I had a strange and powerful case of déjà vu last night while watching Nightline's interview with Debbie Cook as she talked about being held in "the Hole" at Scientology's international base in California, where executives who fall out of favor with church leader David Miscavige are sent to rot in an office-prison for weeks, months, even years at a time.

Well, OK, it wasn't really déjà vu I was experiencing. Which fancy French term do you use when you are seeing a news organization claiming it has an "EXCLUSIVE" on an interview that quite a few of us other journalists have already heard numerous times before?

I don't know. Anyone out there good with French? Anyone know how to say "cringeworthy mainstream media epic fail"?


OK, I don't want to sound too harsh. I want to make it very clear that it is thrilling to see Debbie Cook taken seriously by a national news platform with such a large audience. Her story reached millions yesterday as it appeared on both Good Morning America and Nightline.

But for those of us who have been covering Debbie Cook as a breaking story since the first few minutes of 2012, it was maddening to see the way Nightline reported her story yesterday from what could only be characterized as abject fear.

ABC appeared so terrified of Scientology's litigious reputation, it not only allowed the church to hurl unsworn smears of her character in large quantities, but more egregiously, it failed to give any indication that Cook is only the latest of several former executives to come forward and describe the same exact allegations of abuse inside the church.

Cook came off last night the same way she did in a Bexar County, Texas courtroom on February 9: credible, factual, and unflappable. But ABC seemed to go out of its way to make her sound like a lone voice crying out about abuses without any kind of previous corroboration.

ABC had no excuse for presenting Cook's allegations without any kind of larger perspective or history: It's been nearly three years since Tom Tobin and Joe Childs exposed the horrors of "the Hole" in their explosive series, "The Truth Rundown" at the St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times).

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Story #2: Ray Jeffrey Gets a Following

Voice readers seem to be taking a liking to Debbie Cook's attorney, Ray Jeffrey, particularly after we got a close look at the way he has been handling a flurry of sternly-worded letters coming from Scientology's attorneys.

But Jeffrey told me that although Scientology's letters don't bother him, there is one thing that has him angry -- the surveillance being done on Debbie Cook and on his law firm.

He shared with me the following e-mail that he sent Tuesday evening to Scientology's local attorneys, George Spencer and Mark Cannan:

[list=]Subject: Scientology v. Cook
The surveillance of my office and my clients is back on - you must be so proud!

Best regards,

Ray[/list]

I gave Jeffrey a call when I saw the e-mail.

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Story #3: Rathbun and Rinder, Gagged?

I wanted to throw in just a brief follow-up item to yesterday's big document dump. A letter from George Spencer made some interesting statements about Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder, two former high-ranking Scientology executives who have been very vocal for several years in their criticisms of church leader David Miscavige.They have also offered to be witnesses for Debbie Cook as she defends herself in the church's lawsuit. But Spencer warned Jeffrey that talking to Rathbun and Rinder about their knowledge of Scientology's inner workings is some kind of violation.

"Both Mr. Rinder and Mr. Rathbun signed confidentiality agreements with the Church," Spencer wrote.

That assertion created a stir in our comments section, so I called Rinder yesterday to ask him about Spencer's claim.

"Every Sea Org member signs those. They're routine. They're signed every year or something," Rinder says about confidentiality agreements that Spencer must be referring to in his letter. "I signed 20 of them. Probably Marty has too. They're absolutely meaningless. They're not worth the paper they're printed on."

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As they promised, Scientology's attorneys have filed for summary judgment in their lawsuit against former church executive Debbie Cook, and we have the document for you.

Here's our first impression: After Cook's explosive testimony in a Bexar County, Texas courtroom made news around the world and has more people than ever talking about the shocking and strange abuse allegedly dished out by Scientology's leader, David Miscavige, the church's attorneys are trying their best to convince a San Antonio judge that this is a much drier, less interesting dispute, summed up best in one of their opening lines:

"This is a dispute regarding the enforcement of contracts."

We figure speed is of the essence and that you'd rather read the document itself than anything else, so we're going to post it as quickly as we can, and then add more analysis when we have a chance. So here we go... (There are 33 pages, posted now. And yes, we know we're missing page 23 -- we're trying to get it for you.)

Some great comments already showing up that analyze this document. (See John P.'s reflections, for example.)

I can tell you as someone who was in the courtroom on February 9, this document appears to be a distillation of what we heard that day from George Spencer as he examined Debbie Cook on the stand. The church's position is that Cook and Baumgarten left the employ of the church and each signed agreements never to disparage their former employer publicly, and each took $50,000 checks. When Debbie spoke up with her New Year's Eve e-mail that complained that Scientology leader David Miscavige was taking the church away from the principles of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, she was in violation of the agreement, and therefore owes $300,000 in damages.

Simple, right? Except that Spencer leaves out what blew away everyone watching that day in the courtroom as Debbie Cook explained what you don't see on the 2007 videotape showing her sign the agreement -- that she'd been held against her will in nightmare conditions and would have signed anything, she testified, to get away.

As numerous observers have pointed out, that difference in facts suggests that a jury should decide who is telling the truth, and that a summary judgment would be premature. But who knows. We're just posting the documents, and you tell us how you think this thing is going to go...

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On Friday, the Church of Scientology did as promised and filed a motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit against former executive Debbie Cook. The church is asking the Bexar County, Texas district court to see this lawsuit as a simple contract dispute, and one the church deserves to win without going any further.

Cook's attorney, Ray Jeffrey, told us that he thinks there's enough disagreement over the basic facts that a judge won't grant Scientology's motion -- the church maintains that when Cook sent out a New Year's Eve e-mail complaining about how Scientology is now betraying its original principles with a focus on "extreme fundraising," she violated the terms of a 2007 non-disclosure agreement she signed when she left the church's employ. But in a stunning February 9 hearing, Cook told a very different story -- that she signed that agreement only under extreme duress, and that she had literally been under guard when she was forced to sign it before she could go free from what had become a nightmare of abuse.

Jeffrey predicted that not only would a judge not cut the case short by granting the church an easy victory, but that the case would get even messier for the church.

Yesterday, Debbie Cook made good on part of that prediction, opening up several new lines in her counterattack with three new court filings that promise to make the discovery process a painful one for David Miscavige, Scientology's leader.

We have copies of those filings posted below.

In the first document, Cook is calling for Scientology to be deposed in the case, this Monday.

Jeffrey explained to me that Cook can ask for the church to produce witnesses to be questioned under oath so quickly as long as no particular witness is asked for by name.

If Cook wanted to depose Kathy True, for example -- the head of "external security" at Scientology's Florida "Mecca" who, Cook testified, hunted down Cook and her husband when they tried to flee the church in 2007 -- they would have to do so in Florida, and probably at a much later date. But under Texas law, Cook instead can produce a list of questions she wants asked in a deposition, and it's the church's responsibility to produce a witness who is competent to answer them -- and without having to go to Florida or anywhere else.

"They're required to send someone who knows what they're talking about," Jeffrey told me by phone yesterday.

Among the questions Cook wants to be addressed in a deposition, and in only a few days...

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In an e-mail, Jeffrey also wanted us to know how much the readers of this blog are contributing to the way this lawsuit is turning out...

Tony, I would like your readers to know how much we appreciate their responses to your posts of the case documents. Aside from the humor (which I, for one, need during this ordeal), their brilliant legal minds are helping us with their analyses. They may not be privy to all the facts and the nuances of Texas legal rules, but they are raising important points that we are incorporating into our multi-pronged counterattack ....Again, Debbie and my thanks to them and you. -- Ray

And here are the documents. As usual, I look forward to your analysis of them!

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The call rattled Debbie Cook and her husband, Wayne Baumgarten.

Starting new lives in San Antonio, Texas, after working decades for the Church of Scientology, they picked up the phone in August 2009 and were stunned when church security officer Kathy True said she and two other staffers were in town to see them.

Could they come to the couple's home?

No, said Cook. She had thought True was coming alone. Cook suggested a public place, a restaurant.

It was a tense time for Scientology. A few weeks earlier, four high-ranking defectors had spoken out about abusive practices in church management ranks. Now, three big names wanted to make sure Cook and Baumgarten stayed in the fold.

Before going to the restaurant, Baumgarten bought a handgun.

That account was provided to the Tampa Bay Times Tuesday by Cook and her Texas attorney Ray Jeffrey, whom Cook and Baumgarten hired after the church sued them in January for violating confidentiality agreements signed when they left the church in 2007.

He said Cook stayed silent for four years not because she accepted the terms of the contract but because she remained under church duress.

True's 2009 visit is an example, Jeffrey said.

Cook told the Times Tuesday that True arrived in San Antonio with Angie Blankenship and Mike Sutter.

Blankenship was a friend and fellow manager who took charge in "the Hole" while many of the abuses took place, Cook said. Sutter is a church security officer.

When Baumgarten heard the three staffers had come to see them instead of one, he recalled a story Cook told him about a church executive who escaped "the Hole" but was "manhandled" and brought back. Fearing that could happen to them, he bought a Taurus 9mm pistol with ammunition, Cook said.

She said he had no intention of using the gun and left it in the car before going into the restaurant.

Last week saw a flurry of legal wrangling in the Church of Scientology lawsuit against a former leading member here earlier this year. The church, as promised, filed a motion for summary judgment Friday against Debbie Cook, targeted by the church for supposedly breaking a sweeping non-disclosure agreement. Last week Cook filed her own counterclaim, seeking to draw the whole of Scientology leadership, including frontman (and best man at Tom Cruise's wedding) David Miscavige, into the fight, not just her former employer, the church's Flag Service Organization, part of the church's spiritual mecca in Clearwater, Fla., which filed the original suit against her in January.

For those just starting down the Scientology rabbit hole, here's a quick primer: Cook has effectively been exiled in San Antonio since the church pushed her out in 2007. At issue in the church's lawsuit against her is a sweeping non-disclosure agreement the church claims she broke when she sent out a New Year's Eve 2011 email to fellow Scientologists criticizing the church's leadership (Miscavige) and its controversial fundraising tactics.

In a remarkable court hearing earlier this month, Cook delivered stunning testimony that's made international headlines and deep ripples within the insular world of Scientology detailing widespread abuse within the church, including claims that church leadership threw high-ranking members into a prison dubbed "The Hole" for weeks, even months, at a time. Cook gave emotional testimony alleging routine physical abuse by church leaders saying she was imprisoned for weeks at a church-run compound in Clearwater and subjected to mental torture before she ultimately signed her non-disclosure agreement.

Along with her counterclaim, Cook has also filed dozens of "interrogatories" the church will have to answer as the lawsuit moves along, as well as several requests for "admissions," a legal maneuver meant to force the church to respond, on record, to allegations of abuse outlined in Cook's testimony last month. We can't wait to hear the response to this one: "Admit or deny that forcing Scientology employees to lick bathroom floors is a religious practice of the Church of Scientology."

Yesterday, we reported that Debbie Cook had gone on the offensive in the lawsuit filed against her by the Church of Scientology.

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Last night, we learned about the church's countermove: its attorneys asked the court to delay the production of documents until their motion on summary judgment has been adjudicated. And if the motion is not granted, to delay the deposition and limit it in scope.

Oh, and one more thing: "That Rathbun and Rinder be excluded from the deposition."

We can imagine the church's concern.

As members of our excellent commenting community pointed out yesterday, it may give Cook a huge advantage to have Rathbun and Rinter as advisers to her attorney Ray Jeffrey during a deposition of church executives. Marty Rathbun was once the second-highest official in the church, answering only to Scientology's ultimate leader, David Miscavige; Mike Rinder was once the organization's chief spokesman and ran its intelligence wing. Since 2009, Rathbun has run a blog that in the past we've called perhaps the single biggest external threat to the continuing health of Miscavige's grip on the church.

Will the church be able to keep Rathbun and Rinder out of these proceedings? At this point, we don't even know which Bexar County district judge is going to consider this flurry of court filings coming from both sides

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Bill Handel is the host, and for those of you that can use the WWP search feature will know that he's a 'friend' of the Scientologists. He's been very reluctant in the past to discuss anything related to Scientology mainly due to the fear of lawsuits and heavy phone calls/emails from local Scientologists. He's also made public statements that he has close friends that are Scientologists and he's been to both the Celebrity Centre and to a LRH exhibit at the LA org.

Handel, a known sloppy satirist and weak source of credible news (he is a talk show host whose job is to spout opinion), has made statements that he thinks LRH was an accomplished individual due to what he's been fed by his Scientology friends. He has major market share for the morning drive in the LA area and he seems to reluctantly discuss the Cook case in this snippet.

I personally like his show although it is mostly entertainment. This was a nice Monday morning surprise but he took the Nightline route of soggy reporting so I was left feeling frustrated after this report, but it is at least a move in the right direction.

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This morning, Bexar County District Judge Cathy Stryker told Scientology to cool its jets.

She pushed back a hearing on its motion for summary judgment from March 23 to May 7. In the meantime, the church will have to answer Cook's request for a deposition by naming a church official who can be made available for it. And, by next week, the church should have to begin answering some of Cook's other requests for information.

"It was a good day for us, and they didn't seem to leave the courtroom very happy," Ray Jeffrey told me this afternoon by telephone.

"It was a real dog fight. More than I thought it would be," he says. "They had about eight people on their side. I was down there by myself with Debbie and Wayne. I'm not sure how many were lawyers and how many were Scientology folks. I know a couple of them were Sea Org folks from California."

[...]

"The judge ruled that we are entitled to additional time to get discovery. The other side argued vociferously that we don't need any discovery, that the case is so cut and dried no additional information was necessary. She didn't buy that. She continued it to May 7," she says.

He added that the church has until Wednesday to send a list of topics they agree to and the name of a church official who will be made available for deposition. "If they respond in a way that's unacceptable to me, I'll have to go back to court and complain about it," he says.

This morning's hearing lasted about an hour, and I asked Jeffrey if there were any moments that stood out.

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Here's where it gets tricky.

At today's hearing, the church's attorneys seemed to mention that some of the discovery (read: evidence) that Cook was asking for was privileged information because they are a religious institution. The last time I ran across this argument was when I was covering the State of Texas's case against the Fundamentalist Sect of the Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Texas raided their compound after claims of abuse. A lot has been written about this. During the subsequent trials, the church claimed the Department of Public Safety and State Prosecutors could not admit church records into trial because... well... they are a church.

In that case, ultimately, the records were allowed. It will be interesting to see how much the church will be able to legally withhold because that information is a "church record."

Jeffery is asking for videotapes. He told me after the hearing that the church property where his client was staying when she signed the non-disclosure was totally wired. That's reasonable. What high profile places doesn't have security cameras? He thinks it will go towards the harassment and intimidation. We don't know because, so far, the church has not turned over the tape.



Wayne Baungardner told me after the hearing that their case is a test case.

"If we win this case, they will be in a very bad position. Pretty everyone who signs has been under the same duress that we've been under. This will be a test case that will determine the degree of transparency of the church of Scientology."

Jeffery added it will also determine if people will come forward. "People are afraid," he said.

As for the $100k that the Cook's took?

"I worked there for 29 years. We averaged less than $10k a year (salary). At my time of head of flag, I was responsible for $1.7 billion in revenue."

Baumgardner said they didn't want the money.

"I left check on table and left. I went out. They stopped us at the gate. They wouldn't let us leave."

But will that be on the video they want the church to turn over?

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Two items today on the hearing.....

Debbie Cook is not alone.

I mean this in two ways.

First, Cook believes people are following her. As a former top official of the Church of Scientology whom the church has expelled and sued, she considers this de rigueur.

I spoke with her this week at the office of her attorney, Ray Jeffrey, in Bulverde.

“The surveillance of my office, as far as I can tell, is limited to when Debbie is here,” Jeffrey said. “They've come through the parking lot before with video cameras and videoed the license plates.”

Cook agreed.

“They know where I am,” she said, “and also who else is here.”

I glanced outside at my beat-up Toyota and decided to stay.

For nearly three decades, Cook had shunned the media, as any good Scientologist would.

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A judge on Friday granted Jeffrey, her pugnacious attorney, more time to mount a defense. Through discovery, he's seeking evidence that Cook was imprisoned and tortured.

George Spencer, an attorney for the church, included in his arguments a notable statement.

“What's an appropriate way to discipline within the church,” he said, “such things are off-limits to the courts.”

I chased Spencer after the hearing to ask about this.

Standing with him at the elevators was a man who'd sat quietly among the church's entourage at the hearing, taking notes.

In a beige trench coat, he had mussed hair and a stealthy bearing. A few times, I had noticed him observing me.

I asked his name.

“You don't need my name,” he said, and the elevator doors closed.


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There has truly been a river of warmth, kindness and support!

I just want to say thank you for your caring communications in answer to my post as well as through emails and Facebook messages. I have been quite amazed to receive literally thousands of such emails and messages.

I would like to make a point about all of this – if it wasn’t for the unbelievable support we have gotten from so many this entire quest for truth and justice might already have been squashed. What has given us strength and resource has been the fact that so many people have come with support – information, brilliant ideas and funds to help with the legal defense. We have even had some help in getting more clients for our marketing business after losing many of ours. All of this has served to give us the strength and organization to be able to present the truth. And it is the truth that can pierce through 16 inch thick armor. And remember “truth is the only thing that can go through 16 inch armor plate steel.”

We have an attorney team that truly is incredible. They often work longer hours than Sea Org members and they are in it for the cause of justice. On top of that, they are absolutely brilliant. And they know they are up against deep pockets that can pay for the most expensive counsel. Independents have been there every step of the way since the TRO and suit were filed with support in every way.

It is a real shame that parishioners’ hard earned money is being used to cover up the crimes and gross human rights violations being committed by the “leader” of Scientology.

Anyway, it is I who owe you the thanks. Those who have come through with real help to win this battle. Whether it is being done to help salvage Scientology from ruin or to protect human rights or whatever drives you – your help is the only reason we are able to have the strength, resource and skill to fight this battle and have any hope of winning.

As has been covered on this blog, we were served with a 34 page motion for summary judgement. In a nutshell, on May 7th, the Church of Scientology will walk into a hearing with a judge, and demand that Wayne and I are found guilty without trial. If they can prove none of the facts that make their case are in dispute, a judge can simply bang down the hammer and our case will never go before a jury. The work that is ongoing to prepare our answer to this is considerable.

To deal with this we are asking for your continued help. And please be assured, no information will be divulged by us as to the source of any donations or otherwise. Any and all information will remain completely confidential no matter what pressure is brought to bear. You can donate to the defense fund here: http://www.debbiecookbaumgarten.com ;

Maybe my new nickname should be THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS NEST! And it is a hornets nest of out ethics at the top. But it can’t be allowed to just go on. It has been going on to the extreme detriment of many good people and to the detriment of a movement that would otherwise be thriving, helping others and protecting and preserving human rights.

If only the last 30 years of real stats for Scn orgs internationally, like Auditors Made, Grade Chart steps completed, Releases, Clears, OTs made, bodies in the shop, etc. could be laid out on graphs. The decline would be shocking. If only the public saw those real stats instead of the BS that they see at the glitzy events, maybe it would break the spell and they could see that we aren’t in Kansas anymore.

Deep down you always believe that truth and good wins in the end, but when you look around in life that often doesn’t really seem to be the case. Those who can afford top legal defense certainly have a way of getting away with murder. So we definitely have our work cut out for us.

Thank you again for your support. We have a ways to go to win. But it can be done!

- Debbie