TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Scientology has once again turned to Grant Cardone to pull in a big crowd, and this time with Doug E. Fresh. We have some images from the event that took place at Scientology’s ‘mecca’ in Florida. But is church leader David Miscavige ready to share the spotlight with Cardone? [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“What IS auditor beingness? Well, what are you being as you sit in the auditing chair auditing the pc? Are you a beingness somebody would be willing to talk to? The
general attitude connected with your TRs is what signals this. Your beingness as an auditor is something you yourself must DECIDE upon. It’s a step to be taken when you are certain of your auditing basics. It could be done in minutes or it could require hours or days. But if you take a look at all of this data and apply it, you actually could simply decide ‘What is my beingness as an auditor?’ and ‘Exactly what is my attitude toward pcs?’ and your beingness as an auditor might suddenly go click. Your attitude then will fall comfortably into place, and that will be reflected in your TRs. These are the skills you need to acquire. But it is basic simplicities you are after, as I have described them here.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1980
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“There is nothing more simple than for a fellow to duplicate himself any place in the universe because he isn’t any place in the universe because he is every place in the universe. Any one of you immediately, any one of you immediately answers up to the definition that has been given the anthropomorphic itself entitled God. Any one of you, because you’re everywhere on omniscient and omnipresent, and on the bus, and everything.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 7, 1954
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“ETHICS: JOHN and DORA HANNIDES are assigned a Condition of Treason for leaving the SO under false pretenses. They may not be audited or trained until they have fully applied the formula. They may not be communicated with. Their only terminal is an Ethics Officer in a Continental Liaison Office or S.O. ship.” — Flag 3rd Mate for L. Ron Hubbard, Commodore, January 7, 1971
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“If people think Jesus is God, (he is, but who isn’t), is he the only God? If you want to go the shortest most direct route to God itself, then contact your higher self. There is no route shorter or more direct. But this golden ball is a creation of God that is outside this physical universe, that is YOU. If you contact the golden ball, that is not you, that is a creation of you that is more or less the eyes of YOU, (the you is the you outside of the physical MEST universe). That creation of you has been heavily damaged and filled with endless millennium of lies, misinterpreted painful experiences hidden to the body itself, disinformation, implants of other entities who are not you and histories that are not you to keep you so disoriented you can never find out who you are. If you want to go direct to source, contact the YOU that is outside this physical MEST universe.”
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1998: The St. Petersburg Times ran an editorial on the 1993 secret deal between Scientology and the IRS that was revealed by the Wall Street Journal last week. “For 25 years, the Internal Revenue Service held all of the cards against the Church of Scientology. The IRS steadfastly refused to give Scientology a much-coveted tax exemption, and the courts consistently sided with the agency. Then the IRS abruptly folded in 1993, granting the tax exemption while refusing to disclose the details of the agreement. Amid such secrecy, taxpayers could only wonder what Scientology offered to persuade the IRS to abandon more than two decades of policy. The answer turns out to be a relative pittance. The tax-exempt status gave Scientology something even more important than avoiding millions of dollars in tax bills. It gave members a powerful weapon to use in their ceaseless public relations campaign to be considered a legitimate religion. When Germany fights Scientology and labels it a business, the church waves its IRS ruling. With details of the Scientology agreement now public, there is every reason to question whether IRS officials were more interested in avoiding harassment than in sound tax policy. The agreement called for Scientology to drop its lawsuits against the IRS and agency officials and to stop helping church members who had filed similar lawsuits. That could have affected some 2,200 lawsuits. The New York Times also has reported about Scientology’s hiring of private investigators to look for code violations at a building owned by IRS officials, and about an IRS whistle-blowers group financed by the church. Scientology was not the typical taxpayer quarreling over its tax bill, and it did not receive typical treatment. When Scientology’s tactics were disclosed last year, no one heard a peep from Congress. Since then, members of Congress from both political parties have treated the IRS as a punching bag. Perhaps news of the $12.5-million settlement finally will prod someone in Washington to ask the agency some tough questions about this one-sided agreement. To most taxpayers, $12.5-million would be a stiff penalty. For the Church of Scientology, it was the small cost of doing business.”
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“Phew, I’m just getting back after sitting in the alley for 2 hours with the cats after some asshole in the building tried to set some other guy’s door on fire. The firemen said we were very lucky the ornament that the asshole tried to start the fire with went out otherwise we would have all been toast. Isn’t life grand?”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7, 2023. Appeal now fully briefed, waiting for 2nd Appellate District court to set a hearing date. Masterson has also submitted a habeas corpus petition.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Pleaded guilty on Nov 10 to a 17-year prison sentence (eligible for parole in two to three more years). Awaiting transfer to state prison.
— Aaron Matthes charged for SA of child under 12 years old: OT Scientologist facing multiple mandatory life sentences. Next pretrial court hearing set for Feb 2.
Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Judge Hammock’s ruling is on appeal. Leah’s respondent’s brief is due February 11.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ 15 days of arbitration completed, Val waiting for further word from the IJC.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson. Judge Upindra Kalra’s ruling denying Scientology’s motion to strike is on appeal. Appeal fully briefed. Motion to replace Jane Does’ AI-tainted brief denied by court. Awaiting a court hearing date.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, gets ruling to depose Jane Doe 1. Trial has been set for January 10, 2028.
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Other links: The prosecution of Danny Masterson. Leah Remini’s Fair Game Podcast. Leah Remini’s A&E Series. Scientology’s Celebrities, from A to Z. Bryan Seymour’s suppressed series, 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] The Mike Rinder they knew, from Lawrence Wright, John Sweeney and more
[TWO years ago] Judge is fed up with sniping between legal teams for Scientology and Leah Remini
[THREE years ago] PODCAST: Karen de la Carriere says former president of Scientology is in a nursing home
[FOUR years ago] Scientology celebrates the sheer competence of a superpower OT 8, and so will we
[FIVE years ago] Eyewitness: David Miscavige presided at New Year’s Eve party at Scientology’s Flag Land Base
[SIX years ago] Henning Heldt, 1945-2020: Scientology’s 1970s spymaster went to prison for L. Ron Hubbard
[SEVEN years ago] A Scientologist on trial for double murder: A story the church is very nervous about
[EIGHT years ago] When two political longshots spar over Joy Villa and Scientology, everyone wins
[NINE years ago] Phil and Willie Jones launch a new effort for billboard about Scientology disconnection
[TEN years ago] AUDIO: Hear Scientology boast about the $5.7 million it got from Google in free ads
[ELEVEN years ago] The new Scientology ad running on TV — and maybe for the Super Bowl
[TWELVE years ago] See Scientology’s new TV ad before it’s released — and more IAS gala video!
[THIRTEEN years ago] John Sweeney Talks The Church of Fear, Which Comes Out Today
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Joe Reaiche (1958-2024) did not see his daughter Alanna Masterson in his final 6,999 days.
Mike Rinder (1955-2025) did not see his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in his final 7,589 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 3,501 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,005 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,511 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,061 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,051 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,437 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,932 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,236 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,887 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,105 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,659 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,000 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,571 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,487 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,654 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,236 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,495 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,247 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,812 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,127 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,302 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,984 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,321 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,174 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,290 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,652 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,063 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,451 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,335 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,900 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,411 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,671 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,775 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 7, 2026 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter.
Our book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is 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, 1995-2024 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2024), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
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Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
