Scientology
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Former Scientologist Leah Remini is warning that members of the religious group she escaped from have successfully carried out an "infiltration" of President Donald Trump's inner circle.
On Tuesday, Redstate founder Erick Erickson tweeted that there were a "lot of Scientologists hanging out in the President's orbit lately," which could be a reference to two Scientologists prominent in conservative politics. Real estate developer Grant Cardone — who spoke at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally in October of 2024 — was
at Turning Point USA's annual Americafest event in Phoenix, Arizona this month.
Cardone is also a featured content creator on far-right PragerU's website, where he is described as "an entrepreneur, real estate investor and sales trainer recognized for his high-energy approach to business and personal growth." In 2011, the Village Voice reported that Cardone had reached OT VIII (Operating Thetan Level Eight), which is the highest level within the organization.
In addition to Cardone, Scientologist Patricia Duggan is also close to Trump, as he appointed her to the board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts earlier this year. Duggan's level within the organization is not publicly known, though she is the largest single donor to the group, with the Tampa Bay Times reporting that the Church of Scientology created the donor category "Patron of Legend" just for her. Her then-husband Robert Duggan said in 2016 he donated ore than $360 million to the group.
"Yes, this is accurate, Erick, and very scary," Remini wrote in a response to Erickson's tweet. "Thank you for always being aware of the dangers of Scientology and their successful infiltration of the Trump administration and the federal government overall."
The act of infiltrating government agencies is a longstanding practice of the organization, according to a 1980 St. Petersburg Times report that won the Pulitzer Price, In the 1970s, the Church of Scientology carried out a plan dubbed "Operation Snow White" in which approximately 5,000 Scientologists sought to gain access to 136 government agencies, embassies and private organizations to purge all documents casting the organization in an unfavorable light. An IRS librarian spotted two Scientologists at its Washington D.C. office, which led to a federal raid on the group's buildings resulting in the seizure of more than 48,000 documents.
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A House GOP proposal to repeal all federal income taxes—including levies on corporations and the rich—and replace them with a whopping 30% national sales tax is drawing increasingly vocal backlash from economists, tax policy experts, and Democratic lawmakers who say the plan is yet another Republican ploy to reward the wealthy at everyone else's expense
Unveiled earlier this month by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), the Fair Tax Act is hardly a novel piece of legislation. As Steve Wamhoff of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy noted in a recent blog post, the bill has its origins in a proposal "initially pitched by an organization created by the Church of Scientology during its dispute with the IRS over whether it constituted a church and was thus tax-exempt."
"The Church of Scientology's only goal in the matter was to eliminate the agency causing it trouble, and lost interest once the IRS threw in the towel and allowed it to present itself as a church," Wamhoff explained. "But by then several politicians had bought into the idea and introduced it as legislation, which has been reintroduced in each Congress since as the Fair Tax."
Carter's legislation, which currently has nearly two dozen House GOP co-sponsors, would abolish the IRS—a major gift to wealthy tax cheats—and eliminate the payroll taxes that finance Medicare and Social Security. The bill would also nix the individual income tax, the corporate income tax, the estate tax, and other taxes, establishing in their place a sales tax of 30% for calendar year 2023.
"The GOP's so-called 'Fair Tax' proposal is one of the most regressive proposals in a generation, imposing a 30% federal sales tax on everything Americans buy from gas to food," said former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich. "There's nothing 'fair' about it. It would punish the poor and middle class while helping the rich."
In an attempt to offset the inherent regressivity of the sales tax, Carter's bill would send most U.S. households a monthly "prebate" to help families cover the costs of basic necessities—effectively replacing the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and other existing tax benefits that the measure would eliminate.
But Wamhoff argued the prebates would not be "nearly enough to offset the financial hit most Americans would face from the new national sales tax."
"Back in 2004, ITEP estimated that if the Fair Tax was enacted and the national sales tax rate was set at 45%, the poorest 80% of Americans would face net tax hikes from the proposal while most of those among the richest 20% would enjoy net tax cuts," Wamhoff wrote. "ITEP plans to re-estimate the proposal because a great deal has changed since 2004."
In a detailed
of the "Fair Tax" plan, Matt Bruenig of thePeople's Policy Project
that the poorest 20% of the U.S. public would pay roughly 70% of their income in taxes as a result of the bill's levy on consumption. [vid]
Democratic lawmakers and President Joe Biden have wasted no time seizing on the tax proposal as further evidence of the Republican Party's commitment to delivering huge windfalls to the rich.
"The GOP wants to scrap the income tax and replace it with a 30% sales tax," tweeted Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. "In WA State, where we have no income tax and rely on sales and excise taxes, the poorest families spend 17% of their income on taxes. The wealthiest spend 3%. This effort is a tax cut for the rich, period."
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) quipped on Wednesday that "it really must be Opposite Day if Republicans are claiming that a national 30% sales tax is 'fair.'"
"In what world is it fair to slam working families with huge tax increases, while giving tax breaks to the mega-rich?" Merkley asked.
On Thursday afternoon, Biden is expected to attack the GOP tax proposal as well as the Republican push to cut Social Security and Medicare in a speech at a steamfitters union hall in Springfield, Virginia.
"The president will outline the biggest threat to our economic progress: House Republicans' MAGA economic plan," an unnamed White House official toldReuters ahead of the address.
With Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House, the Fair Tax Act has no chance of becoming law, and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) only agreed to allow hearings on the legislation as part of the speakership deal he struck with far-right GOP holdouts.
But progressives argued the proposal offers a telling glimpse into the Republican Party's extreme economic priorities at a time of skyrocketing inequality, large-scale corporate tax avoidance, and economic hardship for poor and middle-class households.
"MAGA extremists are testing the waters to see how far they can go in their backwards economic agenda written by and for wealthy special interests—starting with a staggering 30% tax hike on the middle class with a national sales tax that would immediately make necessities unaffordable while letting greedy corporations off scot-free from any tax responsibility," Liz Zelnick, director of the Economic Security and Corporate Power program at Accountable.US, said in a statement Thursday.
“That's only the beginning," Zelnick continued. “A growing chorus in the Republican House caucus is scheming to sabotage the economy and the U.S. government's full faith and credit unless they get deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits that keep millions of Americans out of poverty and in better health."
"When MAGA extremists openly threaten to push the economy off the cliff unless they can further enrich billionaires and big corporations at the expense of everyone else," she added, "believe them."
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rape
https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/scientology-supreme-court-internal-arbitration/
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/from-loans-and-donations-to-fundraising-whistleblowers-are-voicing-concerns-about-trumps-connection-to-the-church-of-scientology/
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320 rww
wealthy Scientologist John Mappin lives in a castle, loves President Donald Trump, and spends his time online boosting byzantine conspiracy theories, including QAnon. He’s a British right-wing political aficionado with ties to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and one of the GOP’s most powerful youth organizations.On Sunday, Mappin said he met with a prominent U.S. intelligence official who told him QAnon is real.
A giant “Q” flag waves above Mappin’s King Arthur-themed castle in southwest England, drawing the attention of The Guardian,guk] which reported the flag’s connection to the bizarre pro-Trump conspiracy theory in January. Online, Mappin frequently posts pro-Q messages to his social media accounts and boosts some of the most popular Q community creators. Over the weekend, he uploaded a video with an odd message.
“When I was in Washington, D.C., I did have the opportunity to sit next to somebody who is very, very highly respected within intelligence circles in Washington and he did indeed confirm to me that one should ignore the utterances of Q at one’s peril,” Mappin said. He also posted a similar message in a tweet and has conveyed his desire for world leaders to investigate what he says is a possible connection between 5G wireless networks and the worsening coronavirus pandemic.
It is not immediately clear when Mappin would have had his Washington meeting or who he may have met with. Right Wing Watch attempted to reach Mappin via Twitter direct message and email but did not receive a response
twt vid]
what makes Mappin’s remark distinct from run-of-the-mill online QAnon chatter is Mappin’s reported connections to political power-players in the United Kingdom and America.
Mappin generated headlines in 2018 when he hosted Turning Point USA figures Charlie Kirk, its founder and president, and Candace Owens, a former communications director who currently leads the “Blexit” campaign, for the debut of Turning Point UK. The event, which Mappin emceed at the Royal Automobile Club in London, was reportedly disastrous. Owens made comments that seemed to defend Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, which she later clarified and claimed “leftist journalists” had mischaracterized.
“Give it up for John,” Kirk told the crowd, prompting applause at the end of the event. Britain-based anti-fascist nonprofit Hope Not Hate wrote that Mappin played a major role in organizing Turning Point’s overseas operation and was “earmarked as the contact point for high end donors” to the organization.
Right Wing Watch emailed a Turning Point USA spokesperson for clarification on the organization’s relation to Mappin but did not receive a response.
In 2016, Mappin
he had awarded Trump the “Honorary Camelot Castle Knighthood” and deemed that while Trump was at his cliffside castle, he would be addressed as “Sir Donald Trump of Camelot.” Mappin mailed Trump a replica sword styled after Excalibur, the fabled sword of King Arthur. Additionally, Mappin won a six-figure sum betting that Trump would be elected president.
In 2017, Cornish & Devon Post reported thatTrump’s son Eric Trumpcalled Mappin before the president’s inauguration to thank Mappin for his support and to invite him to visit the first family in Washington. Mappin seized the opportunity and took a photo with Trump and first lady Melania Trump. The same year, he also took a photo with Trump campaign senior adviser John Pence, who is Vice President Mike Pence’s nephew, at Trump’s Washington hotel. We emailed the Trump campaign for clarification on its relationship with Mappin but did not receive a response.
Since getting cozy with the Trump family, Mappin appears to have remained politically active. In 2019, British politician Nigel Farage reportedly asked Turning Point UK backers at a Ritz tea party where Mappin was present for “any help, any support, whether it’s verbal, whether it’s getting your friends involved, whether it’s giving us money, whatever it is, we need all the help we can get.” Several Brexit Party and Turning Point UK officials were reportedly present, but Mappin dismissed the event to BuzzFeed News as “simply a tea party” and described it as “more a meeting of intellectuals rather than a fundraiser.”
It also seems that he still maintains a warm relationship with Kirk and Turning Point USA. In a publicly visible Facebook post this month, Mappin congratulated Kirk on scoring an interview with right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro and wrote that he considered Kirk “among our closest friends.”
Hope Note Hate researcher Simon Murdoch told Right Wing Watch that while Mappin has appeared in proximity with prominent political figures in the U.K. and the U.S., “in each case it has been brief and without lasting consequence.” Turning Point UK, Murdoch said, managed to earn some press attention at its inception, but “it has sunk into irrelevancy, having no noticeable impact on university campuses or wider political debate in the U.K. since.” As for Mappin’s QAnon claims, Murdoch expressed strong doubts.
“Given Mr. Mappin’s track record promoting conspiracy theories and other bizarre claims, his claim that he met with members of the U.S. intelligence community, let alone a respected member, should be viewed with skepticism, even more so given the apparent theme of the conversation,” Murdoch said. “Moreover, even it if were true, his track record of inconsequential political involvement would suggest such a meeting will likely lead to little.”
Trump and his allies have received support from the Scientology community, which has been the subject of massive public scandals in recent years, particularly in Los Angeles. Last year, Scientology whistleblower Leah Remini called out the Trump administration for cozying up to Scientologists, including recording artist Joy Villa, who has appeared close to the Trump White House and presidential campaign. The Church of Scientology also threw its weight behind Trump’s criminal justice reform bill last year; ex-Scientologists said its support of the bill was a recruitment scheme.
At Mappin’s castle, the helipad is always waiting to accommodate Trump, whom Mappin has described as “the most intelligent being to have occupied the presidency in 100 years,” should he accept Mappin’s open invitation. Trump hasn’t landed there—yet.
Tags: Candace Owens Charlie Kirk Donald Trump John Mappin The Storm Turning Point USA
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cruise ship reportedly owned by the Church of Scientology has been quarantined in the port of St. Lucia after a case of measles was confirmed on board, health officials said Wednesday. There are almost 300 passengers and crew on the ship, which has the same name as a ship owned by the church, NBC News reported.
only one crew infected measles?
..."Because of the risk of potential infection, not just from the confirmed measles case but from other persons who may be on the boat at the time, we thought it prudent to make a decision not to allow anyone to disembark," St. Lucia Chief Medical Officer Dr. Merlene Fredericks-James said in a statement reported by The New York Times. St. Lucia cannot stop the boat from departing, which it is scheduled to do on Thursday, NBC reported.
Health officials did not give the name of the vessel, but St. Lucia Coast Guard Sargent Victor Theodore said it was called "Freewinds." The Church of Scientology owns and operates a 440-foot cruise ship by that name, and Theodore identified the quarantined ship as the one pictured on the church's website. The Church of Scientology did not respond to requests for comment from NBC, CNN or The New York Times.
While some high-profile Scientologists have spoken out against vaccines, the church itself has no official stance on vaccination, The New York Times reported.
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