Over the last several months, we’ve been posting numerous FBI documents about Scientology that have been pried loose by journalist Emma Best as part of a lawsuit. She’s been kind enough to give us a crack at many of the items as they’ve come available, and that’s led to some really fun disclosures like a 1985 letter from Nibs that we got to see for the first time recently.
There are so many new documents, some of them we have barely had time to skim, and, as with many government releases, some of it is not super exciting or revelatory. One file the FBI released, for example, was mostly about email threats the Church of Scientology was receiving circa 2006 from a determined and very angry person. It really wasn’t very interesting to us.
However, one page in that file we did find pretty remarkable.
As the FBI was looking into the person emailing the church, Scientology itself was of course very interested in the investigation, and wanted the FBI to use the opportunity to go after some of its longtime critics.
So the church sent over a wonderful diagram, explaining how the critics of Scientology at that time were all part of a shadowy cabal being operated by…
…Dave Touretzky!
If you were at our first HowdyCon in Cleveland in 2016, you know that the Carnegie Mellon University professor was our special guest of honor, and he flew in from Pittsburgh in his private plane for the occasion. Touretzky has also been a key figure in the struggle to post information about Scientology online for many years, and he was the target of ferocious efforts by Scientology’s operatives to get him in trouble over it.
“Ah, the good old days,” Touretzky told us when we sent him a copy of the document. “When all it took to get a rise out of Scientology was posting a couple of lines from OT III. Good times!”
We thought you’d be interested in seeing the diagram that the church sent the FBI. The names have been redacted, but we can guess pretty easily that the Carnegie Mellon guy is Touretzky, and the person operating a website in Norway is our old friend Andreas Heldal-Lund. The person who had “fled California” was Keith Henson, who was found guilty of “interfering with a religion” for posting Scientology’s secret materials online (oh how far we’ve come).
Scientology also accuses a couple of critics of being neo-Nazis, but that’s par for the course. Here’s the whole thing…
Ultimately, after more than a year, prosecutors weren’t interested in pressing charges against the mad emailer, even though the FBI thought it had located him, and the matter was dropped. But it’s fun to see this diagram, and we can’t help wondering if they have something similar that they turn over to law enforcement today.
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Bonus items from our tipsters
Alfreddie posted this flier on Facebook and then turned it private, but not before one of our tipsters managed to nab it…
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Make your plans now!
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 4,992 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 138 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,201 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 1,975 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 2,749 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,095 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,589 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,629 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,341 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 867 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 4,956 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,096 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,416 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,391 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 747 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,049 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,155 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 1,558 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,430 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,012 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 1,517 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 1,761 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 12,870 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 12, 2018 at 07:00
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Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2017), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
