U.S. Representative Anna Paulina Luna’s Florida 13th congressional district includes Clearwater, home to the Church of Scientology’s “spiritual mecca,” the Flag Land Base, where just this past weekend church leader David Miscavige held a ground breaking for a new auditorium.
So maybe it’s not too surprising that Rep. Luna, a Republican who was first elected to office in 2022, has a friendly relationship with Clearwater Scientologists, and they have helped her win two terms in Congress.
Scientology was founded by 20th century science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, a midcentury red-baiter and apartheid supporter who pledged Scientology’s “rightist” support to South Africa’s regime. As a result, Scientologists today tend to lean right, in the Alex Jones conspiracy mold, and its wealthier donors tend to be Trump supporters.
And in Luna, they have a representative who hasn’t been shy about her own interest in conspiracy theories.
Now that Luna is running for a third term in the 2026 election, wealthy Clearwater Scientologists once again have her back.
Pat Clouden is an OT 8 Scientologist and a Diamond Meritorious ($5 million) donor who has long been politically active in Florida.
Here he is, center, with his family as they received their Diamond Meritorious trophy from the church in 2019.
Greg Mitchell, meanwhile, is Scientology’s longtime DC lobbyist. (Yes, Scientology has a full-time lobbyist. Every time we mention this some readers invariably are stunned to learn this.)
This is Greg and his wife, Renee Bessone. In 2023, we published a formerly secret 2007 document that laid out Mitchell’s orders from the church for what they wanted him to accomplish in Washington.
But of the people named in the notice about this latest Scientologist fundraiser for Rep. Luna, easily the most interesting is the first name listed, Penny Atwell Jones.
Penny is quite a fixture in Scientology, an OT 8 who often draws attention to herself and her political activities. (One way we kept an eye on what was happening on Jan 6, 2021 at the US capitol, for example, was by reading her social media dispatches.)
What originally brought her to our attention was that she was one of several Scientologists who were lined up to attack Leah Remini after her A&E television series Scientology and the Aftermath proved to be such a hit (and such a thorn in the side of church leader David Miscavige).
If you remember, Scientology quickly lined up numerous former “friends” of Leah to accuse her of being a big meanie. Penny was more than willing to join in…
Leah has never been an A-list celebrity, but she thinks she is. They don’t demand all this extra attention. They’re here like every one of the rest of us are here. But not Leah—she wants to be followed around and just given all this attention. I can remember saying to her at times, “Wow! How much attention do you really need?”
And Penny was also interesting to us because of the awkward position she’s in as an OT Scientologist while her daughter Brooke Daniells is in a relationship with actress and Scientology celebrity Catherine Bell.
As Mike Rinder explained at his blog back in 2014, this puts Penny in a difficult spot, given Scientology’s notorious homophobia and Penny’s sensitivity about her status as a very visible Scientologist.
So, on September 12, these very prominent Scientology figures — Clouden, Mitchell, and Penny Jones — will host a Scientologist fundraiser for their congresswoman.
We can’t help wondering if they’ll be tempted to compare notes with Luna about her statements on the Joe Rogan podcast that she has seen evidence in the government’s UFO files of “interdimensional beings.”
Doesn’t this suggest Luna is ready to learn about her own true nature as a 76-trillion-year-old thetan?
Bonus items from our tipsters
Speaking of politically-active Scientologists, Grant Cardone is coming to the Hollywood Celebrity Centre.
And note the $100 admission charge.
And some more info about those cute little golden shovels that Scientologists received before Saturday’s L. Ron Hubbard Hall ground breaking…
Only a few more tickets left!
(Illustration by Alex Barnes-Ross, the cheeky monkey.)
There are just a handful of tickets left for this year’s HowdyCon until they’re sold out for good! Once they’re gone, they’re gone.. and you’re not going to want to miss out on this year’s shenanigans. Join us for a weekend of fun, informative talks and a whole lotta suppression, all raising support for the Michael J. Rinder Aftermath Foundation. Head to howdycon2026.com and reserve your spot before it’s too late!
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Grant Cardone is coming to Los Angeles.
But he forgot his socks.
There’s something about a dude wearing dress shoes and no socks that I find wholly unpleasant.
That district is rated R+6 by Cook, which means she could plausibly get spat out this year. Fingers crossed.