Carly Mallenbaum | USA TODAY

Time

Leah Remini is defending director Paul Haggis, who has been accused of sexual misconduct.

In an open letter, co-signed by Remini's Scientology and the Aftermath co-host Mike Rinder and posted to Rinder's website, they maintain that Haggis is likely not guilty, and that the anonymous accusations made about him probably have to do with the fact that the Oscar-nominated filmmaker once was a member of the Church of Scientology.

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Last week, amid the allegations, Haggis resigned as chair of the board of the charity he founded, Artists for Peace and Justice. Earlier this month, three women came forward to the Associated Press with misconduct accusations against the director, after a civil lawsuit accused him of raping a publicist in 2013.

Haggis has denied the original rape accusation in a counter-complaint to the lawsuit, filed in December in Manhattan, and said the accuser and her lawyer had demanded a $9 million payment to avoid legal action, which he characterized as extortion.

Remini and Rinder opened their letter by saying that defending someone unfairly accused of sexual assault is may not be "politically correct, (but it's) standing up for what we believe is right."

They call Haggis "a good man" and friend who "championed the rights of women, the LGBT community and has fought for and devoted himself to the underprivileged in the world."

Then, they explained what Scientology had to do with their defense of Haggis, a former practitioner like themselves. (Haggis gained attention for his defection from Scientology in 2009, and public criticism of the religion in a 2011 New Yorker article, a book and an HBO documentary.)

"Like those of us who were scientologists, we trusted and confided in our church to seek resolution for our shortcomings. What is different about scientology is the detailed records they maintain of everything you tell them. And beyond that, they conduct intense interrogations based on the idea that only when all specifics and details are disclosed can one find relief. The names, dates, and minute details of any indiscretions, and even thoughts, are all recorded."

The letter says that Haggis' personal information in his "scientology files" may have been unfairly used to find accusers who seem to "come out of the woodwork" anonymously, "hiding behind a lawyer who will never have to disclose who is paying their bill."

The letter reads, "Only a scientologist can understand the pressure one feels to offer up even the slightest thing that the scientology organization might consider a transgression of THEIR mores. This information is used against anyone who departs scientology and dares speak their mind... When someone is a declared an 'enemy' by scientology, they are fair game."

The letter closes: "Paul Haggis deserves, based on his record as a gentleman and humanitarian, to be judged when all the evidence has been taken under penalty of perjury in a court of law. Because claims of anonymous accusers who have NOT gone to law enforcement are not credible."

In response to Remini and Rinder's letter, the Church of Scientology has issued a statement.

"To be clear, the Church has never met the women in this case nor their attorneys and knows nothing about the accusations against Haggis other than what has appeared in press reports and public court documents," Church of Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw said to USA TODAY in an email.

Pouw's note continues: "Today’s transparent ploy by Remini and Rinder fails to mention that plaintiff Haleigh Breest’s court papers definitively state that 'Ms. Breest has nothing to do with Scientology' (and that) that the three additional women making allegations against Haggis all are on record to the Associated Press as stating that they are not Scientologists — as if an alleged rape victim’s religion should matter — and that these allegations have nothing to do with the Church."

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