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LIVE REPORTS FROM TAMPA: Scientology tests its religious freedom defense in fraud lawsuit

We have several correspondents on the scene today as the next dramatic showdown occurs in Luis and Rocio Garcia’s fraud lawsuit against the Church of Scientology.

The Garcias first filed their lawsuit in January 2013, alleging that over their long time in the church, they had been victimized by fraudulent schemes to convince them to donate []

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Nancy Cartwright puts out the creepiest Scientology advertisement of all time

Scientologist extraordinaire, voice of Bart Simpson, and San Fernando Valley resident Nancy Cartwright — known to the locals as ‘Her Royal Governess’ — has provided what may be the creepiest Scientology advertisement of all time.

Readers of the Underground Bunker know that Cartwright has been heavily pushing her fellow Valleyites to come to one themed event []

Sea Org Document: Dare to have children, you get sent to Scientology’s version of Siberia

Martin Ottmann is a longtime critic of the Church of Scientology who is known for his dogged search for documents that describe every aspect of Scientology management and life. We asked him to bring some of his expertise to the Underground Bunker and help us dig into the dark corners of this secretive organization.

Last week, []

Jonny Jacobsen reviews the new Scientology memoir by Hungarian writer Peter Bonyai

Our man in Paris, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen, is back with another great piece — this time, a lengthy review of the newest book recounting the journey into and out of the Church of Scientology.

Underground Bunker regulars will recall that Hungarian ex-Scientology member Peter Bonyai (pictured, right) helped us out with a story in April []

Signs of chaos emerge for Scientology’s drug rehab legal defense

The last time we reported on the 19 lawsuits filed against Scientology’s drug rehab network Narconon by Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton, we told you that Hamilton had won a decisive victory in the Geanacopulos lawsuit when Judge James C. Mahan denied the motion to dismiss filed by Narconon International and the Association for Better []

Sunday Funnies: Oops, Scientology reveals a key fact about the size of its membership

We hope you’re having a great holiday weekend and we’re happy that you could drop in at the Underground Bunker for some Sunday Funnies.

It’s our weekly feature that allows us to show off the best Scientology mailers and fliers that have been forwarded to us by our great tipsters. And we’re going to start off []

Scientology training includes how to physically pull cash away from a reluctant patsy

Martin Ottmann is a longtime critic of the Church of Scientology who is known for his dogged search for documents that describe every aspect of Scientology management and life. We asked him to bring some of his expertise to the Underground Bunker and help us dig into the dark corners of this secretive organization.

Martin sent []

Scientology yesterday and today: Reports from Mark Bunker and Dennis Erlich

Filmmaker Mark Bunker was dubbed “Wise Beard Man” by the Anonymous movement in 2008. We’ve been reading Mark’s observations about Scientology since the late 1990s, and we’re eagerly awaiting his documentary about Scientology, “Knowledge Report.”

Bunker’s recent return to Clearwater to live has us very intrigued. He told us he was going to approach the city’s []

Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest Scientology video in the history of Scientology videos

We’ve been leaked a video which could not be a more perfect distillation of Scientology as it exists in 2014.

This thing, well, it’s — it’s beautiful.

Before we show it to you, we want to help you put it in context. The few remaining Scientologists in Atlanta, like other cities in the U.S., are under intense []

The Document: When Scientology canceled ‘Family Time’

Martin Ottmann was in Scientology relatively briefly: He first got involved in Stuttgart in 1989, joined the Sea Organization and went to Clearwater in 1990, and by the end of 1992, after returning to Germany, he was out. Since then, however, he’s become known for his dogged pursuit of documents that reflect every possible detail []