In a desperate bid for ratings CNN’s Anderson Cooper tries an old gambit that may seem like a good idea but which in fact routinely fails to revitalize fading careers: an attack on Scientology. 
This week CNN posted its lowest ratings ever as a network. The numbers for Anderson Cooper 360 are now so far below its competitors that the CNN anchor is no longer scraping the bottom of the barrel – he’s it.
Which forces us (along with most of America) to wonder why President of CNN Worldwide, Jim Walton, keeps Cooper on the payroll. Particularly when this week, in the midst of the high holidays of two of the world’s great religions, Anderson Cooper takes it upon himself to air in segments over five nights, an hour or more of video of a handful of church apostates telling egregious lies about the leader of the Scientology religion, Mr. David Miscavige.
When approached by 360 to comment on their “story,” Church of Scientology executives cooperated fully, providing the producers with, as Cooper admits on-camera, “affidavits, declarations and dozens of emails and letters” refuting and correcting the lies spun by Mark Rathbun and his cohorts – individuals who left church staff, then began attacking Scientology and Mr. Miscavige through a planned media campaign. In addition, the Church made some of its top executives available for on-camera interviews, doing everything possible to answer the assertions. Regardless, throughout the interviews, Anderson appears to go out of his way to present the apostates in a positive light while painting church executives negatively. Cooper looks on kindly and without interrupting Rathbun, while the notoriously abusive former church member paints himself as a victim who just couldn’t stop himself from punching co-workers in the stomach and throwing them down staircases. But when Cooper interviewed a group of four church executives, who all knew Rathbun and wanted their eye-witness accounts to be heard, the CNN anchor routinely cut them off mid-sentence, allowing none to finish their statements, forcing each to talk on top of the other in an effort to be heard. When Cooper also interviewed as a group the former wives that Mark Rathbun, Mike Rinder, and cohorts Jeff Hawkins and Tom Vocht, abandoned, Cooper treated these women the same way. The editing of this footage juxtaposed a calm Rathbun against seemingly aggressive groups of church members, furthering an overall negative impression of the Church. At no point does Cooper reveal that this abuse of staff in Rathbun’s and Mike Rinder’s areas ceased years ago, as soon as they were removed from positions of authority.
One particularly detrimental misrepresentation was Cooper’s description of the Internet hate group, Anonymous, as an “anti-Scientology” group “which protests against the church,” failing to mention that the anarchists who comprise Anonymous spread hatred against all minorities, some having been arrested and convicted of crimes against other individuals and organizations, in addition to the Church of Scientology.
Cooper is apparently also ignorant of the fact that Anonymous is inflating the comments on CNN websites/blogs in an effort to make it appear as if a larger number of viewers approve of his treatment of the Scientology religion. How much judgment does it take to know that when the audience is turning you off in droves, it’s probably not a good idea to go out of your way to alienate whatever is left of your audience by airing what amounts to a grossly unbalanced, tabloid-style smear on the world’s fastest growing religion? Are the 360 staff so cloistered as to not realize that just about any attack by the mainstream media on religious people these days is considered an attack on all? Haven’t they been watching the highest rated cable network, Fox News?
One has to wonder about the judgment of a news anchor who, even under the best of circumstances, thinks this a “bright idea.” Our guess is that Anderson will also be wondering what he could have been thinking in about a month from now when he slinks out the door with his pink slip. The excerpted documents below represent just part of the wealth of documentation supplied to Anderson Cooper and his 360 producers that tell the other side of the story – the side that went largely ignored.
Excerpted declarations/affidavits from people that knew Mark Rathbun, Mike Rinder and others:
1st witness:
“I also believe that, apart from Mike Rinder’s wife, I spent more time with Mike Rinder than any other staff member from 2001 to 2007. I also, for a time, shared an apartment with him and his wife. At no time in the entirety of this period did Mike Rinder ever suggest that he had been abused or assaulted by Mr. Miscavige.”
“I saw signs of abuse after one incident which I witnessed. This involved Mark Rathbun. In 2004, Mark Rathbun was in a boardroom with several senior Scientology executives, including Mike Rinder’s wife. He lunged at Mike Rinder, threw him to the ground, and began choking him. It took five big men, including myself, to pull Rathbun off Rinder, who was literally turning purple.”
“After this incident, Rinder confided in me that Mark Rathbun had abused him physically on five different occasions. He spoke of his deep hatred for Mark Rathbun.”
“I also have intimate knowledge about another one of the BBC’s sources, Jeff Hawkins. He worked in an area that was under my charge for three years (2002-2005). He held the position of Copywriter in the Church’s dissemination area. I have seen reports that Jeff Hawkins alleged abuse from Mr. Miscavige during this time. This is patently false and slanderous. The first purported incident allegedly happened in a meeting with Mr. Miscavige. The meeting was on February 26, 2002 in the conference room at International Management. Jeff Hawkins and another staffer were making a presentation on Dianetics to several international management executives (Note: Neither Mark Rathbun or Amy Scobee were present at the meeting). I was sitting next to Jeff during this meeting and at NO TIME did Mr. Miscavige physically attack him. Jeff was caught out on a lie by Mr. Miscavige during his presentation of a major promotional effort; Jeff confessed that years earlier he lied to L. Ron Hubbard regarding results of a informational survey, when the survey he was reporting on had actually never been done. When this lie was uncovered, and the potential for wasting Church funds with his new “effort” was exposed by Mr. Miscavige, Jeff proceeded to talk in a low voice so he could not be heard, which was very annoying and I, as his senior insisted he cease this attitude and disrespect. No abuse occurred. Additionally, any meetings Jeff Hawkins attended with Mr. Miscavige from 2002 – 2005, I would have been present as the senior, and again there were no incidents of abuse, in fact totally the opposite. Mr. Miscavige would only give very positive direction and specific handlings to raise the quality and effectiveness of whatever was being worked on.”
2nd witness:
“I have attended over 1,000 meetings involving Church marketing. I witnessed one meeting where Jeff Hawkins, a fellow marketing staff member at that time, was presenting a campaign for “Scientology”. However; the way he presented the campaign was not the way someone would present a multi-million-dollar campaign to executives. He smelled of body odor, he was unshaven, his voice tone was very low and he could hardly be heard. Someone asking for millions of dollars to launch a long-term campaign would never behave like that. Jeff did. Of course his campaign was never approved and it was totally not acceptable. And now, he claims he was “hit” by Mr. Miscavige. I was right there. He wasn’t hit by anyone. He was told to wake up, and speak louder and frankly to correct his attitude. He claims he was beaten up and held down. It’s all a lie. I was there.”
“I also was present at hundreds of campaigns meetings with Mr. Miscavige present. He would always joke with me. We would laugh about my accent (as I have a heavy Spanish accent); he would always direct me as to what to do to make the campaign better. Usually, he would approve it on the spot. This occurred with a very big Dianetics campaign for seminars, for Church Technical films marketing, for a training campaign; he approved these right on the spot. It was an experience to see him happy because someone had fully understood and implemented what he had suggested and you would see from his eyes how this could achieve expansion and more people participating in religious studies.”
“I know I was not perfect in performing my staff duties, and there were some things that I was ignorant about, but Mr. Miscavige never treated me badly because of it. People below him did unbeknownst to him, but not him, personally, ever. He was always encouraging to me, helping me and making sure I had the needed direction to do my duties correctly. I told a friend of mine, for years, that I’d rather deal with Mr. Miscavige personally on the campaigns than dealing with those below him, because those below him, like Mark Rathbun (“Marty”) would misinterpret everything and would use punishment in place of direction and hatting (teaching or training someone for their staff functions). Mr. Miscavige never used punishment. In fact, I must confess, that many times my friend and I would “run into” Mr. Miscavige purposely so we could have a conversation straight with him and not those below him. He understood what we wanted to do and it happened to be that every time our plan of “running into him” took place, we got our correct product and of course approval on our dissemination strategies. While we would joke and laugh, we would feel most importantly, that we could make a difference. That is what it is like to work under Mr. Miscavige.”
“Mr. Miscavige is the most caring person I have ever worked under. After working at Golden Era for years, I was in meetings sometimes where he would look at me and I could tell he knew that I was not feeling well. I used to suffer from migraines for a long period of time. Every time Mr. Miscavige was present at one of those meetings when I had a migraine, he would have one of the staff take care of me to make sure I got the appropriate medical handlings as well as Scientology Auditing (spiritual counseling). And that resolved the situation, as I don’t have migraines any more.”
“While there were heated moments during my time at Golden Era Productions, they were caused by other people’s stupidities, not by Mr. Miscavige getting heated and going at people. It just didn’t happen. It DIDN’T EVER HAPPEN that he went after anyone. While I was at the same meetings that some people who claim Mr. Miscavige beat them were at, I can tell you I was there and beatings did not happen.”
“Unfortunately, Mr. Miscavige was not at the Church facility … for long periods of time and he would leave people in charge, such as Marty Rathbun, who betrayed him when he was gone by claiming that he was acting under Mr. Miscavige’s authority when he wasn’t and in fact he was abusing his authority.”
3rd witness:
“At no time, during my 30 years tenure as a volunteer with the CofS, nor within my 25 years association and participation and/or co-relations with David Miscavige, as described herein, have I ever personally experienced, or borne witness to, visibly or audibly, the infliction of bodily harm, physical pain or any physiological damage to another human being, as a result of any contact, encounter, engagement, communication, altercation or shared circumstance, with David Miscavige, with myself present, or as otherwise informed of, by any of my current and/or former associates.”
“Michael (Mike) Rinder declaration of information:
a. I have personally known Michael (Mike) Rinder and his (former) wife Cathy Rinder since 1978, since employed with the CofS location in Clearwater, FL, before I relocated to the CofS location in California in 1979. My relations with Mike have been both involved and consistent over the years, primarily through approximately 67 international broadcast and videotaped events, that I was either the Executive Producer, Producer or Production Manager on, under the direction of David Miscavige. There have also been a number of other projects and employment circumstances I have been involved directly and personally with Mike on, including the construction, establishment, testing and finalization of all the audio-visual systems, and media properties, of the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition in Los Angeles, CA, as well as the production of its Grand Opening event, gaining national media coverage.
b. My employment relations have also extended through his multiples executive tenures within the CofS itself, as well as involvement with the production of numerous audio-visual media projects for the Office of Special Affairs, while under his administration.
c. My earliest experiences with Mike, beginning in 1978, include a period of looking after his children and domestic activities in conjunction with his former wife, Cathy, while Mike remained preoccupied with church business and activities for several periods. My experienced knowledge of Mike’s lifestyle, attitudes, activities, actions and reactions, while employed with the CofS, and his direct involvement with David Miscavige, as well as Mike’s credibility, is represented by myself from a sound reflection of my long-term experience and personal observation and encounters with Mike. d. From 1998-2004, Mike had creditable responsibilities directly (and indirectly) involving the writing and creative direction of speeches and programs of specifically directed Church PR, expansion and outreach planning for export to subordinate CofS units and affiliated Scientology groups or organizations, and for use in the public media representation of the CofS, requiring QA and final authorization of these said creative representations, by David Miscavige.
e. During this aforementioned period, off and on most notably from 1999-2004, Mike became intimately involved in both project and related CofS business dialogue and conferencing with myself and other peers for whom I was employed with, in the creative and managerial aspects of both CofS media production and digital product development, under the direction of David Miscavige. During this same period, there was a marked absence of David Miscavige from the … CofS location, due to other pressing CofS church legal and PR matters requiring his attention and involvement elsewhere. As such, Mike was operating from the altitude and authority empowered to him by David Miscavige, to function in the absence of David Miscavige, with regards specific activities for which he was assigned responsible, primarily embracing project and planning performance including reporting directly and/or indirectly to David Miscavige on the progress of all aforementioned activities.
f. A number of these activities involved myself in communication with Mike, such as the programs I was administering within Golden Era Productions. These included digital processing and manufacturing development programs, organizational structure and hierarchy planning, product release publication copy and design for marketing, and land and property structure space and architectural development and planning. Mike would intermittently be involved with myself, gathering information on progress, development and relaying direction and/or providing input as a result of his own dialogue and/or reviews with David Miscavige.
g. As a result of these reviews, there were a minimum of 6 occasions that I can vividly recall, over the course of this aforementioned period, wherein Mike would emotionally “blow his top” or “explode” about details with regards these various projects and programs with resultant physical altercations. On one occasion, in February 2001, while attending my presence with approximately 11 of his executive peers and subordinates, and with myself in a senior church member capacity of Executive Director of Golden Era Productions, Mike physically lunged at my body while both Mike and I were in a standing position, grasped my throat firmly and with clasping pressure from both his left and right hands, pressed his thumbs into my thorax until I could no longer inhale oxygen. My body was forcefully slammed against a hallway wall and with his face approximately 1-2 inches from mine, screamed loudly and indiscernibly with regards a building space development plan found objectionable by David Miscavige. Following this, I was forcibly shoved by the back of my head into a small cubicle, and instructed to remain there until contacted for subsequent discussion. Due to the pressured contact on my throat, I was unable to speak for approximately 10-15 minutes. Several hours later, I was allowed to depart the cubicle, following discussion with a designated individual. Yet it was not until a week subsequent to this incident was I able to obtain direct verbal communication with David Miscavige, wherein I was given direction on the objectionable aspect of my prior proposal building space development plan, wherein was able to now modify and correct the proposal originally provided, having now gained clarity on the planning changes necessary to do so. I was also able to speak with both Michelle and Laurisse, gaining additional clarity there were no instructions [ever] given to Mike to have reacted in the fashion he did in the prior described incident.
h. There are 5 other incidents of physical altercation of Mike either bodily shoving me in the chest, twisting my arm to a painful result or pushing my face, each as a result of an alleged objection by David Miscavige to either a project or product I had personally forwarded to David for QA or those subordinate to me had. In each and every one of these incidents, there were subsequent production conferences or meetings wherein the task or product under discussion was addressed and clear and/or exact direction was provided as to what did not meet QA criteria, and time was allotted for the reprocessing the task to enable a resubmit of the task and/or product as part of that project. At no time during any of these specifically mentioned reviews was there a physical altercation, threat of physical violence or engagement of any physical contact, by David Miscavige with myself. Nor was there any inference of having directed any to occur. The only physical violence or physical altercations, were as a result of those as performed by Mike Rinder.
i. My association with Mike Rinder involves the direct observation and personal witness of him lying to David Miscavige as a “habit” and “routine” at executive and production conference meetings, when questioned as to his involvement with the creative production of audio-visual media requiring QA by David Miscavige. These meetings occurred between 1991-2002. During this time, I personally bore witness to Mike answering “yes”, with further dialogue in description, of Mike’s personal involvement with the scriptwriting, shot selection, rough editing, final editing and quality review of audio-visual media for CofS broadcast events, and social betterment activity programs. I observed Mike on literally hundreds of occasions to do the following: not watch a video property all the way through and state that he had; not visually view all proposed stock shots and say he had; not view a current edit version change of a video property and say he had; not listen to a music product mix and say he had; not relay a QA objection to a studio engineer and say he had; not read a script all the way through for edit revisions and say he had; not appear in a studio both for a product review and say he had; not attend a creative meeting and say he had. As a result of these repeated “white lies” or “dishonesties”, as observed by myself, several of my peers as well as subordinate production employees, Mike had become known verbally in the subordinate production circle in the Cinematography Division of Editorial, as “bullshit artist”. Mike also on numerous occasions did show up for editorial product reviews, however would fall asleep in the studio booth chair and not wind up viewing the entire audio-visual property, but when later questioned if he had, would answer “yes” to David Miscavige, when Mike had only seen a portion of the medium under discussion.
j. Due to the intensive, extensive and intimate involvement of myself on these same projects, as I was the primary executive responsible for the administration and production of these same projects, I was physically present throughout the vast majority of these production processes. As a result, I was the “go-to” executive in Golden Era Productions, for David Miscavige, Mike Rinder and specific other senior CofS top executives. As such, I had credible familiarity with who was and was not always involved with each and every audio-visual media production, from scriptwriting to final broadcast, as well as subsequent post production and export to all international church locations. As such, my aforementioned statements of witness to Mike Rinder was based on both a sound and observed experience with him, and reflect truth on those observations.”“Mark (Marty) Rathbun declaration of information:
a. I have known Marty Rathbun since 1984, since my employment within the Church of Scientology, while in the Religious Technology Center located in Gilman Hot Springs, while Mark Rathbun was employed in the Church of Scientology External Communications Bureau.
b. My involvement with Marty was more extensive from 1989-1992, and again from 1996-2004.
c. During the period from 1996-2004, my primary encounters with Marty Rathbun involved intermittent contact through his investigatory procedures while under the direction of David Miscavige and/or his personal staff, in looking into and resolving the reasons for delays in the production of audio-visual media projects, as well as these same projects not reaching expected QC criteria. As I remained intimately involved in the executive administration and production of CofS audio-visual mediums during this period, I would being routinely seen, sometimes up to 40-50 times during any given week, by staff personal to the employment of David Miscavige, or the Religious Technology Center, for which Marty was employed, and many times by David Miscavige himself, to gather information as to the progress of the aforementioned projects and their related audio-visual properties. As such, it became a familiar task to involve myself in direct dialogue with Marty to provide progress information, as well as intimate business details on the performance of my subordinates in the production of said projects and their related audio-visual properties.
d. During a period from 2000-2003, while the Executive Director and/or Manufacturing Operations Executive of Golden Era Productions, and during a challenging and demanding time sensitive period of aggressive production scheduling, there were approximately 200-300 personal encounters with Marty, providing information as to the status of project progress, as well as direct interrogative questioning to discover detailed information in an effort to discover the reasons for project delays and related non-optimum situations behind incomplete priority projects. While I cooperated and willfully provided this information, there were approximately 15-20 occasions wherein Marty would use either a threat of physical force, or physical force itself, to gather information. On approximately 12 occasions, which exemplify the majority of the type of physical contact, Marty would slightly turn to one side and then quickly turn back and using his left or right hand, reach forward and grab me by the front of my shirt, and shove me hard up against the wall, lean down into my face, and stare at me, and inform me that if I was lying, he would perform [various physical acts of violence he would make a single statement in describing].
e. After numerous occasions, taking place of this form of encounter, I came to know that if I was going to be seen by Marty as a result of a QA dispute with one of my subordinates, I came to regularly expect some form of physical altercation would result. I would not defy nor refute the altercations at any time during this period, as I was made to feel responsible for the QA dispute as I was also responsible for the non-performance or mis-performance of tasks of my subordinate under discussion. (As a note, as the Executive Director of a 450+ employee based organization, all org charted employees were logically already my responsibility).
f. On one specific incident in early 2001, while standing in front of Marty and not expecting at that given moment a physical altercation, Marty reached out and shoved my body back against a solid wall directly behind where I was standing, resulting in making very painful contact with the solid wall, including the slinging back of my head and slammed into the solid surface, making my vision dizzy and losing my balance.
g. On two specific occasions, I was greeted by Marty down in the Cinematography Editorial Department, wherein I made direct observation where he proceeded to physically repeatedly punch a subordinate, until the subordinate was hunched over, asking him to stop, wherein he did stop, and then departed. Both incidents occurred within 1 week of each other in 1998.
h. On approximately 100 occasions, I have observed Marty to threaten physical violence on subordinates as a result of questioning and on the possibility of the individual not telling the truth to Marty with regards the matter being inquired, between 1998-2004. These incidents occurred in the following production studio and ancillary facilities of Golden Era Productions: Music, RAV, Editing, Studio II, Studio I, Audio Building, TU RCOMPS, CMU, HCO, Executive Offices, Cine Conference Room, IMPR Office, ESI Offices, CMOI Offices, CMOI Conference Room, WDC Offices, WDC Conference Room, Manufacturing and outside numerous studio and production buildings in the same areas.
i. In 2001, I had a personal conversation with Tom DeVocht, wherein Tom DeVocht said Marty was as “hitman” and “serious ball buster”, and is “the last guy I’d want to f**k with”. It is my observation and personal experience that Marty has used physical force, violence and the threat thereof to gain information, compliance and data necessary to the performance of his job position and duties, and I bear personal witness and observational fact of this to be truthful.” 16.Tom DeVocht declaration of information.
a. I have personally been of acquaintance and known Tom DeVocht since 1979, which is the initiation of his volunteer employment with the Church of Scientology, beginning in Clearwater, FL.
b. My relevant involvement with Tom DeVocht is from 2000-2004, while located at Golden Era Productions, and regarding my involvement and responsibilities for both building and property land management planning, restoration and expansion, during this same time period.
c. In 2000-2003 I was directly, personally and intimately involved in numerous building and property development planning. Most of this development planning took place in the Landlord Office, located at the time in the Estates Building. During this time, Tom was concurrently involved on other land and property development projects across the property designated Golden Era Productions.
d. On approximately 3 occasions, I made observation of Tom becoming visibly frustrated with a male subordinate with regards the completion and detail planning of one of his projects, which involved large sums of funds and a time sensitive deadline. He physically grabbed and violently shook the subordinate while screaming at him, pushing him backwards down into the large table wherein the planning documents were displayed under discussion. This occurred, by my direct observation, on 2 more occasions, during the period from 2000-2003. Each incident was in the Landlord Office, in the Estates Building, and each involved a manifest frustration with the individual subordinates involved, resulting in vocal and physical abuse of the individual responsible for the planning documents in dispute.
e. Prior to the aforementioned incidents, I have never made observation of Tom engage in a physical altercation with any subordinates. 4th witness: “I witnessed Marty Rathbun physically attack Mike Rinder several times in the office next door to mine. Mike’s desk was adjacent to the wall where my desk was, so each time Marty body slammed Mike against the wall, the penetration through the wall was such that I feared the wall was going to come down on me while sitting at my desk. The ceiling tiles shook and the dust came flying down it was that hard. I once ran to the next room and Mike was slumped over his chair in pain. At one point I had to remove other staff from the hallway area to prevent their fighting spreading around. Shortly after the above occurred, Mike Rinder needed to receive counseling and I saw him being counseled in the auditing room five doors down from my office, to help him recover from the fear and pain Marty instilled. These physical altercations created wall damage in Mike and Marty’s office.” “My next dealing with Marty Rathbun was in late 2003. … He explained that he would not be able to hold a new position, as he could not create things, his only experience was fighting and harming others. He explained that he was a squirrel [someone who alters L. Ron Hubbard’s standard technology and procedures] and had grooved in a horrible pattern of ethics investigations used on staff members, stating that he had made it seem like it was Mr. Miscavige who was training him to do it, when this was not the case. … He explained his repeated “crazy” desire to hold a Legal post in the Church only so as to maintain his position as a ‘’fighter’’.“I have known Mike Rinder since 1998 … While occupying the same office as Mike, I had to wake up Mike from sleeping on the job at least twice per week. He was so disinterested and disdainful towards his job and his co-workers he would often sleep at his desk and accomplish nothing. “Mike’s reputation in the Church was one of arrogance, disdain and condescending relations.
“Mike stated to me in 2005 what an awful and hard time he had in dealing with any media, and touted this hardship as something none of his lowly peers (everyone else who didn’t work on media relations was considered a lowly peer) would ever have to experience and used the behavior of media and newspaper columnists to excuse his failings.”
“I have known Tom De Vocht since 1989. I worked with him throughout this time and extensively at the Flag Land Base up until 2000. I worked with him later in 2003 and 2004 up until he left. I sat in the same office as Tom for at least four years. Tom’s allegations are lies and he knows it.”
“Each and every statement and allegation now being made by Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, Tom De Vocht and Amy Scobee is not only categorically and utterly denied as false based on my personal observation and accounts (I was there), these allegations serve to show the levels that spiteful individuals will stoop in concocting the most outrageous lies I have ever heard of just to gain fame and make their quick buck.”
5th witness:
“Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder walked in one afternoon and told the then-head of Golden Era Productions [name deleted] and myself to follow them to a small office that had one wall lined up with metal file cabinets. Rathbun closed the door, pushed both [name deleted] and myself against the file cabinets. And without any warning, Rathbun suddenly punched me in the stomach with full force and did the same to [name deleted]. Rinder was standing at the side of Rathbun, most definitely endorsing his actions. Both then walked out, paying no attention whatsoever to us and our physical condition after Rathbun’s punches.”
“A few weeks later, Rathbun walked into my office. He appeared upset with me, closed the door behind him and suddenly punched me in the stomach with full force, throwing me across the room, where I collapsed against my desk, and he walked out.” “A few days later, Rathbun walked once again into my office, closed the door, began berating me for something I had allegedly done wrong and again suddenly threw me against the wall of my office using his full force.”
“Also in that same period, I was in the office of one of my assistants, going over a project. Rinder and Rathbun again walked in and without warning Rathbun pulled me by one of my ears and dragged me out of that office and all the way back to my own office. This meant going outside, crossing a path and walking into a separate building-roughly a distance of 90 feet. Rinder was at Rathbun’s side throughout the incident, fully endorsing Rathbun’s actions.”
“I knew Mike Rinder for many years. In fact, he was my own senior when I first came to work in the Church of Scientology International in the United States in 1982. I was immediately struck by the fact that he was a vulgar individual who would mock others to make them feel ill at ease and especially those who were weaker and in a lower position than his own, particularly women. He was also vicious with junior staff, harassing them repeatedly. He was a bully who was polite to those senior to him and mean to those below him. My staff were scared of him, as they knew he was a two-faced person who could not be trusted.”
“Rathbun and Rinder were known for accusing others of the very things they were themselves doing so as to distract investigations off them. Both have admitted in writing that they were consummate liars and had lied for years about disasters they created on the legal lines of the Church. Tom DeVocht also admitted in writing how his fundamental approach to life was to lie and to do everything to not get caught lying.”
6th witness:
“The allegations of Mike Rinder, Marty Rathbun, Tom De Vocht and Amy Scobee are blatant, despicable lies. These apostates are no longer Scientologists and they are filled with hate. They left in disgrace and have teamed up with avowed enemies of the Church-people who have openly stated they are out to destroy Scientology. They are bitter and are telling lies to forward their own ends. In my 50-year career in Scientology, I’ve seen apostates like this come and go. After they leave, things invariably get better. “
“As I was the target of repeated physical attacks by Mark Rathbun, this entire period sticks in my mind as a concatenation of consistent and virulent physical harassment. When he didn’t hit me, Rathbun had a habit of clenching a fist and threatening me, which he did at least a dozen times, usually in his office, sometimes getting up and coming around the desk menacingly, indicating he was going to punch me out. Several times Rathbun would use me as a vehicle to exhaust his rage. I developed a dread of Rathbun and what he would do next, because his violence was so spontaneous and unpredictable.”
“One particular day, I had gone to work on the project in another building when Mark Rathbun phoned me up in a rage and demanded I “get my ass up to his office immediately.” When I got there, he wanted to know the status of the project and when my answer didn’t satisfy him, he lunged at me from behind his desk. He came at me with both fists flying and punched me in the chest and ribs several times. I was hurting for several hours. During a second, similar incident, while I was still overseeing this particular project, Rathbun’s punches were so hard that the blows knocked me back against a counter and my head smashed against a bookshelf and severely hurt me.
“On at least four more occasions between the years 2000 and 2002, usually during a conference when production planning for the day was agreed upon, Mark Rathbun turned into psychotic rages because one project or another was not fully completed yet. Each time he would come flying at me, sometimes concurrently expressing vitriolic expletives, and hit me hard and pushed and shoved me back and forth; on at least one occasion during this series of incidents the force of his attack caused my chair to topple over so that I landed on the floor. I remember distinctly that during one of those assaults, he kicked violently at the side of my body and hurt me while I was on the ground.”
“During this same time period, Rathbun’s fits of uncontrolled anger would often cause him to smash and kick things.”
“One day in 2001, Rathbun came storming into the same office area and without warning kicked me from behind while I was sitting in my chair with my back to him. The kick was so vicious and hard that the chair I was sitting on went flying and I fell to the floor.”
“After physically assaulting me one day in 2002, Rathbun saw me several hours later and instead of apologizing (which is what I thought he was going to do), he, incredibly, told me that I was the cause of it all and it was all my fault, because I was provoking him — that he really didn’t want to hit me, but that I was actually making him hit me and thereby committing a transgression against him.”
“When Mr. Miscavige returned to the Base and found out about Rathbun’s physical violence. Mr. Miscavige immediately put a stop to any and all physical assaults from Rathbun and Rathbun was soon thereafter removed from post after which any sort of physical violence on the Base ended entirely.”
7th witness:
“I accompanied Mr. Miscavige in 1990 when he visited Mark Fisher, at the time an employee of Golden Era Productions, who was working in the Estates building. I witnessed the brief meeting, beginning when Mark Fisher was on a ladder, to the end when Mr. Miscavige left. At no time did Mr. Miscavige strike or otherwise harm Mark Fisher. In fact, it was quite the opposite as Mr. Miscavige was encouraging Fisher to use Scientology technology to assist himself. Mark Fisher did not take that opportunity and instead left the Church shortly thereafter, over 19 years ago. That he is making this allegation almost two decades after the incident supposedly occurred and after he has engaged in demonstrations against Scientology Churches with the cyber-terrorist hate-group Anonymous evidences that there are sinister motives for this fallacious statement.”
“Rathbun was volatile. At one point, in January 2004, he lunged at me and dragged me across a room, punched me and banged my head into a wall. I was bleeding from the incident and had a fat lip. I was stunned by his unprovoked actions.”
“Within days, I saw Rathbun jump on Mike Rinder and drag Rinder to the ground, straddle him and choke him while simultaneously asking some question which I could not discern. I saw Rinder grabbing Rathbun’s arms and having trouble breathing. Rathbun was shouting but it was impossible for Rinder to respond. I, along with others, pulled Rathbun off of Rinder. He speaks of violence, there’s your violence-and he was the chief perpetrator.”
“I never conceived either of the above acts, or other acts of violence I experienced from Rathbun to have been perpetrated by anyone other than himself. They were uniformly done when Mr. Miscavige was thousands of miles away. None were ever done in his presence. Rathbun personally told me that he was a “warrior” — his word, not mine.”
8th witness:
“I have known Marty Rathbun since 1984. In the entire time that I knew Rathbun as a Church staff member, which was from 1984 until he deserted the Church in 2004, he was always working either on external affairs of the Church or internal investigations, such as to find out why a project or program was overdue. He chronically fouled up legal and other external matters he was meant to handle and, on ethics matters within the Church. … Rathbun would often use intimidation and physical violence, though the Scientology ethics codes are clearly against such actions. He routinely acted like a bully towards his fellow staff members, using physical force and threats of physical force to intimidate people — usually on persons who were of a smaller physical size than he.
“In one instance, as I was leaving an office and stepping onto the sidewalk, Rathbun walked up to me. I thought he was coming up to say something to me, and I paused in front of him. Without any preamble or warning, he punched me in the jaw with his fist. He then turned and walked away without saying a word. I thought he must have gone completely psychotic.”
“In another instance, in 2003, I observed Rathbun in a rage, throwing an executive up against a file cabinet repeatedly while screaming at him. He then stormed out of the office, leaving the executive shaken, upset and confused. Rathbun was not investigating anything or doing anything even vaguely resembling an application of Scientology ethics policy, nor did his action facilitate getting a project completed or a report submitted. He was terrorizing an executive, period.”
“In the main conference room in the International Management space, in early 2004, I witnessed Marty Rathbun stride up to Mike Rinder while Rinder was speaking to a group of about 40 other staff, and violently tackle him to the floor. Once Rathbun had him down on the floor, he straddled his body and proceeded to choke Rinder, while asking him some question I could not discern. Rathbun kept on choking Rinder, while also pounding his head against the floor repeatedly and demanding that he answer the question. Finally several men had to forcibly pull him off.”
“Looking back on this I note the pattern is that Rathbun conducted his acts of physical violence when Mr. Miscavige was away from the International Base.” “In November of 1993, after creating messes on external matters that others had to clean up, Rathbun had another one of his psychotic tantrums. He abandoned his wife and all post responsibilities and departed from staff unannounced. He went off on his motorbike across country, stopping at bars to get drunk, and a few days later phoned in, tearfully asking for help. Instead of the “good riddance” response most people would have given him, certainly in organizations outside of Scientology, Mr. Miscavige had such compassion and was so concerned about Rathbun’s mental state that he arranged for him to have a sabbatical in the Caribbean aboard the Freewinds and also arranged for me to go there and give him auditing. I went there and spent a full year of my life caring for this person.” “I have known Mike Rinder since 1979. My contact with Rinder was primarily during the years 1984-2007.”
“Rinder has had a long unchanging characteristic of arrogant contempt and disdain for other people – something I witnessed first-hand on many occasions when in meetings and working on projects he was involved in. Between 1989 and 2007 I observed hundreds of instances of Rinder speaking to other staff members condescendingly and in a way that was intended to embarrass the person, making sick jokes and cracks about the person’s appearance or intelligence that were always barbed and done with the purpose of making the other person feel useless and unwanted, never in an encouraging manner or giving anyone constructive advice.”