Mark Bunker: Clearwater council argues about Florida AG siding with Scientology

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Last night Clearwater’s city council once again took up the subject of Scientology’s domination of its downtown, and Mark Bunker made the scene. He broke down the latest issues facing the city in a conversation we had last night after he got home. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

 
——————–

Technology Cocktail

“It will happen in Dianetic running that something in the incident that the pc is running will command them off the incident. This is called a BOUNCER. The pc just bounces right off the incident. The way to handle this is quite simple you simply command the pc to RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE INCIDENT and to move through the incident. Commanding the pc to RETURN TO THE INCIDENT will enable you to get the pc to move through it and the force of the incident will come off. This is quite an interesting piece of tech that has been known and worked since the advent of Book One. It, unfortunately, fell out somewhere along the line and wasn’t being used. It is now being reinstituted and in fact its use is making a tremendous difference in Dianetics running right this very minute.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1978

 
——————–

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 as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman [55] Mark Bunker [56] Trish and Liz Conley [57] Trish Conley [58] Alex Barnes-Ross [59] Alex Barnes-Ross [60] Alex Barnes-Ross [61] Alex Barnes-Ross [62] Alex Barnes-Ross [63] Alex Barnes-Ross [64] Tory Christman [65] Tammy Synovec [66] Dennis Erlich [67] Alex Barnes-Ross [68] Valerie Ross [69] Kat in Austin [70] Mark Bunker [71] Phil Jones

 
——————–

Source Code

“I think you could probably get a cat to talk with the reach-and-withdraw band of processes. I mean it. I mean it. I think you could get a cat to talk. But how would you go about processing a cat, you see? Well, the same way you tend to process children. Sloppily, hunt-and-punch, no regular sessions, not treating it with the dignity that auditing demands. Don’t you see? You know, a lot of Scientologists’ kids are going to be practically unprocessable in a few more years, if people keep hunting-and-punching processing on them, you know. Grabbing them off as they pass by, and running an assist, don’t you see, and never flattening the auditing command and so forth. I’m surprised, every once in a while, one of my kids will yelp when I say I’m going to give them an assist, you know. They yelp! They’re usually very pleased, but once in a while I will propose something like this, and I’ll get a protest.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 19, 1963

 
——————–

Avast, Ye Mateys

“To the members of the FB, FSO and FAO: Thank you all — each and every one — for your good wishes on my Birthday. I’m thrilled with the ‘Mad Money for Cassettes,’ and very anxious to see my Mystery Gift. Much love,” — Mary Sue, June 19, 1971

 
——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“I am only on OT2 but in the Freezone we have top end comps almost weekly. There is no doubt that the upper levels of the so called CBR bridge give the OTs tools to operate effectively on all dynamics, not just their own. The wins are mind blowing and it must be what LRH intended. Cause and caseless on all dynamics. So I am doing it, Freezone for sure. The Indies do not offer anything beyond OT8 which we now know is questionable as regards being a fully completed rundown or level.”

 
——————–

Past is Prologue

1998: NBC’s news program Dateline aired a story this week on Bob Minton, a critic of Scientology who is funding a variety of cases and opponents of the cult. From a transcript of the show: BOB MINTON: The more I got involved, the more frightening the organization as a whole became to me. JOHN HOCKENBERRY: Are you nuts? MINTON: A lot of people would question my insanity on that score. HOCKENBERRY: Do you have any evidence that they’re really evil and destructive? MINTON: Yes. Shattered lives, broken families, mental fragility. VO: Minton has funded lawsuits, rescued an anti-cult organization, given weary defendants and broken-down activists the means to fight on. To date, he’s handed out more than 1.7 million of his own dollars to some of Scientology’s harshest critics HOCKENBERRY: That’s a lot of money. MINTON: It is. But keep in mind that in this, in this battle with Scientology, I’m the little guy. Scientology are the big guys. VO: Vaughn Young and his wife, Stacy, left the church in 1989, embittered by their experience and determined to start a new life. They rented a house in Seattle and opened a sanctuary for abandoned cats and dogs. But a few years later, the Youngs decided to go public, criticizing the church as a dangerous cult. And they provoked what they say was an all out assault by the church to destroy their lives. STACY YOUNG: They will find your vulnerability and, and use that to try to silence you. VO: In the summer of 1994, a newsletter showed up around the Youngs’ neighborhood, accusing them of things like extortion and promiscuity. Over the next three years, they learned that private investigators were asking suspicious questions of their friends and neighbors and accusing the Youngs of harboring diseased cats. STACY YOUNG: We were about a week and a half away from having to move. We were in a state of catastrophe. VAUGHN YOUNG: He just said, he says, ‘My name is Bob Minton, I read what was happening with your animal sanctuary. And I just want to know if there’s some way that I could help you out.’ VO: Out of the blue, this Bob Minton, this voice on the phone, came into their lives. He bought the Youngs a new house where they could legally keep their animals for $250,000. Incredibly, he saved the animal shelter. Stacy says she’ll never forget the day she picked up her new key. STACY YOUNG: We came to the house, we opened the front door and Bob Minton had a huge bouquet of flowers on the table for us. It was incredible. It was real! It really was real! And we’d never met this guy! And he just said, ‘Welcome to your new house. Congratulations.’ MIKE RINDER: I don’t know what motivates this guy, I don’t know what. But on the other hand if you asked me, do I know what motivated Timothy McVeigh to go blow up a building because his view is that the people sitting inside that building are violating the rights of citizens of the United States, I don’t know why he does that. I, I don’t know that you could– HOCKENBERRY: Now, you’ve just compared Bob Minton to Timothy McVeigh. RINDER: No, motivation. Like, what is it that motivates someone to, to do that? I don’t know. I don’t know how you tell someone does that before they do it. HOCKENBERRY: All right, but you very deliberately compared Bob Minton to Timothy McVeigh. RINDER: All right. HOCKENBERRY: What would it take for you to walk away from this battle? MINTON: The Church of Scientology would have to make some serious reforms. RINDER: Well, it’s all sort of an arrogant view to think that because he has a lot of money to give to people that he is going to somehow get us to change our religion. We’re not. MINTON: There have been emotional times that one really has to question how many punches you wish to take. HOCKENBERRY: Can you take a lot more punches? MINTON: I think so. You know, I am setting an example to show people that this organization is not invulnerable to being criticized. That they cannot destroy everybody, all the time, who is willing to stand up to them.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“I’ve seen Oz promote homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, and herbal voodoo on his program. He’s Dr Woo-Woo.”

 
——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7, 2023. DA’s response to appeal brief due June 13.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing June 16.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, convicted of fraud. Sentenced to 7 years in prison.

Civil litigation:

 
——————–

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

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?

 
——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology meltdown: L. Ron Hubbard 2.0 in crisis after indictments publicized
[TWO years ago] Why doesn’t Scientology want you to see these OTs and their success stories?
[THREE years ago] When Father’s Day reminds you that Scientology has ripped apart your family
[FOUR years ago] Finally, truth in Scientology advertising: What an ‘Ideal USA’ would really look like
[FIVE years ago] Records show that Danny Masterson is a woeful Scientologist — would he turn on the church?
[SIX years ago] Ignore the apologists: Yes, L. Ron Hubbard lied about having an engineering degree
[SEVEN years ago] Stacy Francis goes to Washington: Are we witnessing another Scientology political op?
[EIGHT years ago] Clearwater bar owner under surveillance has a surprise for Scientology: He’s expanding
[NINE years ago] Scientology goes big with Barnes & Noble and with the Euro 2016 football tournament
[TEN years ago] LEAK: ‘Crappy stories’ about Scientology are driving more people to the church than ever!
[ELEVEN years ago] Paul Haggis, Chill EB, and more Scientology fun in an all-video post!
[TWELVE years ago] LEAK: Scientology’s Script For Softening Up A Crowd

 
——————–

 
——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on June 19, 2025 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, 1995-2023 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2023), 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

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone