John Travolta jet-home not for sale, but is caught up in litigation, criminal case

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Despite what you might have heard elsewhere, John Travolta’s aviation-home in Ocala is not for sale, but it is caught up in litigation with the airpark’s new owners, as well as a fascinating criminal case we’ve been watching, and which may drag Travolta into court. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Although the newly revised Int Rundown uses New Era Dianetics R3RA commands, with the assessed Int button as the running item, the rundown and its repair do NOT include the use of New Era Dianetics preassessment (nor any form of AESPs). In Int you can only address Int. A preassessment addresses something else. Wins are sometimes reported on the use of preassessment on Int but it is a dangerous and dicey procedure. It isn’t really directly addressing Int. That actually violates the law that when handling Int you run only Int, nothing else.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1979

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

 
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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

 
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Source Code

“Confidence in treatment on this planet is at its lowest possible ebb. The only planet I know of where it dropped any lower was the Marcab Confederacy, and it dropped much lower in the Marcab Confederacy. The way they taught medicine there, they had a number of drawers with dead, dried tissue in them. And they’d drag these drawers out, you see, and show the students, ‘And this is a dried head, you see. And this is tissue that’s been affected by tuberculosis. And this is this…’ and it was all dried, and so forth, and that was their total command of medicine. The only thing that was wrong with this particular activity is these really were infected tissues, and they were still carrying the germ spores, which I thought was always a little bit rough. But I remember giving medical lectures occasionally, and any student gave me any trouble, why, I’d just drop some tubercular tissue on his desk. This was all sort of raw. But there it got to a point where you weren’t ever permitted to get a new body. And this is typical of many space opera societies and is getting typical of this one. This one will go along too.” — L. Ron Hubbard, September 5, 1961

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“I cognited on why it feels so good to be at sea — This is the Sea Org — of course.” — Capt. W.B. Robertson, September 5, 1969

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“DO NOT VOTE. Your vote will make zero positive difference in the outcome of the country’s future as all parties and the entire structure of voting is part of a huge negative creation and trap. By voting you immediately become ‘part’ and not ‘whole.’ By voting you become disempowered and no longer the person who decides your experience on Earth. It is the entire ‘democratic’ system that is the trap. There is no democracy. The system of democratic governance is designed and created to oppress the people of Earth. It is based on division, righteousness and aggression. The people are so busy fighting with each other that they do not see or are even interested in what really rules our reality. So… what rules our reality? YOU rule our reality. By giving your power away, you give the power to a system, person or organization to rule reality FOR YOU. So, what do you do instead? DO NOT VOTE. Create and support new educational, living and working structures and organizations. KNOW that covid19, global warming, racism and terrorism are ALL false flag creations made to DIVIDE AND CONTROL YOU. DO NOT get vaccinated for ANYTHING. This is very important.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1999: Keith Henson reported that his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service has been dismissed. “Plaintiff H Keith Henson alleges that the IRS conspired with the Church of Scientology and various Church related entities to defraud the United States. More specifically Plaintiff alleges that the IRS unlawfully executed a ‘closing agreement’ granting the Church tax exempt status. Plaintiff alleges that the IRS’ conduct violated the Establishment clause of the Constitution of the United States. Plaintiff alleges that he has special standing to bring this action because the Church has allegedly ‘paid approximately one million dollars collected as ‘charitable donations’ to harass Plaintiff, up to and
including physical attack, and for other purposes which are clearly outside of the legislatively sanctioned uses of ‘charitable donations.” The United States moves to dismiss the action, contending that Plaintiff lacks standing, has failed to include an indispensable party, namely the Church, and cannot demonstrate waiver of sovereign immunity or that this Court otherwise has jurisdiction to hear this matter. Plaintiff asserts standing generally as a ‘federal taxpayer,’ claiming the public treasury has been harmed because of the IRS. In Flast, the Supreme Court held that a taxpayer will be a proper party to allege the unconstitutionality only of exercises of congressional power under the taxing and spending clause of the Constitution. Second, the Supreme Court required that the taxpayer ‘show that the challenged enactment exceeds specific constitutional limitations upon the exercise of the taxing and spending power.’ Plaintiff has failed to satisfy both of the Flast requirements. First, Plaintiff is not challenging congressional power, but rather challenging an executive branch action, the IRS execution of a closing agreement with the Church. Second, Plaintiff has failed to show, and cannot show that the IRS’ conduct exceeded constitutional limitations. Plaintiff has alleged that the IRS’ conduct violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. However, Plaintiff’s constitutional challenge is without merit in light of the Supreme Court’s holding in Hernandez V. Commissioner. Plaintiff appears to argue in the alternative that he has standing to assert his claims because the Church has used tax-exempt funds to harass Plaintiff with lawsuits and pay private investigators to attack his reputation and physically attack him while picketing. However, these alleged injuries are not ‘traceable’ to the IRS’ allegedly unlawful conduct. Furthermore, Plaintiff concedes that these alleged injuries are not likely to be redressed in this action. In other words, Plaintiff acknowledges that even if he were to prevail in this litigation, Plaintiff would he unable to stop the Church from continuing the alleged harmful conduct. Therefore, the Plaintiff lacks standing. For the reasons set forth above, the IRS’ motion to dismiss is GRANTED with prejudice. Dated: August 16, 1999 JAMES WARE United States District Judge”

 
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Random Howdy

“Dictators don’t like picking successors. It makes them nervous knowing there’s an official next guy. If DM croaks it will be just like when LRH croaked. He who dares, wins.”

 
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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 August 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 December 1.

Civil litigation:

 
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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?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] She made Scientology pay for its harassment: How did Bonnie Woods do it?
[TWO years ago] How Scientology lured a Sci-Fi fan, but drove him away with its lack of imagination
[THREE years ago] Confirmed: Law enforcement was informed about another alleged Danny Masterson victim
[FOUR years ago] Tom Cruise’s Scientology superpowers, No. 1: Shattering the suppression from a 15-year-old
[FIVE years ago] The Top 25 People Enabling Scientology, No. 16: James Packer
[SIX years ago] Available today, a new thriller based on a former Scientologist’s experiences
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s Colombia strategy becomes clear: It’s total war
[EIGHT years ago] Missouri school district boots sneaky Scientology front group after Underground Bunker article
[NINE years ago] As Scientology declines, its members are even giving up on their spooky super powers
[TEN years ago] Jon Atack: The mystery of mysteries that all Scientologists chase — and can never find
[TWELVE years ago] THE MARTY RATHBUN AFFIDAVIT: Scientology Leader David Miscavige Lied To Texas Court

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 5, 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