TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: As we predicted, Scientology has responded to allegations that its ‘religious arbitration’ is a sham by telling a federal court judge that he can’t intervene in a religious matter, and that the victims in a labor trafficking lawsuit are lying anyway. We have the details. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
——————–
Technology Cocktail
“The most common source of trouble in Method 2 Word Clearing is in the Word Clearer not knowing his meter reads and either missing actual reads or incorrectly calling reads, such as calling the right swing of an F/N a read. The remedy for this of course is for the Word Clearer to get his misunderstoods off on the subject of the E-Meter and its needle manifestations and to re-do the drills in THE BOOK OF E-METER DRILLS until his metering is flawless.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1981
——————–
“The first time you ask your preclear, ‘Now let’s go out across the country until we find a sawmill running. All right, now step into the buzz saw.’ He’s going to say gulp. It’s going to astonish him. But you’d be surprised what happens to him when he finds out he can do just that. He’s going to realize all of a sudden that there he is. He can be anything. Well, if he can be anything then he can have an unlimited number of viewpoints. If he can have an unlimited number of viewpoints, then he can know anything, can’t he? Well, if it’s written down, he can certainly be in the middle of a book at the library and read it. Well, that’s very easy. Or if somebody knows it at that time, he can go pick that somebody’s brains. That’s right. Read somebody’s mind.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 24, 1953
——————–
“It is NOT hygienic to leave damp towels flung DOWN on bunks when they should be hung UP to air; it is NOT hygienic to have dirty sheets left on unoccupied bunks. It is NOT good to have those areas emmesty and NOT squared up and looking decent and clean. Therefore, all occupants of men’s and women’s dorms may expect a thorough inspection tomorrow forenoon, Saturday.” — W/O Bob Prior, April 24, 1970
——————–
“Scientology and LRH accomplished an effective impact on the world, despite everything! It’s difficult to prove, but this world would have been far different had there been no Scientology whatsoever.”
——————–
1999: A preliminary hearing was held in Dennis Erlich’s copyright violations case. “Yesterday was my pretrial conference in San Jose. Federal judge Ronald Whyte presided. The scienos wanted all my witnesses removed. We had asked that material they had collected to Dead Agent and Black PR me and my witnesses from a confessional setting be banned from trial. The scienos asked Whyte to exclude ‘any reference to the practices or beliefs of Scientology, its history, the background or meaning of the copyrighted texts, Erlich’s own involvement with Scientology, and any testimony by any witness that has any relationship to Scientology.’ Whyte indicated he needed to know how the texts were used in scn and would welcome testimony, evidence or witnesses to that end. He made it clear that he was not going to use the trial to judge the merit or fraudulent nature of scn. Evidence Relating to Alt.Religion.Scientology. Whyte said he would need to see the ongoing discussions in order to determine the context of the alleged posts and the threads in which they allegedly occurred. Since some of the material deals with Fair Game and treatment of Espees, Whyte’s invitation for evidence and testimony about how the texts are used in the cult covers this. Harold asked the court to set a date for when the OT material and NOTs material had to be refiled – not under seal – and bedlam ensued at the scieno table. Whyte had unsealed the case and ordered to refile all their sealed filings, unsealed. Whyte lifted the 1997 protective order sealing the material in this case (the court file) because it was based on the bogus trade secret claims made by the scienos at that time. He also opted to maintain an open and public courtroom throughout the trial and declare the exhibits containing the courses at issue are not confidential at trial. In another order he bifurcated the case into a court trial on the scienos’ copyright claims, and a jury trial (not yet scheduled) for my counter-claims. Whyte also gave a clear indication that he wanted the case to settle before trial and ordered us to a settlement conference in front of Judge Fogel next Thursday. And he would, by that same day, be able to tell us if the trial was going to go forward on May 4th so we could inform all the witnesses that they’d be testifying. Whyte also denied the scienos’ motion to close the courtroom and trial to the public. On a sadder note, based on the theory that it would have been gathered eventually in discovery anyway, Whyte intends to allow the admission of evidence allegedly gleaned during the unconstitutional 7-hour raid the scienos perpetrated on me in February 1995, despite the fact it was obtained illegally.” Donald Lindsay described the courtroom scene: “RTC fielded 5 people. Dennis sat with 4 MoFo people. About 16 people stayed in the pews, including moi, Keith Henson, a few other SPs, and Helena Kobrin. Keith wore a brown suit jacket over a ‘Scientology Kills’ T-shirt, but Dennis successfully went for a more judge-pleasing look. Rosen then spoke for RTC. He turns out to be tall, with a white beard over what might be a double chin. He spoke at length: I got the impression he always speaks at length. He didn’t want context to be relevant. He claimed at length that the OT documents are numerous tiny documents, not one big document (thus making any tiny quote into a major quote). He wanted to know if he’d have to spend 3-4 of his 16 hours showing the chain of custody of his copies of Dennis’ postings. He said that RTC had refiled some details of the copyright status of various Church documents, and that Helena would testify that the refiling was simply because she’d misread the certificates. Whyte argued with Rosen’s claim that context didn’t matter, and refused to change his mind. He’s allowing the size of OT documents to be a point of dispute. A slightly unshaven RTC lawyer (Hart?) kept looking over at the SPs, as if he wanted to see our reactions. We smiled.”
——————–
“You can’t even receive auditing if you’re engaged in other ‘spiritual’ practices like meditation. The whole ‘other religions are OK with us’ is demonstrably false.”
——————–
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 March 9.
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, which is now fully briefed. Awaiting the setting of an oral arguments hearing.
— 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. Oral arguments hearing on March 3.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration. Trial has been set for January 10, 2028.
——————–
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?
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Oh look, Scientology held another ‘Writers of the Future’ thing for some reason
[TWO years ago] Why doesn’t Scientology want you to see its wealthy donors, including Grant Cardone?
[THREE years ago] How will today’s opening statements in the Danny Masterson retrial differ?
[FOUR years ago] Scientology’s saddest celebrity, Eddie Deezen, committed after latest arrest
[FIVE years ago] The Top 25 People Enabling Scientology, No. 1: The Feds
[SIX years ago] Raising money in the time of the virus: Scientology will always find a way!
[SEVEN years ago] It’s an anniversary of shame for Scientology: Will they go for a repeat?
[EIGHT years ago] Scientologist pair running for office double down on their denials about church involvement
[NINE years ago] Nan McLean in 1973: Rare Scientology documentary goes online, and it rocks
[TEN years ago] Texas Supreme Court asks for Monique Rathbun’s response to Scientology’s petition
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology opens a new ‘Ideal Org’ in Basel this weekend — nearly a year after its last one
[TWELVE years ago] Scientology’s drug rehab hit with another lawsuit; Laura D asked to turn over computer
[THIRTEEN years ago] SCIENTOLOGY TO FEDERAL COURT: Let Us Refute The Garcia Declarations, And Then Butt Out of Our Religion
——————–
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 3,608 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,112 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,618 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,168 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,158 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,544 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,039 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,343 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,994 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,212 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,766 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,107 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,678 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,594 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,761 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,347 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,606 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,354 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,923 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,234 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,409 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,091 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,428 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,281 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,397 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,759 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,173 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,558 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,442 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,006 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,518 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,778 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,882 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on April 24, 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)
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates.
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
