Michele Fiore is 3rd Scientologist Trump has pardoned (that we know of)

You may have seen the news yesterday that firebrand Nevada politician Michele Fiore was pardoned by President Trump before her sentencing in a federal fraud case.

Considering her long support of the president (the press literally referred to her as “Lady Trump”), perhaps it should not be too surprising. But still, what a stunning turnaround when it looked like Fiore was going to be facing some pretty serious prison time.

She had been convicted of using her position as a well-known (and very colorful) politician to raise money for a statue to a fallen law enforcement officer, when the statue had already been paid for and Fiore instead used the money to pay her own rent and for other personal things like her daughter’s wedding.

She maintained that it was a politically-motivated prosecution, and she’s claiming now that the pardon is a vindication.

“Today, I stand before you — not just as a free woman, but as a vindicated soul whose prayers were heard, whose faith held firm, and whose truth could not be buried by injustice,” Fiore said yesterday. “I am deeply and eternally grateful to President Donald J. Trump for granting me a full and unconditional pardon. This act of mercy is not just a correction of a legal record — it is the restoration of a life, a reputation, and a mission long targeted for destruction.”

We first became familiar with Fiore a decade ago when we learned her backstory while we were editing Raw Story. She was gaining notoriety for her nutty statements — that cancer is a fungus that can be flushed out with salt water, for example — and we learned that she had originally wanted to be a musician and movie star.

Then, in 2017, because we had that familiarity with her, we were stunned to spot her photo in a Scientology publication, swimming with dolphins during an excursion with the Freewinds cruise ship. What was she doing there? Only Scientologists can go on those trips.

Fiore never publicly acknowledged our discovery of her Scientology involvement, although she did speak at a Scientology facility in Las Vegas and pushed information from its front groups.

During her fraud trial, information that was found by federal agents did come out showing definitively that she had paid Scientology to go on that Freewinds excursion, and that it was part of a Scientology service.

There was now no doubt: Michele Fiore is or was a Scientologist to some extent.

She still isn’t saying anything about that, but we were intrigued, given how much the White House has been involved with wealthy Scientologists during the second Trump presidency, to see this pardon. And we prepared to write a story that Fiore was the first Scientologist to receive a Trump pardon.

But then we remembered, that isn’t true.

At least two of the January 6 rioters who received pardons from Trump are also Scientologists.

Professional poker player Jon Heneghan and TV chef Carol Kicinski, both of Dunedin, Florida, are OT Scientologists who each pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and were sentenced to 20 days in prison, 1 year supervised release and $500 restitution.

Both were pardoned along with about 1,500 other January 6 defendants.

We don’t think that their status as OT 7 or 8 Scientologists had anything to do with their pardons, and the same is true for Fiore, who, we have pointed out, has never really acknowledged publicly her Scientology involvement.

It’s mostly just a coincidence that the president has happened to pardon three Scientologists out of the many he’s granted clemency.

But there’s no doubt that Scientology is in a very advantageous position with this administration.

President Trump appointed Scientology’s wealthiest donor Trish Duggan to the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center. He named OT Scientologist and attorney John P. Coale to be his deputy envoy to Ukraine while key negotiations are going on. Another major Scientology donor, Grant Cardone, spoke at the Madison Square Garden rally a week before the election. And Pam Bondi, the new US Attorney General, has a long relationship with Scientology and has praised its “civil rights” agenda.

We also pointed out the connections between Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to OT Scientologist attorneys who are leading a years-long litigation war against the manufacturers of the devices used in ECT.

Fiore’s pardon isn’t really a reflection that friendliness with Scientology.

But still, it’s a helluva thing.

We can’t wait to see what she does next with her freedom.

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