If Scientology leader David Miscavige hadn’t spent so many years making himself so scarce, this would hardly be worth mentioning.
But not only has he kept himself from the general public, he’s also kept away from process servers for years, and until recently we didn’t even know where in the world he was living.
We knew that he’d given up his longtime home at Scientology’s secretive Int Base some seven or eight years ago. And we’d seen him at controlled events whenever an Ideal Org was being opened. But where did Miscavige actually spend most of his time?
Then, in the fall, we started hearing through social media chatter that Miscavige was attending Friday night graduation ceremonies at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida, Scientology’s holiest spot and the center of its spiritual mecca, the Flag Land Base.
A Scientology publication confirmed this, saying not only that Dave was in Clearwater attending the weekly gatherings, but that he had also presided over the last New Year’s Eve party there.
And then Miscavige’s attorney not only revealed in a court document that Miscavige was now a Florida resident, but actually used it to taunt the process servers who were looking for him in Los Angeles.
So we’ve known for a while now that Dave is a resident of the Sunshine State. But still, spotting him in the wild remains exceedingly rare, and especially in such a casual setting as our latest sighting.
Here’s what Phil Jones tells us about it…
There’s a section on the very far north end of Clearwater Beach where there are some very upscale private homes. This is well north of the public beach area and a somewhat exclusive area. There’s a private yacht club in the area where memberships run about $30,000 per year.
On the beach, in that area, the yacht club sets up beach chairs for their members to use. It’s quiet and very few people wander up that far. I’ve walked it myself only a few times quite a few years ago when we used to kayak over to Caladesi Island. It’s very beautiful up that way.
A few days ago, in that section of the beach, someone I know who happened to be in the area spotted David Miscavige jogging past the beach chairs. A few others they knew also noticed him and that became the topic of discussion for the rest of the day. I’m not sure how much security he had with him, as the person I know wasn’t really looking for that. Not like us regular Scientology watchers.
Hey process servers, get your swim trunks out.
Thank you, Phil. And our Clearwater peeps, keep your eyes peeled!
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Leah Remini podcast: Sheriff Nick Hanna
Says Mike: “What an enormous pleasure it was to speak to the Sheriff of Tom Green County, Texas, Nick Hanna. He recounted the incredible story of his work (and that of many others) in discovering, investigating and prosecuting the criminal activities and abuses in a compound of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints on a ranch (the YFZ Ranch ‘Yearning For Zion’) in the small town of Eldorado Texas in 2003.” Listen to the episode here.
“I notice now that there’s a lot of doubt and wonder about ethics and so on, here and there and so forth. What is ethics? I just heard one from Chicago, just before I came to the lecture and so forth. ‘Scientology is to help, not to punish people.’ How the hell would he know? He’s never been helped by it. He’d made a lot of dough with it, but he’s never had any tone arm action I’ve ever been able to find out. Suppressive. So we are developing, simply, systems by which to handle the public at large, is all we are doing. And right now it goes in with a thud against some staff members and so forth and students collide with it and that sort of thing. Good. Get used to it. Because the action is actually intended for the public, don’t you see? But until you have a familiarity with law and order amongst yourselves and some experience with how it works and what seems unjust and what seems just and that sort of thing, you never can grab ahold of it. Now, you can’t go nonchalantly knocking off the United States government or something like that without at least issuing an HCO suppressive order, you know?” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 8, 1965
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“SHIP CONDITION: If the ship’s company is ever to get out of Non E it will be by 1. Wearing ones own hat. 2. Insisting the other fellows wears his. I tried for 2 months to single hand the ship up in morale and efficiency. I got too many problems (bonus errors, FP flaps in return). Now you guys dig yourselves out and put it right. I didn’t assign the condition. The ship did.” — The Commodore, June 8, 1970
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“The problem is that the bank, your body, your environment of BTs, clusters, etc., are FILLED with an ENORMOUS amount of pictures of things that happened, or were created or stolen etc. They are all exquisitely constructed down to the most amazing detail, which is misconstrued as memory which it may be, but NOT YOURS. Misconstruing another’s picture as yours is a wrong indication and is FAR FAR worse than misconstruing your own pictures as someone else’s. So the best thing is if you don’t explicitly recognize a picture as yours, then it probably isn’t, and just enjoy it as someone else’s photo album or life play. That’s the fun part of the bank, wandering around in OTHER’s blood. Just like the movies. Even if in the dream or the incident you seem to BE the person having the experience, you can do that too, but if you don’t recognize it, then it’s just you being them for a moment and separate from it after the fun is done. Your bank is a HUGE movie theater of the Cosmic ALL, enjoy it, then leave it for next session or another time. I can’t tell you how many girl friends I have ‘had,’ don’t recognize a single one of them, but god are they gorgeous, and all they want to do is, well whatever. Not like on Earth where vaginas have evolved teeth and venom.”
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1995: The Associated Press reported this week that the Chilocco Development Authority has turned over the former Indian school to the Bureau of Indian Affairs rather than continue to deal with Narconon, the Scientology detoxification program. “Wanda Stone, chairwoman of the Kaw Tribe, said her tribal council approved the move because it was tired of dealing with Narconon Chilocco New Life Center, a substance abuse treatment facility that has a 25-year lease on the site. ‘We decided we didn’t have time to mess with them,’ Ms. Stone said. The tribes had expected to receive a total of $16 million over 25 years when they signed the lease with Narconon five years ago. But Stone said the facility has only about 75 of the expected 1,000 beds. ‘We would get checks maybe every quarter for $2,500,’ she said. ‘We decided we had more important things to do.'”
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“Tom Cruise is royalty and royalty can’t just marry whoever they like. They have obligations to king and subjects alike.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Held to answer for trial, next hearing set for August 9, trial scheduled for early November.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Pretrial conference August 21 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for June 18.
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition to US Supreme Court submitted on May 26. Scientology has until June 25 to respond.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: California Supreme Court grants review on May 26, asks Second Appellate Division to direct Judge Steven Kleifield to show cause why he granted Scientology’s motion for arbitration.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 24.
Concluded litigation:
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Scientology’s obsession with City Councilman Mark Bunker is truly off the charts
[TWO years ago] Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard on nuclear radiation: It’s a state of mind
[THREE years ago] Here’s proof that Scientology members have to be forced to watch Scientology TV
[FOUR years ago] Federal judge urged to ignore Scientology whining and get on with arbitration disaster
[FIVE years ago] More signs of the apocalypse for the Church of Scientology’s bitter-enders
[SIX years ago] Westward, Ho! Hey, Bunkerites, we need your help, and fast
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: The Tom Cruise history lesson edition!
[EIGHT years ago] Jon Atack on Why It’s So Hard To Recover From Scientology
[NINE years ago] It’s a Scientology Book Avalanche! RUN FOR COVER!
[TEN years ago] Scientology’s Anti-Commie, Space Opera Beginnings, and Other Nuggets From New Academic Book
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,325 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,830 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,350 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,370 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,261 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,568 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,436 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,210 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,540 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,014 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,330 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,896 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,815 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,983 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,564 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,825 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,863 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,576 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,101 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 456 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,631 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,182 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,331 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,651 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,506 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,625 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,981 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,284 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,390 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,792 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,664 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,247 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,742 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,996 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,105 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 8, 2021 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, 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, 1995-2020 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2020), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | 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 | Shelly Miscavige, 15 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
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
