false picture of the religion
with sensational allegations have been the stock-in-trade of
litigants opposing Scientology churches and the former
Scientologists upon whom counsel rely to swear to matters they
do not know and to make false allegations for which they have no
basis.
24. There is no question that I am prominent in the religion
of Scientology. Wollersheim and his declarants boldly assert this
stems from my relationship with Mr. Hubbard. After all, nobody
would question Mr. Hubbard's role in the religion as its Founder.
Having established that, they merely assert I took that same
position. However, even if true (and it is not), they fail to
explain how I could have come to that position. I am struck by how
the plaintiff's allegations can make the normal seem abnormal. I
am a dedicated Scientologist, true to the teachings of Mr. Hubbard,
and I am now responsible for the orthodoxy of the faith. Mr.
Hubbard has passed on from this life and it is not unusual that
somebody would be responsible for the orthodoxy of the religion
he founded. Yet plaintiff and his witnesses give sensationalized
testimony to make this sound corrupt or somehow improper. They do
so by attempting to translate the role of a founder of a religion
into a "Managing Agent," and then to allege I am the new "Managing
Agent."
15
They ignore the fact that Scientology is a thriving religion with
spiritual goals. Comparisons to secular business are offensive, yet
only in that context can plaintiff and his witnesses hurl their
accusations with any perceived credibility. Imagine the Dalai Lama
being referred to as the "Managing Agent" of Buddhism. It is more
than offensive - it's a mischaracterization, and one invented in
the context of civil litigants attempting to achieve windfall
judgments. Indeed, this mischaracterization began as a legal
strategy, and it continues to be employed to this day. I will
detail precisely how it came to be.
25. Scurrilous personal attacks against me launched by plaintiff
and his witnesses are part of a long history that began only after
I was perceived as someone who was trusted by Mr. Hubbard and had
the respect of Scientologists. Those who attack the religion had
long operated on a strategy of harassing Mr. Hubbard as a
litigation tactic. When they could not reach him, they targeted his
closest associates. This became endemic after Mr. Hubbard passed
away in early 1986, and from that time forward, I have become the
face in the bull's-eye for anti Scientologists. The sort of
scurrilous personal attacks launched by Wollersheim's counsel is
the latest in a pattern in litigation over the years. Plaintiff and
his witnesses have attempted to drag me into literally every piece
of litigation against, or brought by, any Scientology church or
parishioner.
26. The declarants in this case are part of a very small number
of individuals who attempted to take advantage of the religion at
times in its history when it was in upheaval. First, in the early
1980's when the Founder of the religion had gone into seclusion,
staff of the autonomous, and now disbanded Guardian's Office
("GO"), discredited Scientology's reputation internationally.
When some of their acts became public, attorneys and litigants
hoped to capitalize on the fallout and launched a wave of civil
suits. Second, in the mid-1980's, after the Founder had
16
passed away, there was an effort to alter the Scripture of the
religion. It was in this context that the actions of Vicki Aznaran,
Jesse Prince, Gerald Armstrong and Stacy Young were played out.
Now, funded by Wollersheim, they seek their retribution. Why they
have chosen to lie, and why they focus their lies on me personally,
begins with the dismantling of the GO.
BACKGROUND
27. As stated earlier, I joined the Sea Organization in 1976, at
the age of 16. I was obviously a devout Scientologist and, contrary
to what one might think, I was a first generation Scientologist.
That is, my involvement in the religion was not solely because it
was my parents' chosen religion. Rather, I was a major reason for
their becoming involved in Scientology in the first place. As a
child, I was ill much of the time, including chronic asthma. While
I was treated by many medical specialists, the symptoms never
ceased. It was because of this that I first came in contact with
the Scientology religion, and through its counseling - called
auditing - I was able to locate the spiritual factors affecting my
body. I no longer suffer from those maladies. Although the term is
often overused, it is not here - I experienced a miracle and as a
result decided to devote my life to the religion. By the time I was
13, I was a highly trained auditor. By the age of 15, I was Clear.
I attended public high school, where I was sickened by the
declining moral situation in the schools illustrated by rampant
drug use and I came to the realization that my future lay not in
the secular world, but in my religion. Thus, in 1976 when I turned
16, and of age to leave school, with my parents' consent, I left
home to pursue my calling as a church staff member. My family (all
Scientologists) remained in Philadelphia.
28. For the next several years, I was employed by Church of
Scientology of California. I worked in various capacities,
initially in Florida, at the Flag Land Base,
17
the religion's Mecca. By 1977, I was one of a few dozen staff
working in the same location as L. Ron Hubbard, in La Quinta,
California. At that time, Mr. Hubbard was establishing facilities
to make religious training films, that visually depicted the
practice of the religion. Among his many other accomplishments, Mr.
Hubbard was also a professional photographer and in the following
months, trained me in photography and I became the cameraman for
those films.
29. Later in 1979, I became one of Mr. Hubbard's messengers,
along with a dozen others, with duties much like that of an
executive assistant. Both as a cameraman and a messenger, I had
the opportunity to work closely with Mr. Hubbard several hours
a day. This was a period of great advancement in the religion of
Scientology. Mr. Hubbard, however, found that his time was so
occupied with film production and similar tasks, that he was unable
to pursue his role as the Founder and "Source" of the religion. In
the beginning of 1980, Mr. Hubbard went into self-imposed seclusion
to continue his Scientology researches, free from the distraction
of day-to-day affairs.
30. With Mr. Hubbard in seclusion, I went to work for the church
organization whose function was to ensure that the ecclesiastical
governance of the religion was in complete alignment with the
tenets of the religion. Throughout 1981, I was responsible for
directing missionaires to aid churches around the world in the
performance of their religious functions. I was subordinate to
several individuals in the church organization where I worked.
31. As a result of my duties in assisting churches to serve their
parishioners, the activities of the GO came to my attention. The GO
acted independently and was found to be responsible in many cases
for destabilizing churches. They had been taking ministerial staff
from churches and transferring them into the GO. Unlike
18
many church staff members, who worked full-time in Scientology
churches, living and eating in communal berthing and dining
facilities, most GO staff worked a 9-5 schedule. Many of these GO
staff moonlighted in personal businesses they had established. It
was discovered they were recruiting staff of various Scientology
churches to leave church staff to work in their private
businesses.
32. As mentioned, at that time I was involved solely in
missionary matters and had no responsibility for, or knowledge of,
legal affairs, public relations or finance. The evidence of GO
malfeasance in such affairs, however, came to my attention and the
attention of others working with me, including the existence of
lawsuits involving the GO and the Founder.
DISBANDING THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE
33. During the late 1970's to 1980, while producing religious
training films, as well as 1980 to his passing in 1986, while in
seclusion continuing his research and writing, Mr. Hubbard lived
away from his wife, Mary Sue. This point is important. While Mr.
Hubbard was the Founder of the religion, he did not hold any
corporate position. His role was the inspiration and Source of the
religion's teachings. Mrs. Hubbard was the head of the Guardian's
Office. As the Founder's wife she was, of course, held in high
regard in the religion. The GO was, in fact, answerable to no one
except those in the GO, and Mrs. Hubbard held the highest position
in the GO.
34. A description of the history, power and authority of the GO
is helpful in understanding the concerns raised by this office. The
GO was established in March of 1966 because legal and other
external-facing matters were consuming the time and resources of
churches of Scientology. In particular, those responsible for
the ministry of the religion in Scientology churches were being
distracted from their primary functions of ministering to the
spiritual needs of their expanding religious communities and
expanding their organizations. During the 1970's and early 1980's,
the GO operated as an entirely separate organization that dealt
with the legal affairs of all churches. The GO operated in
complete secrecy and conducted its affairs independently of
other church personnel.
35. My involvement in what ultimately resulted in disbanding
the GO arose from my position at the time. We forwarded a request
for information regarding legal affairs to the GO. We were informed
by GO executives that our request for information was not appreciated,
and that the GO was autonomous and had no intention of responding
to the request. Thus began an investigation of GO activities, which
would soon result in upheaval. While I was subordinate to several
persons in the church organization where I worked, there was no
mechanism to look into the GO, so the duties fell to me to supervise
missionaires to undertake the investigation into the many matters
of concern now coming to our attention.
36. In March 1981, in an unprecedented move, we sent people to
the GO headquarters in England to conduct an investigation. Access
to the GO had always been blocked to non-GO staff, but the GO in
England assumed we had authorization since no one until that time,
outside of GO staff, had the audacity to attempt to examine GO
affairs.
37. What that investigation uncovered confirmed our worst
suspicions. What the GO was doing sent a shock wave through the
rest of the church staff, including myself. For example, GO staff
had carried out illegal programs, such as the infiltration of
government offices for which 11 members of the GO were ultimately
prosecuted and convicted. There were also examples in which GO
staff had used unscrupulous means to deal with people they
perceived as enemies of the religion - means that were completely
against Scientology tenets and policy, not to mention the law.
Such treatment was also the GO's response to church staff members
who inquired into their activities or were perceived by the GO to
be interfering with GO affairs. The GO had grossly mismanaged the
legal affairs with which it had been entrusted and displayed a
disdain for the basic policies of Mr. Hubbard by which a Scientology
organization is supposed to be guided. Whatever else the GO was,
it was not Scientology, and it was not adhering to Scientology
policy. Moreover, the GO had withheld from the rest of the church
the darkest of its secrets - the criminal acts committed by GO
staff against the United States government and others. We only
learned of these crimes when we read copies of GO documents
attached as exhibits to court papers filed by litigation
adversaries. These documents had been removed by the GO from
its own files to continue to hide such criminality from other
Scientologists. While the FBI had seized these documents in a
1977 raid, the GO had obtained an order sealing these materials
from the public which, of course, included non-GO staff. During
a short period, the Court had lifted its sealing order and
litigation adversaries obtained copies. That is why we were only
able to start discovering these acts once we located, in GO files,
copies of pleadings of civil litigants attaching the evidence.
Indeed, they were kept a secret from all staff and parishioners
of Scientology churches.
38. When further investigation proved the documents to be
authentic, it was clear to us that we had no choice but to
dismantle the GO and persuade everyone who had violated religious
policy or the law to resign. These activities ultimately led to a
complete disbanding of the GO.
39. Those of us involved in the investigation of the GO briefed
several other longtime Scientologists; on staff, who were not part
of the GO, on the GO's criminal and other unethical conduct.
Together, we planned a series of missions to go into
21
the GO and reform it. In July, 1981, a matter of weeks after we had
uncovered what was going on, and with no advance warning to the GO,
a coordinated series of missions were sent out concurrently to
begin that process.
40. To reform the GO, we relied on our mutual beliefs and
dedication to the Scientology religion and its moral and ethical
codes to try to persuade the GO members that the policies of the
religion did not condone their conduct and, that for the sake of
the religion, they must resign. Before proceeding any further, the
agreement of the head of the GO had to be obtained. That task fell
to me. I personally met with and persuaded Mary Sue Hubbard to
resign from her position as the senior executive in the GO. I did
not, nor could I, fire her, and I certainly did not rely on my rank
in the Sea Organization as a measure of power or authority. At the
time I held one of the lower ranks in the Sea Organization; Mrs.
Hubbard was a Captain. At first, Mrs. Hubbard was not willing to
resign. Eventually she did so. However, the GO did not simply
capitulate.
41. Within a day of her resignation and as a result of protests
by GO staff, the resignation was revoked, accompanied by a
condemnation of the efforts to investigate and reform the GO.
Scores of GO staff responded, locking the missionaires out of their
premises. Ultimately, after some days, I was able to meet again
with Mrs. Hubbard and again persuaded her to resign for the good
of the religion. That ended the last vestige of GO resistance.
42. During the investigation of the GO, we discovered that senior
GO personnel were attempting to expand their authority through an
alliance with Laurel Sullivan, who headed what she called the "MCCS
project." Specifically, Sullivan ad been seeking advice from the
legal department of the GO and was making plans to establish new
trusts and for-profit entities to place even greater control of
22
churches of Scientology into the hands of the Guardian's Office to
extend the Gas power and dominance of the religion into the future.
This came at a time when several of these GO staff were defendants
in criminal proceedings and some were even expected to go to jail
in the near future. Sullivan's "MCCS" plan would have left them in
their positions, and in directorships of all church corporations,
while serving their sentences and established them in positions of
authority in the church structure upon their release.
43. As part of the GO clean-out, Sullivan was briefed on the
GO activities already uncovered. She responded that the GO was
completely justified in committing the criminal acts exposed by
the government and did not agree that the GO staff responsible for
these acts should be removed. She insisted the Guardian's Office
maintain total control of churches of Scientology, regardless of
what they had done. As a result, Sullivan became the subject of
internal ecclesiastical justice proceedings and her "MCCS project"
was disbanded along with the GO. Many allegations have been made
concerning the "MCCS project" and its role in the corporate
restructuring of churches of Scientology worldwide. Because of
my knowledge of the GO upheaval, and of Sullivan's involvement,
I personally know that no plans of the "MCCS project" were ever
implemented. In fact, documents that were later released revealed
that Sullivan, who left the religion shortly thereafter and became
an apostate in a splinter church of Scientology and an adverse
witness against Scientology churches and me, long ago admitted to
law enforcement officials that the corporate restructuring actually
impLemented was entirely different from that envisioned in her
"MCCS project."
44. As is true when any Scientologist has committed gross
violations of the religion's policy, the internal, ecclesiastical
justice system of Scientology is employed. That was precisely what
occurred with respect to GO staff whom the
23
investigation revealed to have breached policy. Following
adjudication in that system, they were removed from their staff
positions. Those who committed crimes were prosecuted and convicted
in the criminal courts.
45. Dismantling the GO had far-reaching ramifications for the
religion. While Scientology churches ministering to the training
of Scientology ministers had always come under the authority of
the religion's ecclesiastical management, the lower level churches
providing introductory Scientology services - called Missions - had
always been in the purview of the GO. Indeed, it was Mission tithes
that provided the GO with its funding. When the GO itself became
corrupt, it abdicated any responsibility for the Missions. The
investigation into the GO revealed that certain "Mission Holders"
(those in-charge of a Mission), were not operating in accordance
with Scientology policy. Whether the GO looked the other way as
long as the tithes kept coming, or merely failed to notice, never
became clear. What was clear was that any personal profit from
donations to Missions did not comport with the ethical codes of
the religion, let alone the law.
46. Following the disbanding of the GO, Bill Franks, a senior
church official at the time, aligned himself with these few corrupt
Mission Holders. In December of 1981, what began as a conference
conducted by Mr. Franks to address expansion plans for the religion
turned into a "mutiny" by these Mission Holders, angered by
directives to cease their financial misfeasance. In an attempt
to gain credibility, Mr. Franks announced to the Mission Holders
at this convention that it was he who had disbanded the GO. Of
course, the clean-out of the GO had been very popular with all
Scientologists who recognized what the GO had been doing was
contrary to the very aims of the religion. Having gained the
"trust" of the few corrupt Mission Holders, Mr. Franks then agreed
to their plans to make themselves an outside advisory board to
ecclesiastical management, and to seek funds from the
24
reserves of Scientology churches.
47. Until then I had never spoken publicly of the GO
investigation or disbanding. My actions were motivated only by
religious conviction. Nevertheless, word had filtered out and, as
a result, attendees at this convention challenged Franks and his
actions, citing my involvement in the GO disbandment Apparently
Franks admitted it was not he who had headed up the dean-out and
the Mission Holders asked me to attend their conference to give
a briefing on what had really happened with the GO. I did. As
for their attempt to grab power and money, I told them what any
Scientologist would have said: That they had to maintain personal
integrity and be true to the writings of L. Ron Hubbard, stop all
in-fighting and stop tying to personally profit from the religion.
Ms. Young mischaracterizes my participation as Master of Ceremonies
introducing others who gave briefings at a later Mission Holders
conference held in San Francisco, in 1982. I was invited to * San
Francisco conference due to my earlier role with- Mission Holders
in dispersing the Mission Holders' mutiny and because I was known
to them as a Scientologist true to the religion and the actual
teachings of its Founder.
48. Stacy Young points to the transcript of the San Francisco
Mission Holders Conference as "evidence" that I controlled the
entire hierarchy by virtue of my honorary Sea Org rank. The
transcript itself disproves Ms. Young's assertion. It clearly shows
my honorary rank at the time as Commander and also shows two other
speakers as Captains, both of whom outranked me. Moreover, contrary
to Ms. Young's characterization that the San Francisco Conference
suggests that corporate lines of authority were irrelevant, the
precise opposite is true.
49. Today, no one involved in the criminal activities of the
Guardian' s Office serves on the staff of any church of
Scientology. Lists were kept of the names of
25
individuals found to have been involved in illegal activities,
those who condoned the activities and those who were in a position
where they should have known and did nothing to stop the illegal
activity. Any such individuals who were found at that time to
be on staff were dismissed. Since that time, the policy in all
Scientology churches prohibits any individual involved in the
criminal activities of the GO from ever again serving on the staff
of any church of Scientology.
50. Insinuations to the contrary, this was not a "power push."
Our concerns were religious and we applied religious tenets to
rectify the situation. Of this, there can be no question. Other
than the unrepentant few, even the GO staff involved acknowledge
this. By way of example, following the GO disband, I remained
friends with Mrs. Hubbard who, as a Scientologist, recognized I
was acting for the benefit of the religion.
51. When the GO was disbanded, I returned to what I had been
doing. I did not "assume" a higher position. I had several direct
superiors. As to why I, and not they, initiated the clean-out of
the GO, I can only offer this: Everybody knew something had to be
done. There was, of course, great concern as to what would happen
should we fail. Certainly we would have been expelled from the
religion, but just as certainly we all knew that the GO did not
represent or act in accordance with the religion of our Founder. To
me, there was no choice. I was convinced there would be no religion
if we did not take action. In the end, I was willing to do so.
Others were not. This may be difficult to understand in anything
but a religious context. But to a member of the religion, it is not
difficult to grasp. Scientology Scripture was already clear on the
need for a high level of ethics. This represented the first time
since 1950 that Mr. Hubbard was not "on the scene," and
unfortunately, some saw it as their opportunity to gain personal
profit while others simply refused to take action to rectify the
situation.
26
52. While I did not promote my involvement in the matter, the
dismantling of the GO was an extremely significant event in the
history of the religion. As word began to filter out, and as a
result of having acted to protect the religion, I gained a great
deal of respect from Scientologists - both staff and parishioners
-who perceived me as someone who had acted to keep the religion
true to the ideals of its Founder. This was the beginning of a
series of events that made me the target of every
anti-Scientologist.
THE AFTERMATH OF THE GO
53. As already described, Mr. Hubbard was in seclusion,
researching and writing, and did not hear about the fate of the GO
until months later. Indeed, a few church staff were still concerned
about what he might think, particularly since his wife had been
involved. Those who were concerned, however, were those who took no
initiative and stood on the sidelines. Those allied to the GO like
Laurel Sullivan and Gerald Armstrong left church staff shortly
thereafter, as did the corrupt Mission Holders whose illicit
activities were curtailed. It seems they were more interested in
maintaining the status quo and their positions than in the actual
practice of the religion. Indeed, it was these persons - the ones
who did not act and the ones who insisted on preserving GO
authority despite the illegal Activities - who are the source of
the allegations made about me today, including the claims in this
litigation. Many of them joined splinter churches and made attempts
to take over the religion, literally, through litigation.
54. Ironically, those suits arose from the now-exposed conduct of
the Guardian's Office. Since the GO had been cleaned out, one would
have assumed the plaintiffs would be thankful. However, it soon
became apparent that money, not vindication, was their goal.
Indeed, most had never had any association with the GO. But the
sensational nature of the GO crimes was extremely useful in
27
creating a negative atmosphere for the churches. They would
repeatedly cite Go acts and then merely invent something done to
them to create a civil claim. As the GO had engaged in illicit
acts, they hoped courts would disbelieve the churches concerning
their claims. Unfortunately, in many cases, the courts were swayed.
Even more ironic was the fact that many of the individuals removed
during the GO clean-out still had designs on running the church,
and they aligned themselves with these litigants to testify against
Mr. Hubbard, Scientology churches and me regarding their
"knowledge" of GO acts - the ones they had committed or supported.
55. One of the most frequent and most inflammatory allegations
civil litigants have made is to allege that "Fair Game" is being
practiced today on the basis of what the GO did in the 1970's,
dredging up their illicit activities and falsely ascribing them to
those responsible for the GO's eradication. Since 1981, I have
heard allegations of "Fair Game" at least a thousand times, but I
had never heard the term in my life until I encountered it in civil
litigation. To this day, I have never heard the term used inside
the church. Nor have I ever heard it from anyone, including civil
litigants, who actually had anything like what the GO did actually
done to them. Let me be very clear about this. What the GO did was
not "Fair Game." What the GO did was illegal. No real Scientologist
would ever condone or even consider such conduct. Wollersheim,
along with his declarants, has resorted to making such generalized
"Fair Game" allegations by falsely ascribing GO-like conduct to
the people who are responsible for ridding Scientology of the GO.
He has done so not for the purpose of substance, as there is none
to such allegations, but rather for the purpose of stigmatizing my
religion and me.
56. The allegation that I or anyone else in the church behaves
like the GO is abhorrent. When we became aware of the GO's
activities we were even more
28
outraged than law enforcement officials and others outside the
church. The authorities indicted eleven people; we conducted
internal ecclesiastical justice proceedings that led to the
discharge of 800 people. We are not the GO; indeed, the only
involvement we ever had with the GO was to obliterate it. It is
unconscionable that accusations of ongoing GO-like activities
continue to be made, particularly when the accusers include GO
sympathizers.
57. Upon the dismantling of the GO, church executives within the
ecclesiastical hierarchy assumed responsibility for the legal
affairs which the GO had mishandled. This era was marked by great
concerns about the religion's future in the aftermath of the GO,
and it was against this backdrop that newly assigned personnel
began to examine the legal affairs that had been the exclusive
province of the GO for 15 years. Not being experienced in such
matters, they retained legal counsel to review the structure of the
entire religion. I know the concern was not "gutting CSC" to "avoid
Wollersheim," or anybody else for that matter. The history that
Wollersheim ignores concerned events of far greater importance than
his case. In fact, at the time, I had never even heard of the man.
I was not involved in that restructuring, but I am aware of the
events that led up to it. I shortly thereafter resigned from church
staff for 5 years, as described later in this declaration.
MR. HUBBARD'S RELIGIOUS LEGACY
58. When Mr. Hubbard finally did hear of the disbanding of
the GO, his reaction was twofold. On the one hand there was the
satisfaction that ethical Scientologists had shown initiative and
acted. In a later recorded message to Scientologists the world
over, he said these words: "So forgive me for not managing the
Church when it almost fell into hostile hands. "It all came out
alright.
29
Because real Scientologists made sure it did. My faith was
justified." On the other hand, Mr. Hubbard also expressed concern.
He had no intention or desire to become engaged in active church
management He was already 70 years old, and believed it was of
paramount importance that he complete his research into Man and the
Spirit. The actions of the GO and Mission Holders, and the inaction
of some ecclesiastical staff caused him great concern about the
future of the religion and how it would accomplish its mission in
his absence and when he was no longer alive in body.
59. Mr. Hubbard insisted on handling his own affairs with regard
to his relationship with the religion as its Founder. As the source
of the religion's Scriptures, Mr. Hubbard held the intellectual
property rights of Dianetics and Scientology, through the ownership
of both the religious trademarks and the copyrights to the
Scripture. To accomplish his goal in seeing to the future of the
religion he founded, Mr. Hubbard employed his own attorneys to be
the architects of his estate planning.
60. It was under these circumstances two brand new churches
came into being. While every religion accomplishes its objectives
and carries forth its spiritual mission through ecclesiastical
authority, they must also operate within the secular structure of
corporations in relating to the outside world. Rather than "mere
window dressing," as has been alleged by Wollersheim's declarants,
the need for real, precisely defined, distinct and rigid corporate
boundaries was of paramount importance to both the religion and to
Mr. Hubbard.
A)Having learned of GO corruption, and having learned that
several responsible persons in ecclesiastical management had
30
failed to act, Mr. Hubbard determined that the future of the
religion could not depend on a management body alone. Despite
clearly articulated Scripture on proper conduct and ethics within
Scientology churches, they had failed to apply that Scripture. Mr.
Hubbard reasoned 'that by virtue of being involved in day-to-day
activity - be it internal affairs, or handling external affairs
such as legal, public relations and financial matters - staff would
be subjected to the pressures and the give and take of performance
expectations and routine flaps that any corporation confronts and
might "cut comers" with regard to the purely orthodox concerns of
Scientology. Scientology is a unique religion in that a great deal
of its practice includes the application of its principles in
one-on-one spiritual counseling, called auditing. Indeed, this
along with training on the subject to become an auditor, are the
central practices of Scientology. This application, in addition to
the theological purity of the religion as set forth in books and
recorded lectures, is what is meant by the orthodoxy of the
religion. To ensure he could maintain the standard and orthodox
practice of the religion, Mr. Hubbard had registered all of the
Dianetics and Scientology trademarks. While ecclesiastical means
would most often suffice to see to orthodoxy, trademarks also
provided a legal means to prevent unorthodox use. Over the years,
many individuals had attempted to create splinter churches of
Scientology, using a perverted version of the subject. Through the
legal power of the trademarks, such offshoots could be prevented or
at least prevented from misleading people by representing
themselves as orthodox Scientology. Mr. Hubbard
31
had no desire to be personally responsible for enforcement of these
trademarks, and so decided to donate them to the religion. But,
for the reasons given above, he insisted that any church to which
he donated them be entirely independent of any management body
involved in the day-to-day affairs of ministering to the religion
and its parishioners. Religious Technology Center was created for
this reason - to receive the Dianetics and Scientology trademarks
and thus be responsible only for orthodoxy.
B) Mr. Hubbard also wanted to ensure his copyrights to the
extensive library of Scientology Scripture would be used for the
benefit of the religion, and not for the benefit of any one person
or persons. Indeed, Mr. Hubbard's wife and children are devout
Scientologists and they recognized his role as Founder of their
religion. And again, while ecclesiastical means would usually be
all that was needed to maintain orthodoxy, Mr. Hubbard had always
employed the copyright laws as a means to legally enforce his
rights to prevent alteration of his materials by others. Further,
Mr. Hubbard had long spoken of archiving the Scriptures of
Scientology in the event of catastrophe. However., despite numerous
plans and directives over a period of decades to do so, nothing
significant had ever been accomplished. Harking back to the concern
for the future of the religion, in light of events in the early
1980's, Mr. Hubbard further reasoned that yet another independent
church body should receive his copyrights. Even though RTC would be
the recipient of his trademarks, and charged only with the orthodox
application of
32
the religion, Mr. Hubbard felt that even those duties could
distract them from the ultimate preservation of the religion
through archiving its materials in indestructible form. In an
abundance of caution, should any church organization be corrupted
again, he determined that no church should hold both the copyrights
and trademarks. While RTC would be separate from the ecclesiastical
hierarchy, it would still be engaged in duties necessary to keep
the religion pure, including litigation to enforce the trademarks
where needed. Thus, to receive his copyrights, Church of Spiritual
Technology ("CST") was formed. CST's function is purely archival
in nature. CST preserves the written Scripture on stainless steel
plates, the recorded word on nickel plated recordings, and places
all of it in titanium containers stored in vaults constructed to
withstand nuclear explosions or other cataclysmic events. CST also
stands as the ultimate safeguard of the Scientology religion should
the entire religion, even RTC, ever deviate from the pure
Scientology religious teachings.
61. The GO had already demonstrated the danger of corrupt
officials. While powers of persuasion and internal ecclesiastical
justice procedures had corrected the GO problem, this "safeguard"
was considered insufficient should a similar problem recur in
the future. Mr. Hubbard reasoned that involvement in day-to-day
affairs was the only way any individual could ever be seduced into
unethical activity. Hence, Mr. Hubbard suggested that these new
church corporations should have Trustees. As Trustees, they would
have no authority in the conduct of corporate affairs, with neither
the ability to give orders or directions, nor perform any corporate
activities whatsoever. Their only authority would be to appoint or
33
remove directors. Since they would not be involved in corporate
affairs if it was expected they would not become involved in any
potential corporate malfeasance or dereliction of corporate duties
and bylaws. Since there would be several Trustees if no individual
Trustee could subvert the corporate structure or Board of Directors
by moving themselves into a position as a Director. As a result,
there would be layers of safeguards ensuring corporate integrity,
while also providing a mechanism to ensure no church could ever
again be corrupted without a mechanism for rectifying the problem.
62. Unlike me, Wollersheim's declarants do not speak from
personal knowledge. Neither Stacy Young or Jesse Prince were
involved in any of these matters. I never met either of them until
well after these events. The restructuring of other churches of
Scientology beyond RTC and CST was not part of Mr. Hubbard's estate
plan, although it evolved out of the same circumstances detailed
above and a desire to ensure the future of the religion, not just
following the death of its Founder,, but for all time.
63. RTC, the church I now head, not only did not come out of CSC,
but in fact was a brand new organization, established precisely
because the role it is charged with performing did not exist in
the religion and the religion almost collapsed because no church
performed that function.
64. Perhaps the most telling indication that the allegations
made by Wollersheim are false, is the recognition of the tax-exempt
status of all Scientology churches in the United States by the
IRS. The IRS concerns arose from precisely the same allegations
Wollersheim makes here. That is not surprising because the same
individuals made the same allegations to the IRS. It was because of
these false allegations, made year after year, in 1991 the churches
were subjected to two years
34
of extensive inquiry and examination of their corporate affairs by
the IRS, including inspection of church premises, corporate books
and financial records. The churches did so to put an end to these
false allegations once and for all. Upon actual inspection and
review, the IRS considered and rejected virtually all of the same
allegations that are now being made in this case.
AUTHOR SERVICES, INC ("ASI")
65. During the entire time period covered by the Wollersheim
trial and a year beyond, I was not employed by RTC, or any of the
churches of Scientology.
66. During the period through 1980 and 1981, while in seclusion,
Mr. Hubbard was engaged in researches and writings. As part of his
activities during that period, and for the first time since 1950,
Mr. Hubbard also returned to the field of fiction writing, with
the novel Battleffeld Earth. 1980 had marked his golden anniversary
as a professional writer and, away from the distractions of
daily church activity, it was the first time since 1950 and the
publication of Dianetics that he found himself with spare time on
his hands. In the time between his more serious researches, he
wrote a novel. He describes the circumstances in the introduction
to that book which I have appended to this declaration. [Ex. D.]
Following completion of that novel, he began another and ultimately
wrote 10 more in the following 2 years.
67. A primary concern of Mr. Hubbard's was that his personal
affairs be handled independently of any church activities. Mr.
Hubbard further recognized that church staff could not assist
with the publication and distribution of his fiction works, as
contrasted to his religious works. Additionally, concerns had
been raised by the IRS regarding Mr. Hubbard's relationship to
Scientology churches. Mr. Hubbard not only wished to have his
personal affairs managed, but also to end any
35
concerns about his relationship to Scientology churches.
Accordingly, his personal attorneys advised and were the architects
of a for-profit corporation that addressed these needs. Thus, in
late 1981, ASI was formed to manage the personal, business and
literary affairs of L. Ron Hubbard, including his financial and
legal matters.
68. As I was a trusted friend and associate of Mr. Hubbard, I
was offered the opportunity to be part of this new endeavor. I
considered it the highest honor to work directly for Mr. Hubbard,
and beginning in 1982, devoted my full time and attention to Mr.
Hubbard's personal affairs as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
of the Board of ASI. My time through 1987 was completely devoted to
his affairs. Among other duties, I supervised the publication and
distribution of Battlefield Earth, which went on to become an
international bestseller. This was followed by his next work of
fiction, the Mission Earth series, a series comprised of 10
volumes, each of which ultimately achieved international bestseller
status. ASI was also responsible for managing Mr. Hubbard's
finances and accounting. Our duties also included the handling of
his legal affairs.
69. Part of ASI's responsibility for Mr. Hubbard's legal affairs
included civil litigation naming Mr. Hubbard as a defendant. During
this time period, a number of apostate Scientologists, represented
by a handful of lawyers, brought suit against various churches
of Scientology, naming L. Ron Hubbard as a co defendant. At Mr.
Hubbard's direction, ASI retained and paid lawyers to represent his
interests, separate and distinct from any church representation.
While it would not have been improper for churches of Scientology
to defend their Founder in actions concerning the practice of the
religion, Mr. Hubbard insisted his affairs be handled separately
from Scientology churches. Furthermore, it was during this time
period, and as a result of litigation strategies employed by the
plaintiffs in these actions to target Mr. Hubbard, that the
allegations raised today, by
36
Wollersheim, originated. As I was a trusted associate of Mr.
Hubbard, I became a primary target of these civil litigants, most
of whom I had never heard of.
70. The first episode resulted in an FBI investigation and a
bogus lawsuit, for which I was innocent and exonerated. It came
as a result of a litigation strategy to capitalize on Mr. Hubbard's
seclusion and desire for privacy in the latter years of his life.
Shortly after I became Chief Executive Officer of ASI, a call came
in to ASI from a New England-based bank. The caller was attempting
to verify whether a check purportedly signed by Mr. Hubbard should
be cleared. It was written to an individual with an unfamiliar
name. As ASI prepared all of Mr. Hubbard's checks for signature,
and as we knew we had drafted no such check, I told the bank it
should not be cashed and that it was undoubtedly a forgery. Most
disturbing was the size of the check and that it almost matched the
precise balance of Mr. Hubbard's funds in that particular account.
The matter of this forged check, however, assumed even greater
proportions when a so-called "probate" action was commenced against
the "estate" of L. Ron Hubbard. The attorney who brought this
action to "protect" Mr. Hubbard's estate was the very same attorney
(Michael Flynn of Boston) who was suing Mr. Hubbard in several
dozen civil lawsuits. The "missing person" probate action was
brought on behalf of Ron DeWolf, L. Ron Hubbard's estranged son
(estranged for over 25 years at the time), who had long since been
disinherited. The claim in this action alleged Mr. Hubbard's estate
was being looted by me, and that DeWoff should be appointed to
"protect" it. In addition to incredible allegations about
non-existent financial rip-offs by me of "gemstones" and cash,
attorney Flynn asserted part of my "rip-off" of Mr. Hubbard's
estate were intellectual properties Mr. Hubbard had donated to the
religion. Here was the very attorney whose clients were making
scandalous claims about Mr. Hubbard, in the most outrageous and
prejudicial manner in their lawsuits, suddenly bringing a probate
action to "protect" his estate. The probate
37
action also accused me of holding Mr. Hubbard captive to control
his estate. This entire matter received widespread media coverage
in major newspapers including the New York Times, and on national
TV magazine shows, including 20/20. These events caused me great
personal distress. It was inconceivable to me how avowed enemies
of Mr. Hubbard could level such sensational charges against me
and others, who were his actual friends and associates.
71. To buttress the false claims that Mr. Hubbard's estate was
being looted, DeWolf and his lawyer made reference to the forged
check mentioned above. I had no idea how they were aware there had
been an attempt to pass a forged check on Mr. Hubbard's account.
Upon examining the facts we were able to develop, we learned that
the bank had informed the FBI about the forged check, and that the
first and only person the FBI contacted for information was Flynn,
who told the FBI that L one of Mr. Hubbard's closest and trusted
friends, was the most likely candidate to have committed the
forgery. As a result, I became the target of an FBI investigation.
Ultimately, the investigation ended and DeWolfs probate action
was dismissed, but only when Mr. Hubbard filed a handwritten
declaration, using special ink that could be dated, and impressed
with his thumb print, establishing that his assets were under
his personal control. Ultimately, Mr. Hubbard had to come to my
defense, stating in part. "I wish to take this opportunity to
communicate my unequivocal confidence in David Miscavige, who is
a longtime devoted Scientologist, a trusted associate and a good
friend to me. Any activities which he may have engaged in at any
time concerning my personal or business affairs have been done with
my knowledge and authorization and for my benefit. The charges that
he is organizing theft of my assets are completely false and not
worthy of further comment than that."
38
72. Upon the dismissal of the probate action, DeWolf s attorney
announced that his "real" purpose in bringing the probate action
had been to force Mr. Hubbard out of seclusion so he could be
served in the civil damages cases he had filed. The idea was
simple. Aware that Mr. Hubbard wanted to maintain his privacy and
seclusion, the lawyer would notice Mr. Hubbard's deposition as both
an individual and as a "managing agent" of Scientology churches.
Default or settlement then would follow a managing agent finding
and non-appearance. This is the genesis of the "managing agent"
allegation Wollersheim offers today, and which was never anything
more than a litigation tactic. It was to be employed against Mr.
Hubbard and Scientology churches until Mr. Hubbard's death, and
because of my association with Mr. Hubbard, being responsible for
his legal affairs through Author Services, Inc., the allegation
now included me.
73. During this same time, several apostates began establishing
splinter groups to offer altered versions of Scientology. Wishing
to justify their actions, they actually claimed to be doing what
Mr. Hubbard wanted. In substance, while engaging in activities that
were anathema to the religion, they positioned themselves as the
truthful Scientology, "loyal to its Founder."
74. Hearing of these splinter groups, and their false allegations
of his support, Mr. Hubbard announced in a tape recorded message to
Scientologists, his views concerning them. As part of that message,
he publicly announced his donation of the trademarks to RTC. He
described efforts by individuals over the years to engage in a
power push for their own profit and told Scientologists to only
support churches in good standing with RTC.
75. With their false status exposed in the eyes of
Scientologists, their actual motives soon became apparent. Rather
than reconciling with the religion, they
39
continued their splinter activities, joining up with civil
litigants in their attacks on Mr. Hubbard and churches of
Scientology. Their object was to gain control of the churches
for their personal power and enrichment, and I mean that quite
literally.
76. The resultant attempts to harass me in litigation extended to
not just creating false allegations, but false documents as well.
In 1984, a former church staff member then employed by one of those
splinter groups, created a document entitled SMASH SQUIRRELS PJT.
This forged document, allegedly written by me, purported to show
that the taped message by Mr. Hubbard denouncing their movement was
actually created by me through use of a digital sampling device.
Putting aside that lie, no digital sampling device was, or is to
this day, capable of accomplishing such a task. Moreover, the
digital device referred to, and by which I allegedly accomplished
this impersonation of Mr. Hubbard's voice, was an early generation
musical. instrument, capable of replicating a short sample of
natural sounds for use in playing music. Notwithstanding the
absurdity of the allegation, the ramifications of this forgery
had a severe impact on me. It implied I intended some form of
harassment of apostate Scientologists (colloquially called
"SQUIRRELS" in Scientology). The document was widely circulated to
Scientologists and to the government in an attempt to discredit me.
It also was circulated by civil litigants, and continuously used
against me in litigation. I had to fight this issue for years,
until the document was examined in 1993 in a Freedom of Information
Act case, Miscavige v. IRS, No. CV 88-7341 TJH (C.D. Cal.) by
Special Master Jack Tenner, who found that it was, in fact, a
forgery. That conclusion was affirmed in an order issued by Judge
Terry J. Hatter of the United States District Court for the Central
District of California. [Ex. E, order of Judge Hatter.]
77. At the beginning of 1984, I became the target of an IRS-CID
investigation, which did not conclude until 1986, based on
allegations by those apostates and
40
civil litigants. Chief among the allegations were the forged
SQUASH SQUIRRELS PJT and assertions that the "MCCS" Project had
fraudulently reorganized the Scientology corporate structure -
the precise allegation, long since disproven, being alleged by
Wollersheim today.
78. The CID's investigation was ultimately rejected out of hand
by the Justice Department. Its religiously motivated bias was
abundantly clear when reviewed by objective law enforcement. The
CID had alleged I participated in a conspiracy to defraud the IRS
beginning in the year 1966. I was 6 years old in 1966. All the
allegations made by those apostates were found baseless, including
allegations of corporate irregularities stemming from MCCS,
allegations of financial irregularities between Scientology
churches and Mr. Hubbard, allegations of corporate control,
literally, the exact allegations being forwarded today by
Wollersheim and his declarants.
79. During this CID investigation, I was represented by my own
counsel, Gerald Feffer of Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C.
He has written a declaration confirming the final resolution of
this CID investigation.
80. As to why or how these declarants can make the allegations
today, I can only offer that they have merely looked up old
"testimony" and re-written it, changing but a few words to make
it sound "new."
81. The magnitude of this investigation alone illustrates the
level of scrutiny I was subjected to. Through the FOIA I was
finally able to gain access to my files. The IRS dossier on me
comprised an accumulation of over 100,000 pages of documents - the
largest in the Service's history, on any individual ever. Those
documents encompassed every allegation imaginable - including the
allegations
41
repeated in this case - and the result was my complete exoneration.
82. Throughout this time period, and while serving as the primary
witnesses for the CID investigation, civil litigants continued to
press forward their litigation naming both Scientology churches and
L. Ron Hubbard. Every single one of these cases, without exception,
operated on the strategy of naming Mr. Hubbard as the h, managing
agent" of all churches of Scientology. The single deposition they
asked for was his, with the full knowledge that Mr. Hubbard was in
seclusion and would not appear, and thus they could ask for a
default judgment. While my interests were those of L. Ron Hubbard
personally, it was obvious to see how this tactic was employed to
harm church defendants as well. It was not only Mr. Hubbard that
would default, but also the church defendants themselves pursuant
to their allegation he was their managing agent. Wollersheim was no
exception to this strategy, at that time. Again, while litigants
enjoyed some initial success through this strategy, it too was
ultimately disproved.
83. While Mr. Hubbard did communicate with ASI and Scientology
churches periodically between 1981 and 1984, his communications
were infrequent and unpredictable. There were months at a time when
no communications were received. Only Mr. Hubbard could initiate
the communication. His whereabouts and location were unknown.
Moreover, from early 1984, until his death, L. Ron Hubbard had no
further communication with anybody on church staff in any capacity.
No telephone calls, no telexes, no computer communication, no
written despatches, nothing. Having already completed and forwarded
his fiction manuscripts to ASI and having completed his estate
planning, he devoted the rest of his time to his Scientology
researches in the final years of his life. He traveled throughout
California and Washington in a motor home and settled at a ranch
in Creston, California. Nobody in any church knew where he lived
or had any idea of
42
how to contact him. Indeed, the only "communication" to the
churches from Mr. Hubbard was a tape recorded message to
Scientology parishioners for replay at the New Year's event
December 31, 1985. It was approximately 5 minutes in length wherein
he gave his New Year's greetings and announced a breakthrough in
his Scientology researches.
84. Mr. Hubbard's communications to ASI during this period were
very limited, and only concerned personal affairs requiring his
attention, such as tax filings. I would estimate the total number
of communications from Mr. Hubbard to ASI during this period from
1984 to 1986 to be half a dozen. At no time did ASI have the
ability to contact Mr. Hubbard, and I personally was unaware of
his location.
85. Because of Mr. Hubbard's absence, ASI's functions became more
intensive, with greater responsibilities in conducting his personal
affairs. Another ASI staff member - not me - held a power of
attorney on behalf of Mr. Hubbard enabling us to conduct almost
all his business affairs without need of his direction or personal
approval.
86. Although ancient, Wollersheim is again using the same tactic,
this time through his witness Jesse Prince. To say L. Ron Hubbard
ran the church until his death at which point I assumed command is
simply untrue. As evidence that the allegation concerning Mr.
Hubbard's control as "managing agent" was judicially rejected, I
attach a court ruling by Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer, District Court
Judge, for the Central District of California. [Ex. F.] In that
ruling she states: "2. Although there is evidence that L. Ron
Hubbard is the Founder of the religion of Scientology and is
accorded reverence and respect by Scientologists, Defendants have
43
failed to sustain the burden of showing that L. Ron Hubbard has
been an officer, director or managing agent of any corporate
Plaintiff at any time relevant under Rule 30 F.R.C.P., or during
the period commencing with the so called Robin Scott theft in
Denmark on December 9, 1983 to the present." It also should be noted
this order was issued in a case where RTC was the plaintiff and the
apostate Scientologist defendants (who had stolen confidential
Scripture from a Scientology church in Europe) were attempting to
"defend" the case through use of the "managing agent" tactic.
87. While at ASI, and during Mr. Hubbard's life, I dealt with ASI
matters. I simply had no time for anything else. Subsequent to Mr.
Hubbard's death on January 24, 1986, I assisted the Executor of Mr.
Hubbard's estate in preparing the voluminous inventory of all of
Mr. Hubbard's works. The list of Mr. Hubbard's copyrighted works
alone - comprising close to 20,000 individual works - exceeded 800
pages.
88. To the degree I, or anyone at ASI was involved in litigation,
it was in defense of suits brought against Mr. Hubbard. To the
extent these suits in any way related to churches of Scientology,
that was a byproduct of civil litigants including both churches and
Mr. Hubbard as defendants in the same suit. The best illustration
of this were claims brought against Mr. Hubbard's estate following
his death. As part of our assistance to the Executor in
administering Mr. Hubbard's estate, we successfully defeated 14
separate legal challenges to the Estate. I have attached these
dismissals as exhibits. [Ex. G.] While their names will not all be
familiar, all except one concerned apostate litigation. Even Mr.
Flynn, the attorney for most anti-Scientology litigants, is listed.
44
WOLLERSHEIM ALLEGATIONS CONCERNING ASI
89. Wollersheim alleges that while at ASI, I directed the
litigation of his case. As already sworn to above, I never had a
single thing to do with CSCs defense in the litigation of Mr.
Wollersheim's case. What he fails to tell the Court, however, is
his complaint named Mr. Hubbard as a defendant. On October 31, 1984,
his attorney moved to serve Mr. Hubbard. Despite Mr. Hubbard's well
known unavailability, his attorney attempted to argue service
should be granted. And what basis did he provide to support this
claim- The fraudulent "missing persons" probate action brought
earlier by Mr. Flynn on behalf of Mr. Hubbard's estranged son.
After quoting from Mr. Hubbard's declaration defending me in that
case, Wollersheim's attorney stated:
"He was obviously aware that the Court indicated that
unless he appeared or filed a sworn declaration he would
be declared missing."
In other words, Wollersheim's attorney took Mr. Hubbard's precise
defense of me against the false charges of looting his "estate" in
the "missing person" case and turned it on Mr. Hubbard in an effort
to draw him into this case. Within that same filing are statements
concerning my relationship with Mr. Hubbard as CEO of ASI:
"The head of Author Services, Inc. is the acknowledged
agent of L. Ron Hubbard. L. Ron Hubbard stated David
Miscavige's actual agency for him in his declaration filed
In re: Estate of Hubbard."
[Ex. H.] This is the sort of harassment Wollersheim has been
engaged in. Partake in vicious and false accusations that I looted
Mr. Hubbard's estate and when Mr. Hubbard is forced to confirm it
is not so, now allege an agency relationship because now L. Ron
Hubbard is not only not missing, but is managing everything. The
contrary positions cannot be reconciled. Indeed, the Court denied
Wollersheim's motion, granting a motion to dismiss L. Ron Hubbard
as:
45
"...Hubbard was not served within the three years of issuance of
Summons,..." [Ex. I]
90. In light of the Court's ruling dismissing Mr. Hubbard in
April of 1985, it is inconceivable to me how Wollersheim. can
attempt to drag me into this litigation 14 years after a court
already dismissed Mr. Hubbard, when Wollersheim raised the exact
allegations of Mr. Hubbard and myself, 14 years ago. While many
false allegations have been leveled at me, one thing that cannot be
disputed is that I worked for Mr. Hubbard personally in my capacity
at ASI. It was ASI for whom I worked during this litigation, not
RTC. He is being disingenuous with this Court regarding his
previous unsuccessful litigation efforts. Today he raises the same
ones, calls them "new" and hopes for a different result. Moreover,
it is more than oppressive for the corporation for whom I now work,
to be subjected to claims based on my alleged acts in another
corporation which had already been rejected before I even joined
RTC.
91. A great deal has been made about my attendance at the trial
of this matter. I never attended a single day of trial. My only
interest in the case was to protect the rights of Mr. Hubbard, who
had been dismissed prior to trial. However, ' the original $30
million verdict in the Wollersheim case was an outrage. It was
offensive to every Scientologist and considered a very real threat
to the religion. Their concerns were well founded as the appellate
court recognized in substantially reducing the judgment. The scope
of this decision went well beyond its monetary impact. Thousands of
Scientologists came to downtown Los Angeles and into the halls of
the courthouse to express their concern and to peacefully protest
the judgment as what they perceived as an attack on freedom of
religion. In this vein, I attended a single day of post judgment
argument. Many other prominent, longstanding Scientologists; were
also in the courtroom, including
46
celebrities such as John Travolta.
92. As a final outrage, Wollersheim's attorneys - Charles
O'Reilly and Leta Schlosser - allege that I threatened them in the
courthouse elevator. The exact circumstances are these: While
waiting by the elevator, I was standing with another Scientologist.
Mr. O'Reilly and Ms. Schlosser were accompanied by a very large
body guard. I do not know his name. When the elevator doors opened,
I stood waiting for Ms. Schlosser to enter first, out of common
courtesy. O'Reilly's body guard said loudly, "Let the midget go
first," in reference to my size (56"). I ignored his comment and
rode down the elevator in silence. End of story. This incident was
memorable to me given the circumstances of having just heard Mr.
O'Reilly speak about my religion in the most offensive manner
possible and about what a victim his client was due to church
"abuse" and having those claims followed almost at once by the
astounding act of rudeness I have just described. Frankly, I cannot
believe they brought it up. Despite the personal insult, I consider
the incident one that any grown adult does not lose sleep over.
93. The only connection I ever had to litigation involving
churches of Scientology, while employed by Author Services, Inc.,
were those cases where apostate Scientologists sued both churches
of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard. My entire role in any of those
matters was in defense of Mr. Hubbard, as an individual, through
use of independent legal counsel employed and paid for by Mr.
Hubbard. Yet because litigants sued both Mr. Hubbard and churches
of Scientology, they now allege I was involved in "church
litigation." It is they who put me in a position of having no
choice but to become involved through my responsibilities in
defending Mr. Hubbard in those suits which they brought.
47
MY ROLE FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF MR. HUBBARD
94. Following Mr. Hubbard's death, I continued my work at ASI. I
had no plans relative to any other position and I certainly did not
"take over" the religion. I continued in my position at ASI. The
various ecclesiastical bodies and their personnel continued to
carry out their religious duties and functions as they had prior
to Mr. Hubbard's death. This was not surprising to me or, to my
knowledge, anybody in the religion because, while accusations were
being leveled by civil litigants up until the day of his death that
Mr. Hubbard was running the affairs of all Scientology churches and
was their managing agent, we knew such assertions were untrue. Had
their allegations been true, everything would have come to a
standstill and the religion of Scientology would be no more. Things
did not come to a standstill, and the Scientology religion is
larger than ever.
95. The probate of Mr. Hubbard's Estate was of great importance
to me, to all of ASI, and indeed, to the entire religion of
Scientology. Fulfilling Mr. Hubbard's final wishes meant seeing
that his legacy of the Scientology Scripture passed to Church of
Spiritual Technology.
MY ROLE IN RTC
96. Unfortunately, and despite the good intentions of the great
majority, and contrary to any desire of my own, it was not long
before some individuals did again begin to engage in acts that
threatened the survival of the religion and where I was compelled
to act.
97. I had served as one of the Trustees of RTC, since its
inception. My only duties as Trustee were to appoint or remove
directors. We held no other corporate power. In all that time we
had removed only two directors because of personal problems they
needed to tend to, as opposed to any corporate malfeasance. Since
48
that time, RTC directors had served continuously. Two of the board
members were Vicki Aznaran and Jesse Prince.
98. Their duties, of course, were to see to the purity of the
religion. Yet in the winter of 1986, a situation regarding an
individual working with Aznaran and Prince to alter Scripture came
to my attention because that person was an employee of the Estate,
and was helping care for the ranch property in Creston, California
where Mr. Hubbard lived until his death. They not only were in
telephonic communication but, in the case of Aznaran, had even
traveled to this ranch location, hundreds of miles from her RTC
offices. I was not immediately aware of this, since I was located
in Los Angeles and was also hundreds of miles away from the
location. Inquiring into the matter, I soon learned this individual
was pretending to have "special data" concerning Scientology and
had begun a project to change the "Scientology Grade Chart." This
chart lists the various steps of ascent to total spiritual freedom,
with the exact steps of religious training and auditing to achieve
these higher levels of awareness. [See What Is Scientology?, Ch. 6
p. 179, Ex. J.] This chart is central to the practice of the
religion. As such, it is sacrosanct. Moreover, I also discovered
this individual had plans to direct RTC and other churches.
99. This, of course, was entirely contrary to the authority
vested in RTC. Alteration of Scripture is what RTC is charged with
preventing. Yet Aznaran and .Prince were not only abrogating those
responsibilities, but assisting in this severe violation.
100. As the individual instigating these violations was employed
by the Estate, my first action was to see him with ASI attorneys,
to put an end to the phone calls, meetings and any other
inappropriate lines of communication offering direction to
49
church members. I also informed him that if he wished to be
involved in church management affairs he would have to leave the
employ of the Estate and join staff at the Church of Scientology
International.
101. Ironically, this individual then tried to use his honorary
rank in the Sea Org to claim some higher authority. Contrary to
Prince's allegations about Sea Org control, I told him I cared
nothing about his rank (which was higher than mine), and his
activities would not be condoned.
102. The manner in which this person attempted to gain a position
of "Source" was by claiming to know things Mr. Hubbard wished to be
done, that Mr. Hubbard had never articulated or written down. This
sort of claim has always been frowned upon in the Scientology
religion. Indeed, during Mr. Hubbard's life, many persons who had
met him would claim to have some "inside" line as regards to Mr.
Hubbard's thoughts or intentions. Therefore, Mr. Hubbard wrote a
Policy Letter called "Hidden Data Line," outlawing this practice in
the Scientology religion, even during his life. Mr. Hubbard always
communicated anything he wished to say to Scientologists, or about
any important matter, in writing. Hence came the slogan as regards
Scientology's doctrine, "If it is not in writing, it is not true."
Only a small handful of people listened to this individual's
explanation for his supposed authority - that handful included
Vicki Aznaran and Jesse Prince. It also included Stacy Young and
her then husband, Vaughn.
103. Following this, I was later to discover the individual who
wanted to control the religion arranged a surreptitious meeting
with Vicki Aznaran to plot how he could covertly direct affairs of
various churches, write new Scripture, copyright it in his name,
and altogether avoid corporate lines of authority within the
ecclesiastical hierarchy. He went so far as to arrange a
surreptitious meeting
50
with an attorney who represented RTC to see how this could be done.
The attorney refused to abide by his wishes and insisted what he
was suggesting was entirely improper and not in accordance with Mr.
Hubbard's Estate plan or the corporate affairs of the church. I
later found out that Aznaran and this individual had again met
surreptitiously and they decided they would go forward with their
plan. They even went so far as discussing how they could copyright
religious writings into this individual's name and thus provide him
with income.
104. The following week I saw Prince in Florida, where I was to
speak at a New Year's event. I had been expecting Aznaran and asked
Prince where she was and why was he there instead. After a little
probing, Mr. Prince informed me that Aznaran was again with this
individual working on "new" Scientology writings. It appeared to me
Prince was truly concerned about the matter, at one point breaking
down in tears while explaining he didn't know what to do. I tried
to be as compassionate as possible and advised him that as an RTC
executive he had a responsibility and the authority, to maintain
the purity of the religion.
105. I ultimately was to discover the individual attempting to
set himself up as the new "source" had even initiated plans to give
lectures, to be recorded and made part of Scientology Scripture,
as well as filmed lectures to modify church orthodoxy. To a
Scientologist, this is utter heresy as only L. Ron Hubbard's own
words as he wrote or said them can ever be the Scripture of the
religion. This was also the very threat to the religion Mr. Hubbard
had predicted when formulating his estate planning - the religion
losing its purity through subversion and alteration of the
teachings of the Founder. RTC was essential to Mr. Hubbard's plans
to prevent this from occurring, yet one of its Directors (Aznaran)
was actively participating in this violation, while another
(Prince) was condoning it.
51
106. Because these violations were of such a serious nature, I
and other RTC Trustees had no choice but to take action and remove
Vicki Aznaran and Jesse Prince from their corporate positions.
107. Aznaran herself has testified to the reason for her removal
- allowing false "scriptures" to be presented as the authentic
writings of Mr. Hubbard when she knew they were not.
108. In the midst of the removal of Aznaran and Prince, and the
further discoveries detailed above, I was asked by the staff of RTC
to become RTC's Chairman. It was not a position I sought or
desired. Unlike those who evidently equated religious commitment
with power - as evidenced by them leaving the religion of
Scientology when their actions led to their removal - I was very
happy at ASI and was looking forward to helping in the handling
of Mr. Hubbard's estate and seeing to the publication of his many
yet-to-be released books. It soon became clear to me, however,
that regardless of my personal desires and wishes, this was a
responsibility I could not abandon. Following the death of
the religion's Founder, there was no greater concern to all
Scientologists than the purity of the religion. Thus, I permanently
resigned from ASI and upon the vote of the Trustees of RTC, assumed
the position of Chairman.
109. The prominence I have in the religion today comes from the
actions I have undertaken since becoming Chairman of the Board of
RTC. Wollersheim, and his witnesses have tried to superimpose my
authority and reputation today on events a decade and a half ago.
By way of example, through my duties in RTC, Scientologists the
world over have been provided Mr. Hubbard's teachings in their
purest form, including a project that removed all alterations to
those teachings, even down to small typographical errors; the
release of over a thousand never
52
before reproduced lectures by Mr. Hubbard; and the implementation
of programs to ensure only orthodox practice of the religion which
heralded what is called a golden age" by Scientologists the world
over.
110. When vicious assaults have been leveled, they are all too
often being pointed my way. Scientologists have seen me defend the
faith from my position, be it on Nightline, or spearheading, on
RTC's behalf, efforts to resolve matters with the IRS once and for
all. This was of no small importance to every Scientologist who
themselves had been subjected to abuse because of their Scientology
affiliation and measures instituted by that agency premised on
false reports by apostates. While tax-exempt recognition was
afforded to all U.S. churches, parishioners' donations were also
recognized as charitable and tax deductible for the first time in a
quarter of a century.
111. It is for these reasons I am prominent in the religion,
and anything good for a Scientologist is anathema to an
anti-Scientologist, which is why I am targeted as I am today.
WOLLERSHEIM'S ALLEGATIONS REGARDING RTC.-
112. Wollersheim's allegations of my control of all churches
regardless of corporate lines due to my position in either RTC or
my honorary rank in the Sea Org are misleading and false: When
others have attempted to violate corporate boundaries, I have acted
to stop it.
113. But Prince's allegations are contradictory on their own. He
claims to have been second in command of all Scientology based on
being second in command in RTC. By that same analysis, RTC's
maintenance man would be 60th in all of Scientology (RTC having
approximately 60 staff). If Prince claims Sea Org rank
53
takes precedent, he cannot reconcile the fact that several staff of
CSI outranked him while he was in RTC. He does not even allege they
could give him orders, because they could not.
114. Prince's allegations about RTC's all encompassing role in
corporate matters outside of RTC are false as I have described
here. Even RTC post titles reflect the accuracy of what I've
presented. Prince was at, one point, a Deputy Inspector General.
The term Inspector General is reflective of RTC's role. just as the
Inspector General of the Treasury Department isn't in charge of the
Treasury Department (the Secretary of the Treasury is), the
Inspector General is not the ecclesiastic management of
Scientology. The Inspector General in the aforementioned role acts
as an independent body to inspect conduct. The function of an RTC
Inspector General is to inspect the orthodoxy of the religion, as
an independent body, distinct from ecclesiastical management. That
is precisely the role at which Prince had failed.
115. Further, I do not know why Prince would allege he signed an
"undated letter of resignation." No resignation was required for
his removal. Considering the emotion Mr. Prince expressed when he
spoke to me at the 1986 New Year's event, I had the view he had
become involved in matters over his head. I expressed that to him
when I informed him of his removal. An official removal by the
Trustees is a rare thing and I realized it could have a large
impact on his future career as a church staff member. I had no
desire for that to occur and was more concerned for his well-being.
That is why I gave him the opportunity instead to tender his
resignation. I recall him being grateful. Throughout the rest of
his tenure on church staff, he never did rise to a high position.
That was through no doing of mine, but his own inability to make
his own way. After his removal, I never offered him anything but
friendship. He, in turn, expressed his friendship to
54
me and support for what I was doing. It is important to note that
he makes claims now, twelve years after his removal, that are
directly contrary to what actually happened.
116. Jesse Prince claims that a primary purpose of the corporate
restructuring of Scientology churches was to respond to the
Wollersheim case. He further alleges the restructuring was a
product of the "MCCS project," which he initially characterizes as
a "sham," and then later describes as a "smoke screen designed to
put up a phony corporate front." In later years, Prince was removed
in disgrace precisely because the corporate structure of RTC is not
a sham. His allegations are not only false, but I know from being
there that he knows they are false.
117. Similarly, Stacy Young makes allegations regarding the
Scientology corporate structure. Like Prince, her statements are
false. She claims some authority by referring to a time period she
worked for me between June and September 1982. The brevity of her
tenure reflects the level of competence I felt she displayed.
Despite that, I have never gone out of my way to publicly or
privately demean her due to her failings. However, the fact remains
that I have never, since September of 1982, worked with Ms. Young
and it is beyond presumptuous for her to even suggest she knows
about my activities or functions since that time. Again, the
declaration she signed is not only false, but I know she knows it
to be false.
118. Finally, the very transcript Wollersheim's declarants refer
to was reviewed by the IRS as part of the proceedings, for which I
participated on behalf of RTC. Based on that review, along with the
actual inspection of all financial records, the IRS rejected the
mischaracterization of these events Wollersheim offers, confirmed
there had been no improper transfers and recognized both the
integrity of the new structure, and the tax-exempt status of all
missions who conducted their activities
55
in accordance with the directives of the San Francisco conference.
119. Testimony from Ms. Aznaran has also been offered by
Wollersheim. concerning events of this time period. As she has
since repudiated that testimony and, indeed, described the methods
by which anti-Scientologists concoct their testimony, no further
comment is necessary.
120. To reiterate, what I have stated here regarding RTC's
corporate role as well as the circumstances of my appointment were
also reviewed by the IRS. Indeed, when I approached the IRS in
1991, they focused on Aznaran's allegations. During that time
period, the steady barrage of such falsehoods poisoned the IRS with
respect to the church generally and me personally. IRS Internal
Security Agent Keith Alan Kuhn filed a declaration in several cases
in which I was not even a party, again utilizing the previously
mentioned forged document SA4ASH SQUIRRELS PIT, falsely accusing me
of threatening another IRS agent with whom I had never spoken in my
life. That declaration was ultimately stricken as unsupported and
scurrilous, and the IRS was ordered by United States District Judge
William D. Keller to pay sanctions for having filed it at all. [Ex.
K, Order and transcript, Church of Scientology of California v.
IRS, No. CV 90-5638 WDK (C.D. Cal.)].
121. Despite this history, Wollersheim and his declarants
continue the same litigation pattern, alleging harassment where
there is none, while engaging in intense harassment of me, as I
will now detail.
56
HARASSMENT
WOLLERSHEIM AND ANTI-SCIENTOLOGIST
OBSESSION WITH DAVID MISCAVIGE
122. What is most striking to me about Wollersheim's motion and
supporting declarations is the stridency of their allegations. Most
disturbing are the allegations of "harassment" in an attempt to
position me, RTC, CSI and, indeed, all of Scientology, as bullies.
In light of these scandalous accusations, I feel it important for
the Court to be apprised of the harassment in which Mr.
Wollersheim, and his declarants have been engaged. Unlike their
allegations, what I offer the Court is supported by documentary
evidence.
123. Further, in viewing these aggressive acts by Wollersheim and
his associates, I offer the Court this background. While this
declaration has detailed a great deal of civil litigation brought
against Mr. Hubbard, various churches of Scientology, and myself,
the Court should also understand that it is almost entirely a thing
of the past. Following recognition of tax-exempt status by the IRS
in October of 1993, almost all litigation involving churches of
Scientology in the United States was resolved. Indeed, the only
outstanding pieces of litigation, as of this date, are those
brought by Mr. Wollersheim or funded by his associates (FACTNet and
its Director Bob Minton). Mr. Leipold is also involved in these few
remaining cases. It is not "Scientology" that is carrying on a
persistent and aggressive campaign, but rather, Wollersheim.
124. The only litigation RTC has brought in recent years
concerned infringement of their intellectual property rights on the
Internet. Chief among those engaging in this illegal conduct was
Mr. Wollersheim, who was responsible for more infringements than
all other infringers combined. He not only infringed, but actively
encouraged others to do so.
57
125. In each of these pieces of litigation, and unlike the
characterizations Wollersheim offers, RTC has always been willing
to settle. Not one piece of litigation has ever been brought by RTC
where there was not first an attempt to have the infringer cease
and desist. When forced to do so, RTC has litigated and prevailed.
However, it has also settled any case where an infringer was
willing to settle. I am aware that despite Wollersheim's harsh
rhetoric and assaults leveled at the Scientology religion, even the
suit against him for several thou sand copyright infringements was
settled - with Wollersheim, stipulating to a permanent injunction
and a $1 million judgment payable in the event of any further
infringement despite the fact that he had caused the expenditure
of great sums of money in the litigation.
126. This case is not merely about Larry Wollersheim attempting
to collect a judgment he achieved against CSC. The instant action
is brought as part of his anti-Scientology crusade. Wollersheim,
acting through FACTNet Inc., his corporation which supports
anti-Scientology litigants, has engaged in a pattern of
virulent attacks directed at me by exploiting a hate-filled,
anti-Scientology Internet news group. I give but just a small
sampling of some of this harassment:
* The anti-Scientology Internet news group - "Alt Religion
Scientology" (ARS), was created with a posting to which my name was
forged as the author.
* In 1993, I was accused, in a case in which I was not even a
party, of having murdered my mother-in-law. The coroner established
that the death was not a homicide. The personal impact of such an
outrageous lie was immense for both my wife and me. FACTNet
employee, Robert Vaughn Young, made that allegation, which he
submitted in a paid declaration.
* This same allegation was repeated by Mr. Wollersheim in a
FACTNet newsletter. I did not hold a monopoly on being the target
of his attacks.
58
FACTNet similarly accused several well known CSI officials - a
Director, whom it was insinuated killed his baby daughter, and the
President of CSI where it was implied he was involved in the death
of his first wife. There is no basis for these allegations, yet
capitalizing on the grief regarding the death of a newborn or one's
wife to cancer seems of no concern to Wollersheim. The leaflet
making such allegations was disseminated to Scientologists and I
only heard about it when one of them mailed it to me.
* Another notice in his newsletter and FACTNet Bulletin Board had
this headline: "Did David Miscavige sell out L. Ron Hubbard for
Scientology's new IRS tax-exempt status-" It concluded with, "Might
criminal charges be forthcoming against Scientology's executives,
attorneys and accountants-" Consistent positions is not one of Mr.
Wollersheim's stronger traits. While savaging the Founder of my
religion in court filings, he then savages me to Scientologists in
a newsletter accusing me of what would be most offensive to any
Scientologist - betraying the religion's Founder.
* As mentioned, Wollersheim was a defendant in an action brought
for copyright infringement. Only after forcing RTC and other
Scientology defendants to litigate for years over an obvious case
of massive infringement, did he settle. Unlike his claims, nobody
bludgeoned him - allowing him to walk away upon a promise of no
future infringement.
* While Wollersheim, spews venom regarding church conduct in
litigation, an example of one of the tactics he employed while
defending the aforementioned case, harks back to the tactics of the
early 1980s. In 1997, as part of his defense of the FACTNet
litigation, Wollersheim accused me of having murdered Mr. Hubbard
to obtain control of his Estate and the churches of Scientology. He
attempted to contact Mr. Hubbard's family, telling them that they
had been deceived by me into giving up their legacies since Mr.
Hubbard donated his copyrights and wealth to the religion. Those
59
accusations were brought by Wollersheim in a petition he filed on
his own behalf in the San Luis Obispo Superior Court, Case No. PR
20885, which was summarily dismissed. Wollersheim's purported
interest in the welfare of Mr. Hubbard's family is ironic in light
of his litigation strategy to destroy the religion founded by Mr.
Hubbard. This was not only harassment of me, but of Mr. Hubbard's
widow and children who remain devout Scientologists. Yet
Wollersheim, a well known Scientology hater purports to care
about their husband and father's legacy. If Mr. Hubbard had
given his entire estate to his family, Wollersheim, and the other
anti-Scientologists would have complained that Scientology only
existed to benefit Mr. Hubbard and his family - which is the very
allegation that triggered the IRS - CID investigation. I do not own
the Scientology trademarks, RTC does; I do not own, control or
receive any income from copyrights; CST does. I do not own any of
the other Hubbard intellectual properties; no one does. They are
owned by a church and are used exclusively for religious purposes.
Indeed, it is clear to me that Wollersheim's filing of the probate
action was a form of retaliation for being sued in the FACTNet
case, a case in which he ultimately stipulated had been based on
"well-founded" claims.
* I have been the target of many disgusting Internet postings by
another of Wollersheim's FACTNet employees, Grady Ward, accusing me
in the most degrading terms imaginable, of engaging in all manner
of perverted sexual activities with various individuals. I attach
just one of these postings as exemplary of many that have appeared.
[Ex. L.]
127. While these vile and malicious falsehoods have been spread
by Wollersheim and his declarants for years, they have recently
gone beyond harassment to threats of physical violence.
Wollersheim's financial backer, Robert Minton, has posted my face
on the Internet for use as target practice, has threatened
60
to burn me in effigy in front of church buildings, and, spurred on
by Minton, other anti-Scientologists then spoke of "forgetting the
effigy and just doing it for real." [Ex. M.] Prince has protested
in front of our spiritual Mecca, threatening "Tell David I'm coming
with a d--k so big I'm gonna knock his goddamn spine out." [Ex. N.]
Wollersheim has repeatedly threatened to have me sent to prison
and his attorney announced the formation of a club to have church
leaders "buggered [sodomized] before breakfast" every day. [Ex. O.]
128. While these personal attacks are undoubtedly offensive, I
have learned to live with them. But my refusal to respond to their
taunts has now resulted in harassment of my family. Robert Minton -
the man funding this action - recently telephoned my mother for
purposes of harassment (he could not possibly think she would want
to talk to him) and then made Internet postings listing her name,
address and phone number stating that nobody was safe - not my
mother, father, brother, sisters or wife. [Ex. P.]
129. I could detail many other similar acts of harassment by
Wollersheim, and his associates. But that is not the point. This
is America and they have the right to be bigots. But I find it
entirely disingenuous that they engage in such behavior and then
turn around and accuse me of it, without one supporting fact. That
is because I do not do it. It is for this reason they must rely on
innuendo and statements such as Prince's that he, "recognize(s)
that by giving this declaration, I make myself target for further
attack by Scientology." Of course, he cited none, so "further"
could only be more of the same - none.
130. I am offended by the allegations that have been made by this
group of anti-Scientologists. My prominence has come about because
I have acted in an ethical and responsible fashion. I have never
sought the limelight or sought to
61
profit personally from my actions - unlike those who accuse me
here. My dedication to my religion is of paramount importance and
due to the circumstances I found myself in, I could not avoid the
role I have come to play. When individuals at RTC violated the
ecclesiastical corporate duties, I handled that.
131. Despite the personal attacks, and all manner of vicious
accusations, I have never retaliated. When they forged documents
in my name, I did not then sue when they were proven forgeries.
They file documents about me harassing critics and using the legal
system to "bludgeon" people with. These too were proven false,
yet I did not pursue the issue. When Larry Wollersheim and his
colleagues passed around lies that I murdered my mother-in-law,
I did not sue. I have never used the legal system to bludgeon
anyone, even while I have been hammered with a constant barrage of
assaults, only because I have stayed true to my religious beliefs
and have acted to keep Scientology true to the teachings of Mr.
Hubbard. In truth, what these people accuse me of is what they
are doing.
132. Unlike their mischaracterizations, the Scientology religion
includes a system of Ethics which is described in detail in the
book Introduction to Scientology Ethics. Honesty is a central tenet
of the Scientology religion. Mr. Hubbard wrote: "Freedom is for
honest people. No man who is not himself honest can be free - he
is in his own trap."
133. Scientologists; live their lives in accordance with a moral
code written by Mr. Hubbard, called The Way to Happiness [Ex. Q.]
This code includes precepts such as:
Seek to Live with the Truth
"Do not tell harmful lies. Harmful lies are the product of
fear, malice and envy. They can drive people to acts of
62
desperation. They can rum lives. They create a kind of trap into
which the teller and the target can both fall. Interpersonal and
social chaos can result. Many wars began because of harmful lies.
The way to happiness lies along the road to truth." Respect the
Religious Beliefs of Others
"Tolerance is a good cornerstone on which to build human
relationships. When one views. the slaughter and suffering caused
by religious intolerance throughout all the history of man and into
modern times, one can see that intolerance is a very nonsurvival
activity.
"Religious tolerance does not mean one cannot express his own
beliefs. It does mean that seeking to undermine or attack the
religious faith and beliefs of another has always been a short road
to trouble.
"The way to happiness can become contentious when one fails to
respect the religious beliefs of others." Don't Do Anything Illegal
"When one does something illegal, small or large, one is laid
open to an attack by the state. It does not matter whether one is
caught or not, when one does an illegal act, one has weakened one's
defenses.
"Almost any worthwhile thing one is tying to accomplish often can
be done in perfectly legal ways. The Legal route is a dangerous and
time-wasting shortcut. Imagined 'advantages' in committing illegal
acts usually turn out not to be worth it.
"The way to happiness does not include the fear of being found
out"
63
CONCLUSION
134. I realize this declaration is long. That was neither by
design nor desire. It is merely indicative of the egregious nature
of the false allegations leveled at me and what it requires to
answer to them. It is my observation that it is easier to destroy
than create. In that same vein, plaintiff and his witnesses are not
limited by the truth or accuracy of events in putting forth
innuendo and rumor.
135. What I have presented are facts with time, place, form and
event. Unlike plaintiff and his witnesses, I do know the actual
circumstances of events. I was there. They were not. However, the
Court should understand this is not the first time I have testified
to these facts:
* My presence has been required in other civil cases and although
I did not agree with the relevance of my testimony I nevertheless
have testified every time I was required to do so.
* Mr. Wollersheim and his counsel make numerous allegations about
Scientology churches and their litigation strategy of "bludgeoning"
opponents. A long history shows this not to be the case. I myself
have participated in many settlements with litigants in cases
involving RTC and me, both as plaintiff and defendant, and in
almost all instances those matters came to an amicable resolution.
In support of this, I have appeared before Judge Leon Savitch and
Judge Jack Tenner.
* I participated in the two year examination of RTC (as well as
other Scientology churches), by the Internal Revenue Service. The
President of CSI participated on behalf of that church. As already
provided in great detail, that examination was monumental in
nature. It not only resulted in full recognition of tax exemption,
but also recognized the integrity of what is the purpose, motives
and actual activities of RTC and the religion of Scientology. Most
importantly, the IRS review embraced every allegation Wollersheim.
64
now makes here and these allegations were among the specific
focuses of the IRS in concluding that RTC and the other churches
were tax exempt. That review and determination dispositively put
to rest the controversy Wollersheim seeks to rekindle. Since that
time, and for a period of several years, RTC and other Scientology
churches were required to present audited financial statements to
the IRS as evidence of ongoing corporate and financial integrity.
In each and every instance, those financial statements verified
that integrity without exception.
136. In light of all of this, of which I believe plaintiff, his
declarants, and counsel are aware, there can be no debate about
their knowledge of the actual circumstances concerning the
Scientology religion and its various individual churches. RTC is a
separate entity from CSC and always has been. Any finding to the
contrary would be a travesty. It not only would be untrue, it would
directly undermine the distinct role RTC must have separate and
apart from the ecclesiastical governance of other Scientology
churches, and nullify the corporate integrity which the IRS's
exhaustive examination conclusively established.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of California
that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed this 24th day of September 1999 at Clearwater, Florida.
David Miscavige
65
From: Bob Minton <bob@minton.org>
Date: Mon, 04 Oct 1999 14:44:04 -0400
Message-ID: <BPP4N1wP7PzvcxUku7iaegtN7Xhy@4ax.com>