Anita Van Duyn, a former retail entrepreneur who left identity science in 1994 after more than a decade with the group and met Ms. Gabbard as a young woman, has written a letter to members of Congress warning that Ms. Gabbard is “under the complete Influence of” Mr. Butler, whom he said “harbors ambitious political goals.” Ms. Van Duyn, who lives with her wife in California, said she had left the group because Butler “used his disciples as puppets only for his personal gains.”
Like other critics, he could not say specifically what Mr. Butler’s political agenda was, although in 1977, the Honolulu star manager reported that he was secretly endorsing a slate of failed candidates for Congress and State Office in Hawaii on previous year. He did not respond to requests for an interview.
In a statement, Alexa Henning, a spokeswoman for Ms. Gabbard, characterized questions about Ms. Gabbard’s religious background as “Hinduphobia.” He also sought to distance Ms. Gabbard from Science of Identity, claiming that she “never has and has no affiliation” with the organization. “To tarnish it as being in a cult is bigoted,” he wrote in an email.
In the past, Ms. Gabbard has spoken positively about her experiences with Mr. Butler’s group and disputed critics who call it an abusive cult. “I’ve never heard him say anything hateful, or say anything bad about anyone,” Gabbard told The New Yorker in 2017. “I can speak from my own personal experience and, frankly, my gratitude for him, for the gift of this wonderful practice.” that so many people have already given me.
In the same article, Mr. Butler praised her as an accomplished “student of mine.”
In anticipation of scrutiny of Ms. Gabbard ahead of her confirmation hearing, Science of Identity has hired a New York public relations firm, 5W, to run an email campaign criticizing news coverage of the The group’s influence on her as fomenting “Anti-Hindu Hate,” a message resonated in the White House.
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