This week, a story we have been covering for a long time, the disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, suddenly became national news, thanks to a joke by comedian Jerrod Carmichael as he was hosting the Golden Globes Awards.

For years, we’ve been telling you what we’ve uncovered about Shelly, the wife of [...]]]>

 
This week, a story we have been covering for a long time, the disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, suddenly became national news, thanks to a joke by comedian Jerrod Carmichael as he was hosting the Golden Globes Awards.

For years, we’ve been telling you what we’ve uncovered about Shelly, the wife of Scientology’s ruthless leader, David Miscavige. Shelly used to help Dave run his empire, but in late August or early September 2005, she vanished from Scientology’s secretive international management base near Hemet, California.

Two years later, in 2007, she was seen at the funeral of her father in the presence of a Scientology “handler.” But since then, there’s been no confirmed sighting of this person who used to be a very visible figure in the Hubbardite world.

You know, if you’ve been reading our reporting, that we believe David Miscavige had his wife banished to a small mountain compound near Lake Arrowhead, California that is operated by a Scientology subsidiary known as the Church of Spiritual Technology, or CST.

And yes, we hear from readers all the time that they have a hard time believing that Shelly is still alive, but we have reason to believe that she is still living at the CST base, which is often referred to as Twin Peaks, the name of a nearby hamlet. And yes, Shelly may be resigned to her fate.

A couple of years ago, we were interviewing various people who knew Shelly for an unnamed project that we couldn’t publish anything from.

Until now.

On March 15, 2021, we knew that our friend Ron Miscavige, father to Scientology leader David Miscavige, had received a medical diagnosis that he had only weeks to live. We called him up in part to ask him about his memories of Shelly, and we spoke for about 40 minutes.

Ron died several weeks later, in June 2021.

He was a wonderful man, a great trumpet player, and we’re really glad that we got to know him.

Now, we are publishing material from the conversation we had that day in March 2021, with some explanations to help listeners follow what we’re talking about. Also, we must apologize for the technical quality of the call. At the time we thought that we would have a chance to have a more formal recording session with Ron later, but that turned out not to be the case.

You’ll see that along the way we learned some very interesting new things about Shelly Miscavige as Ron described for us what he remembered about his daughter-in-law.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“I don’t expect auditors or Scientologists to instantly agree with or seize upon whatever I say. I would be offended if they did and would feel they weren’t a Free People. Since they are intelligent I expect them to think over what’s said, try it, and if it’s good for them, use it. That old auditors sooner or later come back to and use what I have discovered isn’t any testimony to our relationship at all, it’s only a testimony to my being right because I meant to be right in the first place.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1956

 
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Jon Atack and Chris Shelton

 
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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?

— The Underground Bunker Podcast

[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

— SPECIAL: Your Proprietor’s updates on the Danny Masterson trial

[1] Sep 21 [2] Sep 28 [3] Oct 4 [4] Oct 10 [5] Oct 11: Day One [6] Oct 12: Day Two [7] Oct 13: Day Three [8] Oct 17: Day Four [9] Oct 18: Day Five [10] Oct 19: Day Six [11] Special interview with Chris Shelton, Oct 19 [12] Oct 20: Day Seven [13] Oct 21: Day Eight [14] First week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [15] Oct 24: Day Nine [16] Oct 25: Day Ten [17] Oct 27: Day Eleven [18] Oct 28: Day Twelve [19] Second week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [20] Halloween special [21] Nov 2: Day Thirteen [22] Nov 3: Day Fourteen [23] Nov 4: Day Fifteen [24] Third week in review [25] Nov 5, Saturday special [26] Nov 6, Sunday special [27] Nov 7, Day Sixteen [28] Lisa Marie Presley breaking news [29] Nov 8, Day Seventeen [30] Nov 9, Day Eighteen [31] Nov 10, Day Nineteen

 
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Source Code

“Putting tickets on the windshield of a car is illegal, according to our own Consititution, which requires personal service. Police get away with it because people don’t want the bother of going down and getting a trial date set. So they send in the amount of an arbitrary fine. This is duress and extortion — so there’s no difference between a criminal and a cop.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 14, 1954

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“Spectatorism is very great in our modern society. Because some people cannot conceive of causing anything they just watch it. They don’t do anything. They are not PARTICIPANTS. They are spectators. You see this in magazines. Hee hee hee articles about how odd this is or that is. No understanding of it. It’s just odd and one watches it in a detached sort of way. Below this is somebody who doesn’t even notice. Such a person has to come up scale just to be a spectator. An unfinished cycle of action comes about because (a) The importance of it is not grasped (b) The cycle itself is not fully understood. (c) Non compliance and false reports are given as a method of self-protection wherein are hopes it will not be noticed. What we need are more PARTICIPANTS, more team mates. You belong to the SO or you don’t. If you do you’re at cause over the various situations. So we define an SO Member the way you do an OT — At cause over Life, Thought, Matter, Energy, Space, Time and Form. The degree you can be cause in handling the targets and needs of a group determines right away how far you’ve come up the line. Blaming case is effect, isn’t it? Sex is effect, isn’t it? I don’t care what your grade is, you are alive. Your true ability depends on the degree you can exercise the definition of OT over your post in forwarding the purposes of the group. You are actually insulting yourself to insist that I personally make whatever advances are made on vital actions of the group. If what you are trying to do doesn’t happen its a poor comment on your OTism.” — The Commodore, January 14, 1969

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“We have been looking at things globally and realize that many people have lost jobs or had to take out loans etc to deal with economy fluctuations. We also realize that many of you may be experiencing tougher times given the situation and it is important now more than ever to get up the Bridge! So we have considered everyone and would like to offer everyone the opportunity to go up the Bridge, therefore we are running a MASSIVE sale on our auditing packages! Spots are limited as our organization can only take on so many people, so get in contact TODAY!”

 
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Past is Prologue

2000: The Tampa Tribune reported this week that Bob Minton will be charged with battery for an incident during a protest at the Fort Harrison Hotel in October. “An outspoken critic of the Church of Scientology was formally charged with misdemeanor battery late Friday. New Hampshire millionaire Robert S. Minton Jr. faces a maximum penalty of one year in the county jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted of striking Scientologist Richard W. Howd Jr. during a protest Oct. 31 outside the church’s spiritual headquarters in downtown Clearwater. State Attorney Bernie McCabe had the option of not prosecuting the case, and Minton had been waiting since his arrest the night of the incident for a determination. Neither could be reached for comment late Friday. In the battery incident, Minton was carrying a protest sign up and down the sidewalk outside the Fort Harrison Hotel on Halloween night while Howd filmed him at close range with a video camera. Minton testified that he struck Howd with his placard when Howd would not back away as Minton left the area.”

 
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Random Howdy

“The tech is the meaningless musings of a drug- and alcohol-addled madman who was making it up as he went along. You might as well have been playing hide-and-go-seek for 17 years.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Mistrial declared November 30. Status conference scheduled January 10, retrial scheduled March 27.

Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 2. Hearing November 17 to argue the arbitration motions, awaiting ruling.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place at least through February 7.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Case settled ahead of scheduled Dec 6 trial.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.

 
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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] Scientology tries (and fails) to rehabilitate L. Ron Hubbard’s involvement in South Africa
[TWO years ago] Hanan and Rizza Islam get trial date for $4 million Medi-Cal fraud at Scientology rehab
[THREE years ago] Scientology ripped apart his family, but this former member explains why he doesn’t fight it
[FOUR years ago] EXCLUSIVE: Scientology tells A&E it has ‘blood on its hands’ for murder in Australia
[FIVE years ago] Scientology plans Narconon drug rehab for Ireland, but the locals are not having it
[SIX years ago] The most incredible lie Scientology attorney Monique Yingling told ABC ’20/20′
[SEVEN years ago] Oscar snubs Alex Gibney’s Scientology documentary ‘Going Clear’ despite buzz
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology reveals a lot more of its lofty plans for the former KCET studios
[NINE years ago] Being and nothingness: And now we move on to Scientology’s Operating Thetan Level Four!
[TEN years ago] ATLANTIC MAGAZINE SPIKES SCIENTOLOGY ADVERTORIAL AFTER BACKLASH
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Recon: Commenters of the Week!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 14, 2023 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, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), 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

 In 2004, as part of the plan to turn Tom Cruise into the most gung-ho Scientologist on the planet, church leader David Miscavige threw a special surprise birthday party for the Top Gun actor on the church’s private cruise ship, the Freewinds.

Tom was turning 42 that July 3, and the shindig culminated with a mini-concert [...]]]>

 
In 2004, as part of the plan to turn Tom Cruise into the most gung-ho Scientologist on the planet, church leader David Miscavige threw a special surprise birthday party for the Top Gun actor on the church’s private cruise ship, the Freewinds.

Tom was turning 42 that July 3, and the shindig culminated with a mini-concert of various songs from Tom’s films performed by Scientology’s in-house orchestra and singer Stacy Francis.

You may have seen video of that night’s party, with Tom at one point jumping up to join in the singing of the Bob Seger hit “Old Time Rock and Roll.”

What others may have missed but that we always note when we watch that video is that playing lead trumpet and leading the band is David Miscavige’s own father, Ron Miscavige, who was both a Scientology Sea Org member (having signed a billion-year contract) and a musician who performed at Scientology functions, like Tom’s blowout.

Yesterday afternoon, we reported the news of Ron Miscavige’s death at 85 by posting a heartfelt remembrance written by Dan Koon, Ron’s friend and co-author of their 2016 book, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me.

Ron wrote that book after making a daring escape from his Scientology servitude in 2012, and then blowing the whistle on what really goes on in the church under his tyrant of a son. And one of the anecdotes he told was about being punished while on the ship.

Can someone please inform Tom Cruise that his best friend Dave’s dad died?

We figure Tom might be unaware that the kind older man who blew a mean trumpet and led the band at his big party in 2004 was not only father to his (two-time) Best Man, but that Ron had gone on to expose Dave for the totalitarian martinet that he is.

We would hate for Tom to be unaware of this. He’d surely be interested in making a public statement of condolences for Ron’s wife and rest of his family.

Wouldn’t he?

 
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Bonus items from our tipsters

They sure know how to party in Detroit.

 
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Source Code

“If you’ve had dreams of just going right straight through to Clear without ever being a Release, why, you might as well come off of it because — That’s all right, you and a lot of others will learn how to do Class VII before you’re through, so. It isn’t too hard to do. But that’s the easiest and safest way. And then you find out R6 materials, they just run like a bomb. My God! There’s nothing to it because you’re just right straight at it and everything as-ises like mad.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 29, 1965

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“A shark swam alongside today and said, ‘Who is it?’ and I said ‘Who is what?’ and he said, ‘Who is petitioning to leave out here in mid ocean?’ And I said ‘How’d you know that?’ And he said, ‘you’re not tearing up your despatches very good before you throw them over.’ He was real put out. Thought I was invalidating him by saying he couldn’t read. I ordered him to Review and get rid of the ARC Break but he hasn’t any priority — and anyway he’ll have to wait for our waterproof E-Meter. He’s out there now muttering. Do I get some Dianetic sessions today or do I put the shark on course?” — The Commodore, June 29, 1969

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Never has there been such an opportunity to go free of unwanted conditions or just the FUN of going up the bridge. It is such a great game. I really don’t understand why people aren’t just flocking to my services. I have the rare experience of having traveled the experimental ‘bridge’ where LRH wrote a PAB (Professional Auditor’s Bulletin) and I/we went and applied the latest process to the preclear. Has the Free Zone become just another disaffected area? I know Clears, happy with being clear, not interested in taking the next step on the bridge. Is it an ARC broken field? I have such a gift to offer you at a price almost everyone can afford. While preclear + auditor are greater than the bank, c/s + solo auditor is greater that whatever is there that distracts you and I can get you through the bridge. My hat on Div 3, finances, says I charge $150 a month plus $100 programming one time, to find out what is needed and wanted by you.
From my hat as a c/s, auditing is for you. If you aren’t getting auditing or giving auditing and ever wanted to, the the stops on the line are really just out rudiments. If you’re trained to solo audit you can fly your ruds, then make a plan with me to get way up the bridge with flying colors! What I’m telling you is that the bridge is so possible still. Take advantage of it.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1995: MTV this week aired a special news broadcast about cults, and included some discussion of Scientology. Stacy Young and Scientology PR person Leisa Goodman were interviewed. A transcript was posted to a.r.s, anonymously. Some excerpts: “LODER: But according to former scientologists, members aren’t given the church’s full liturgy until after taking many expensive courses. Although Scientology executives deny it, former longtime members say that eventually followers are told that some of these ‘engrams’ are the remnants of space aliens called ‘body thetans’ who are placed there by the galactic overlord ‘Xenu’. STACY YOUNG: It’s a very science-fiction world, um, it has a, galactic confederacy … it’s a very romantic … view of the world. LODER: I don’t understand, there’s like a galactic overlord Xenu… is there a whole staff of characters… or is that not true? GOODMAN: Ohh uhh… I don’t think … I don’t really know what you mean. What you’re talking about. LODER: At one point, 11 Scientologists, including Hubbard’s wife, were convicted of conspiracy and burglary, of IRS offices. GOODMAN: Actually the people who did that, were booted out of the church. It’s got _nothing_ to do with Scientology. And, um… LODER: In the end, the IRS granted Scientology the tax exempt religious
status it wanted. A move IRS spokesman now decline to discuss.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Tommy must shudder whenever he hears Leah’s name and he imagines what D.M. would be doing to him, if he could, considering his ‘you don’t have the fucking rank’ was a major catalyst in her defection.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next hearing set for August 9. Trial tentatively 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: June 18 pretrial conference delayed until July 9.

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: Third 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.

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] Scientology’s global virus playacting was supplied by giant California slave labor plant
[TWO years ago] David Miscavige’s pet projects result in constant fundraising pressure
[THREE years ago] In Scientology, going Clear is like leasing a car, and David Miscavige is Repo Man
[FOUR years ago] HowdyCon: Aussie journalist Steve Cannane’s response to Marty Rathbun
[FIVE years ago] Why Lisa Marie Presley’s custody battle likely has nothing to do with Scientology
[SIX years ago] Augustine: Taking a hard look at Scientology’s slush fund, the unlicensed and unregulated IAS
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: The Nancy Cartwright freak-out edition
[EIGHT years ago] When Jon Atack Declared David Miscavige a Suppressive Person
[NINE years ago] SCIENTOLOGY ABANDONED BY L. RON HUBBARD’S GRANDDAUGHTER AND DAVID MISCAVIGE’S FATHER

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 29, 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

 We just learned that Ron Miscavige has died. His co-author Dan Koon wrote this touching memorial for us, which we are publishing now.

I first saw Ron Miscavige in May 1981 when he played a concert with his band at a Dianetics Day celebration at the Int Base.

A couple years later, I met him after a [...]]]>

 
We just learned that Ron Miscavige has died. His co-author Dan Koon wrote this touching memorial for us, which we are publishing now.

I first saw Ron Miscavige in May 1981 when he played a concert with his band at a Dianetics Day celebration at the Int Base.

A couple years later, I met him after a night down in LA working on liner notes for one of the Space Jazz albums and was tasked with driving David Miscavige back to the base, who had been up all night doing their weekly stat evolution at ASI. Dave slept in the back and when I drove through the gate and opened the van door, Ron carried Dave in his arms like he had many times as a boy, or so I imagined.

Ron joined the Sea Org in 1985 and we hit if off right away, mainly because of our interest in exercise. We had many discussions about exercise over the years, in person at the base and over Skype when we moved to Sweden and Ron was living in West Allis.

Ron’s greatest interests in life were his music, his family and exercise, not necessarily in that order. I visited him a few times in Wisconsin while working on the book and enjoyed his performances with a Dixieland band at a pizza parlor or at Stud’s Bar. He often played solo gigs at old folks’ homes around town, accompanied with a music set-up of his own construction that played the background music while Ron played his horn or sang. He had a somewhat corny sense of humor that played well with folks around the same age as his.

Another love of his was his Philadelphia Eagles. He was thrilled when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl title, and he could put his long-suffering fandom to rest. Our most recent conversations mostly centered around Carson Wentz and Ron was glad that they shipped him off to the Colts.

Ron was very appreciative of the help he got from the Veterans Administration from being a Marine veteran and was super proud of his time in the Corps.

If you’ve seen his YouTube videos about Life After Scientology or Life Lessons or Story Time, you’ll know that he was always trying to help people become a better version of themselves. He even began a series of videos centered about a device called the Iso Trainer, which is an ingenious device that one can use for isometric or isotonic exercises. It costs only around 25 dollars and Ron let people know that they could buy one and get a discount if they used his name at checkout.

He used to go around Wal-Mart and see some little kid in the store and tell the kid, “Hi, little kid, the Birthday Man wanted me to give you this dollar and to wish you a happy birthday.” He’d hand the kid a dollar and watch the kid light up. He truly enjoyed making people happier, even if just for that moment.

He loved animals and even to this day he makes Becky go out to feed the birds and the bunnies that come around and of course his cats Sammy and Frank. Basically, Ron loved all of life in whatever its forms. People, birds, dogs, cats, it didn’t matter to Ron. But especially his family. It broke his heart when his daughters were forced to disconnect from him after they had been in close contact for many months after his escape. To that we must give a big FU to David Miscavige. The one who never deserted him was his #1 son, Ronnie. They often visited and shared many laughs and old memories. The great love of his life was his second wife Becky Bigelow Miscavige. He often told me that as bad as his first marriage was, his second was the greatest thing that ever happened to him. He loved her as deeply as one can love another person.

Probably the strongest drive Ron had was his desire to see people do better in life. The YouTube videos mentioned above are evidence of that. He wrote a couple of humorous books, True Confessions of a Kid and Hideouts for Midgets on the Lam and while these were humorous, they always had a deeper, instructive messages. Ron turned me on to the Iso Toner and the Exer-Genie and we often discussed books like John Peterson’s book on Transformetrics or Dr. Leonard Schwartz’ Heavy Hands: The Ultimate Exercise System.

Being away from Scientology for a few years, Ron discovered the writers of the New Thought Movement, a group of authors from around the late 19 th , early 20 th century who Ron and I agreed must have had an influence on L. Ron Hubbard’s development of Dianetics and Scientology. The number of New Thought Movement concepts that show up in Hubbard’s writing are too numerous to count. One writer from that period was a guy named Charles F. Haanel, who wrote The Master Key System. His system consisted of 24 philosophical lessons along with their practical application. The very first practical exercise was very similar to what Hubbard called OT-TR0.

I’d say Ron was a product of his age with the idea that playing it straight would work out for the best.

I’ve tried to cover aspects of our relationship that did not make it into the book Ruthless, and hopefully I have conveyed some sense of the man that all of us owe a deep debt of gratitude for shining the light on the darker aspects of Scientology. At the end, he viewed Scientology as a con, even though he never regretted his time in the organization. If you’ve read the book it’s clear he got a lot out of it.

Even though it’s sad that this is the end of the line for Ron, he has lived a life with a satisfaction that he did all he could to expose the worst aspects of something he devoted much of his adult life to, and he did so with great humor and understanding. We can all learn something from Ron’s life well lived.

Man, I’m going to miss this guy.

— Dan Koon

 
Ron’s dying wish was that some money be raised to help support his wife Becky Bigelow through what is coming next. Please contribute to his GoFundMe account if you can.

 
——————–

Source Code

“In Dianetics, if you don’t think you could produce ‘therapies’ which would produce convulsions, break people out in rashes, make them walk on the ceiling and have their ears rot off, you are foolish. You definitely could. You are working here with the basic tools; you are working with what is wrong. And when you are working with what is really wrong with the human psyche, you can of course just specialize in making it more wrong. For instance, you can take a preclear down the time track and turn on a fever that won’t turn off for two or three days. That is spectacular! You can actually send him down the time track and get him into a fever engram and take his temperature or see that his skin is very hot to the touch, and he will have a fever.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 28, 1951

 
——————–

Avast, Ye Mateys

“THE ENEMY: Nelson Rockefeller finances and pushes forward the Totalitarian idea of Population Control by Psychiatry and his foundations try to shove us around. In the news he and his family interests are under heavy attack in South America. Rhodesia’s anti-Ron government just gets in deeper and deeper. I wrote Smith a Constitution permitting black representation while maintaining white interests that Britain and the Rhodesian white both would have bought. The govt answer was refusal to extend my visa. That the people of Rhodesia remained on our side is attested by three orgs there now. That Smith is on the side of psychiatry is attested by a new big psychiatric clinic next door to the jail. The enemy is having a very hard time. He is going counter to a world where comm is pushing freedom into being. We are going with the flood tide of world opinion. The enemy is floundering against it. We only have to expand and endure to win.” — The Commodore, June 28, 1969

 
——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“We have evil people (SPs) and they can be created by a cancer growing in their head or something and it made them evil, or at work they got stabbed in the head with metal, and then after that turned evil, so their whole track hasn’t changed, it’s the same person. And when they got stabbed in the head at work there was no person around talking commands. So in these situations engrams were not really involved, it’s simply more a physical reason for them being evil, not some whole track engram theory. I think our bodies are like cars, and when they are not functioning right whether it by being evil or gay, it’s due to simple physical reasons like them living in a house with a mold problem for years and this infects their body and attacks it and they end up being retarded from it or something. It’s nothing to do with memories of the past. I’ve just looked into this topic heaps and I’m telling you there’s all these physical reasons for people’s aberrations, and Hubbard’s engram or body thetan theories most of the time don’t prove to be correct. But I do agree that sometimes they are right. I think he’s done a massive exaggeration with his theory, he exaggerates a lot. I think for some people’s problems they really are caused by memories and it ain’t a physical thing, there’s evidence for this.”

 
——————–

Past is Prologue

2001: Thomas Gandow reported that the head of Narconon in Russia has denounced Scientology and left the organization. “Vladimir Ivanov – the leader of Russian ‘Narkonon,’ the president of Scientological ‘Foundation of Salvation of Children and Adolescents from Drugs’ and the foundation ‘Drug-Free Russia,’ while speaking live on popular radio Ekho Moskvy, unexpectedly announced that he had broken with the Scientology organization. Mr. Ivanov spoke about Scientology as a criminal cult which has nothing to do with religion and which capitalizes cynically upon the sufferings and pain of other people. Ivanov said that he is no longer ‘Satanist’ and had asked forgiveness from those numerous people whom he recruited into Scientology. He had announced that from now on none of the organizations he heads, has anything to do either to Scientology, or to ‘Narconon.’ At the same time, Mr. Ivanov had expressed an idea that technology used in Narconon can be used effectively outside of Scientology and Narconon itself.” From an open letter by Vladimir Ivanov: “Having thoroughly studied the theory and practice of Scientologists in Russia and abroad for the past ten years, I have come to realize that the certain practicality of the so-called technology is in full and complete contradiction with the purely commercial aspirations, hidden from the outsider’s view, and has nothing in common (except for declarations) with the spiritual-religious goals. The so-called Church of Scientology flouts human rights and the rights of religious people in general by imposing a ban on a profession, by denying a person the right to defend his interests in the court of law, and by enslaving him with work for the benefit of its mercantile interests.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“Two eggs over easy, hash browns, and either two Italian sausage or four bangers and dark rye toast. Thanks. Oh, and a double tequila sunrise in a pint glass.”

 
——————–

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

Criminal prosecutions:

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.

 
——————–

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.

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 will see you now! Orgs are reopening in safe and not so safe places
[TWO years ago] Your brain on Scientology: ‘I am the hurricane’
[THREE years ago] Scientology rock ‘n’ roller goes back to his days with L. Ron Hubbard at sea
[FOUR years ago] Federal judge tells Scientology to cool its jets, says arbitration is ‘imminent’
[FIVE years ago] How Google is getting gamed in the fight both for and against the Church of Scientology
[SIX years ago] Project Normandy, 2015: Paulette Cooper has landed in Clearwater — Scientology’s ‘Mecca’
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s secret plan to take over the world — here it is!
[EIGHT years ago] Blogging Scientology’s Bible: Vance, We’ve Reached the Finish Line!
[TEN years ago] Grant Cardone Takes to the Huffington Post to Head Off “Haters”

 
——————–

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on June 28, 2021 at 12:05

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

 In 2012, Ron Miscavige made a clever and daring escape with his wife Becky Bigelow from Scientology’s secretive “Int Base,” where the two of them had been living as “Sea Org” workers.

What made Ron’s escape more notable than the others from the base was that his own son, David Miscavige, was Scientology’s leader. Ron had [...]]]>

 
In 2012, Ron Miscavige made a clever and daring escape with his wife Becky Bigelow from Scientology’s secretive “Int Base,” where the two of them had been living as “Sea Org” workers.

What made Ron’s escape more notable than the others from the base was that his own son, David Miscavige, was Scientology’s leader. Ron had run away from his own son’s “church” compound.

We heard about it a few months later from another escapee, and soon after that Ron began secretly communicating with us. For several years, we traded messages with him, looking forward to the day he would go public. As an initial step, in 2013 he asked us to write about his publication of a small book of childhood memories, which he titled “True Confessions of a Kid.” We couldn’t say it then, but it was Ron himself who encouraged us to give his little book of homespun tales some publicity.

We were happy to help him out. And we were also glad to see how much impact Ron made when he did come forward in earnest, publishing with Dan Koon a book about his escape from Scientology, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me in 2016. That release garnered him an appearance on ABC’s 20/20 and a trail of media since then, including an appearance on Leah Remini’s TV series and then Ron’s own series of weekly video podcasts.

And now, it’s time for more surprising news from Ron. He’s been battling cancer, and he’s recently taken a turn for the worse. To the point that he and Becky are preparing for what comes next. Namely, that even with their insurance accounts, Ron is concerned that Becky won’t have enough to cover a funeral.

So, they are turning to the public for help. And that’s where we come in.

Ron’s close friend Rick Shaw wanted us to know that he had collaborated with Ron on a new song, and that Geoff Levin helped with guitars and mixing. “I called it ‘Ron’s theme,” Rick says, “but he calls it ‘I’m happy.'”

Rick set up a GoFundMe account yesterday, and asked us to post a link to it and this video of the song, which contains some wonderful scenes from Ron’s life, particularly since he escaped Scientology and reunited with good friends.

We’re glad we got to be a part of Ron’s new life, and we hope you can help him make sure that Becky has some financial protection for what’s coming next.

 
Ron can’t go to his son David Miscavige for help. After Ron ditched Scientology in 2012, and knowing how much Ron knew about Scientology and Dave’s authority over it, the church leader unleashed a yearslong and vicious campaign of “Fair Game” against his own father. Besides setting up anonymous websites to smear his dad, David Miscavige also set private investigators on him.

A couple of PIs were being paid $10,000 a week to stalk Ron on behalf of Scientology when they were arrested in 2013 on unrelated charges and ended up spilling their guts about the operation. They had placed tracking devices on Ron’s car, had followed him wherever he went, and tried always to keep out of sight so Ron wouldn’t know he was being followed.

At one point, Ron was walking across a parking lot at Walmart when he fumbled his mobile phone from a shirt pocket and tried clutching at it. From a distance, the private eyes thought they were witnessing an older man have a heart attack. So, they later told police, they called up their handler who put them right through to David Miscavige himself. If they rushed to help Ron, it would blow their cover. But David told them to keep their distance. “If he dies, he dies,” Miscavige told them.

Now, some eight years later, Ron really is dying, and he knows he can’t turn to his son for help. So he’s turned to the public. And after the service he’s done to help the world know more about what really goes on in Scientology under the control of David Miscavige, we hope the public responds.

 
——————–

Source Code

“A few days ago I decided I would look young. Well, how do you look young? All you do is take flesh off certain planes of the face. This is what artists do in making faces old or young. So, I selectively ran incidents until the planes of the face were smaller. Oddly enough you run out tiredness also when you do this. You can actually select off certain pieces of flesh, and change your appearance. You have with this technique the power of changing your own physiological being. You go on up, theta line running, and you have another choice: You can change beings. You could! Of course you have been growing and nurturing this body, and you are somewhat attached to it. But it is just as much an object as this eraser, and your existence with this body is something like going around holding this eraser all the time, and saying, ‘I’m the eraser.’” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 24, 1952

 
——————–

Avast, Ye Mateys

“TROUBLE: The fastest possible way for a senior to get into trouble is to fail to get in Ethics on a downstat junior. The US ‘solves’ all this with huge government pay offs and propitiation. And look at the upsurge of riots. Capitalism works only on the reward side. It takes two sides to make a game. If an I/C lets Ethics go out on his juniors he pulls the rug out from under himself — and slaughters the juniors also. A team is composed of teammates. Those who mess up the team aren’t teammates. The decline of the FSO and FAO WHY is really — the seniors let ethics go out on their juniors and sought to be ‘good fellows.’ This dumped the lot back onto me. The VFP of our 3 orgs is not juniors who think their seniors are good fellows. And it isn’t ‘good fellows’ either. Effective SO Members is one of our VFPs. We have some. We will have more.” — The Commodore, June 24, 1971

 
——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“The independent field is a scattered, disjointed effort to preserve standard tech but many auditors and c/s’s are senior citizens and we have to ask ourselves urgently what will be available for the next generation!? A unification process is needed where one standard set of materials is authorised by what I call a WDC consisting of all the greatest independent minds currently doing Scn for a living. Decent groups exist in Russia, Israel, Switzerland, Ukraine, Taiwan, South Africa, the US and Germany. Somehow these should come together and simply supplant the church. Having already lost people like David Mayo and all the Class XIIs I identified with my very first survey, the urgency to form up a strong international group, is urgent. The only alternative is to take back the church, which can be done if the truth can be vested as reality with its remaining sheeple. And that will take some doing.”

 
——————–

Past is Prologue

1997: Court documents filed by Janice Hayward were posted this week. Janice is suing Scientology for a refund. Janice also alleges physical force used against her by staff members. “I contracted with the Church of Scientology Phoenix Organization to become a Dianetic Clear and the Special Price was $25,000. I was guaranteed results or my money back. Both written and verbal agreements were broken to extort more money beyond the agreed upon price. John DeNiro, a staff member said that I was ‘a mark’ on 24 Dec. 1991. He meant that they were just out to take my money. In February, 1995, I was told by Karen Mosher, Acting Executive director, and John DeNiro a staff member, that I could not receive the Dianetics program. My contract was broken and I was put out. My financial and counseling records were altered, and I was charged excessively, over and over again, and then kicked out with no refund. Therefore, I ask that a judgment be awarded me in the amount of $67,000 for actual financial harm, plus court costs and attorney fees. In addition, I ask that a judgment be awarded me in the amount equal to three times my actual financial losses as punitive damages for the physical and mental stress I suffered. On or about 21 Dec., 1992 I was assaulted by Wendy Keene, Ethics Officer. Mary Sugher, Secretary, tried to physically force me to stay at the Church of Scientology against my will. She called for Wendy Keen and Kathy Bennett, a Division 6 Supervisor, to attack me. Kathy ran off, but Wendy slammed me repeatedly into the wall in the back of the church for over half an hour. Finally, John DiNero, a staff member, came in and made her stop. I confronted Mary Sugher about the assault. She told me that L. Ron Hubbard’s policy states that it is all right to physically assault people.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“An ice cold martini sure sounds better than lukewarm vodka and lemonade”

 
——————–

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next hearing set for August 9. Trial tentatively 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: June 18 pretrial conference delayed until July 9.

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: Third 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.

 
——————–

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.

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] Danny Masterson’s Scientology upbringing: An interview with his former stepdad, Joe Reaiche
[TWO years ago] YouTube permanently shutters channel that exposed Scientology’s bigotry
[THREE years ago] Coming soon, our collaboration with ‘Miss Lovely’ herself, Paulette Cooper!
[FOUR years ago] Scientology watchers, one mile high: HowdyCon 2017’s big night is here
[FIVE years ago] Scientology stealth opening: Tomorrow, David Miscavige will dedicate two buildings in Florida
[SIX years ago] A rundown on the truth being delivered at the Toronto Scientology conference
[SEVEN years ago] UP THE BRIDGE: We finally reach ‘OT 8’ — but was its first version really a hoax?
[EIGHT years ago] Laura D to Scientology: It’s Too Late for a Protective Order in Forced-Abortion Case
[NINE years ago] Scientology Plays Denver’s Police Chief Like a Violin
[TEN years ago] Janet Reitman: An Interview with the Author of Inside Scientology
[THIRTEEN years ago] Scientology’s Crushing Defeat

 
——————–

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on June 24, 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

In the latest episode of Leah Remini’s podcast, which we have embedded for you below, Leah and Mike talk with Ron Miscavige, father to Scientology’s leader David Miscavige and author of the 2016 book Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, And Me.

And not only did the three of them get into David Miscavige’s surveillance [...]]]>

In the latest episode of Leah Remini’s podcast, which we have embedded for you below, Leah and Mike talk with Ron Miscavige, father to Scientology’s leader David Miscavige and author of the 2016 book Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, And Me.

And not only did the three of them get into David Miscavige’s surveillance campaign of his own father, but they also talk about a strange consequence of that spying campaign that involved an impounded laptop computer and the secrets it held.

We went into this story in depth in a 2016 article that might be helpful for you if you find the podcast conversation a little confusing. We’ll try to quickly summarize it here:

In 2013, a father-son team of private investigators, Dwayne Powell and his son Daniel, were arrested by the West Allis Police Department in Wisconsin for acting suspiciously. When their car was searched, it turned out to have an arsenal of weapons, which was not illegal. However, also in their possession was a homemade silencer made from PVC pipe for one of their rifles. This was a major federal offense, and Dwayne Powell found himself facing ten years in prison. So the two of them sang like canaries.

They admitted that they were being paid $10,000 a week in cash by the Church of Scientology to follow Ron, and that they had received instructions directly from David Miscavige himself. Now, two important things resulted from that arrest. First, a federal prosecutor granted Dwayne Powell a deferred prosecution, allowing him to stay out of prison as long as he behaved himself for the next five years. And secondly, Powell’s two laptop computers were seized and their hard drives were imaged, with the information stored away as evidence, which again was stipulated that it would be held onto for at least the next five years (until 2019).

But then, we found out, Powell risked his personal freedom to do something incredibly risky. He hired an attorney in Milwaukee named Jeremy Levinson, who went into a state court and asked a judge to issue an order to have the laptop and its contents returned to Powell.

Remember, at the time, Powell was under a federal prosecution agreement to keep his head down for five years, and that his laptop be left in evidence during those five years. Levinson asked for this state court order without notifying the judge that his client was under this agreement. Legal experts told us that Levinson was risking disbarment to do this, and Powell was risking the feds rescinding their agreement and sending him to prison.

Why would Powell risk his freedom to do that? As Mike Rinder explained to us, the answer was simple: David Miscavige was panicking about what was on Dwayne Powell’s laptops, which was now in the hands of law enforcement.

It turned out that Powell was a major private investigator for Scientology. We found that he had not only been following Ron Miscavige, he had also been involved in operations against Amy Scobee and Mat Pesch, against Mike Rinder, and others. There were likely to be years of sensitive data spelling out major Scientology spying operations on his computers.

“Nobody gets documents like that. The last time documents like that got out was after the 1977 FBI raid. I mean, they’re that significant,” Rinder told us at the time.

We reported in 2016 that Levinson’s attempt to use a court order to get that data from the West Allis police was thwarted by an alert cop. But in the podcast, Ron explains that his own attempts to get his hands on that data failed. He got the runaround from the both the local police and the county sheriff.

Ultimately, it appears that Scientology was successful at getting that information erased.

Another fascinating part of Ron’s story is the involvement of Lisa Marie Presley, who was the person who made sure the LA Times found out about the Powells being arrested. We wrote a lengthy story about that in 2016, and how, at the time, Lisa Marie was really on the warpath against David Miscavige.

But as Leah explains in today’s podcast, even though Lisa Marie was pushing her and others in that time frame to expose Scientology, she later went silent on everyone.

Leah really goes into a rant about it, with some very choice language. (Keep in mind this was recorded before the tragic loss of Lisa Marie’s son Ben.)

 
——————–

Steve Cannane awaits a verdict

Just a note to point out that final arguments have finished in Steve Cannane’s defamation trial in Sydney. He’ll now wait, potentially for months, for the judge to render a verdict. We’ll let you know when we hear anything.

Although there was little at first, now that the trial has reached its end, there has been some very good coverage of the case in the Australian media. We liked this assessment of the court testimony in a new piece in the magazine The Monthly, which looked at how Cannane’s defense was that he had relied on a royal commission written by a Judge Slattery, but that the former Chelmford doctors, John Gill and John Herron, were trying to convince the judge that the commission had got them all wrong back in the day…

“While Gill and Herron are determined to change the Chelmsford narrative, others took the stand just as intent on seeing Slattery’s findings endure….To so many other witnesses, the staying of proceedings in the ’80s and ’90s must have felt like the doctors getting off scot-free. Gill and Herron themselves testified that they had left Chelmsford behind and learnt to live with the blows dealt by the commission — or, in the unspoken alternate, learnt to live with what they had done.”

 
——————–

Bonus items from our tipsters

Check out the fancy newsletter from Scientology’s boutique celebrity rehab, Narconon Ojai in California…

 
——————–

Source Code

“Where does that leave psychology?…This is the way the wheel is going to turn. And the wheel has already begun its slow inexorable spin. They are about to become a more radical element of Scientology. And we’re about to become the conservatives and they’re about to become the revolutionaries. They’re the Johnny-come-latelys, the cowboys in the black hat. And we’re the old homesteaders, been there a long time. And they’ll give us all the propaganda we want to drive this point home, because it will outrage them to such a degree that every time they pick it up or hear it they will go into a complete scream. They will help us. In every university they will help us. They’ll explain to all of their classes, ‘Hubbard is crazy because he says actually Scientology is a very broad subject that psychology is just a part of,’ Ha-ha-ha! None of the students are laughing. Students can understand a radical offshoot, or a Johnny-come-lately type of an approach that says all men are animals.” — L. Ron Hubbard, September 1, 1964

 
——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“Scientology is NOT dead. It is alive and well, much to the chagrin of squirrels and SPs. The only thing that can kill Scientology is reasonableness and allowing SPs and squirrels to dilute and suppress the philosophy and technology. The way forward is to pour the coals on the purpose of Scientology and validate THAT, not the antithesis.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“It’s too bad Russell Crowe didn’t become a full-time Scientologist. He would have been the ultimate batshit crazy Scieno. He would have made Cruise look like Mr. Rogers.”

 
——————–

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Arraignment scheduled for September 18.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing is set for August 27 in White Plains, NY, but attorneys are asking it be moved back. Jeffrey’s is set for October 24.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Next pretrial conference set for Jan 12 in Los Angeles
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29

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.’ Motion for reconsideration denied on August 11
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Sept 4 (CSI/RTC demurrer against Riales, Masterson demurrer), Oct 7-19 (motions to compel arbitration)
— 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.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach bankruptcy appeal: Oral arguments were heard on March 11 in Jacksonville
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021. Plaintiffs granted permission to file changes to amended complaint by Sept 4.

 
——————–

Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

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 our weekly series. How many have you read?

 
——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Another capital to get a ‘national’ Scientology center. Can you feel the excitement?
[TWO years ago] A peek inside Janis Gillham Grady’s second volume as ‘Commodore’s Messenger’
[THREE years ago] DRONE FLYOVER: Scientology’s failed underground vault project in Wyoming
[FOUR years ago] Marty Rathbun defends Scientology leader David Miscavige as he trashes tell-all memoir ‘Ruthless’
[FIVE years ago] Louis Theroux film — ‘My Scientology Movie’ — to premiere October 14 at the London Film Festival
[SIX years ago] Signs of chaos emerge for Scientology’s drug rehab legal defense
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology Leader David Miscavige Files Declaration in Texas Lawsuit

 
——————–

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on September 1, 2020 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, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), 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, 14 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

 Last time we talked with Ron Miscavige, he had some pretty incredible news for us about a laptop computer that may contain some of the most explosive evidence about the Church of Scientology in decades.

We’re working with Ron for an update on that story, but today we have a treat for you: It’s an [...]]]>

 
Last time we talked with Ron Miscavige, he had some pretty incredible news for us about a laptop computer that may contain some of the most explosive evidence about the Church of Scientology in decades.

We’re working with Ron for an update on that story, but today we have a treat for you: It’s an interview of Ron by contributor Jeffrey Augustine.

The two of them go over some really interesting territory in this discussion. Ron lets us in on what it was like to hear from his publisher about how his book, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me was selling.

They talk about what life was like on Gold Base in California, where Ron lived and eventually escaped from in 2012. Jeffrey asks Ron about a few famous incidents at the base that we don’t think we’ve heard Ron talk about before.

We learned, for example, that Ron’s musical skills were called upon when Katie Holmes at one point wanted to put together a special song for Tom Cruise. How sweet!

Another time, Ron stayed up 82 straight hours to put together a theme song for Saint Hill Manor, Scientology’s UK headquarters. Now that’s Sea Org dedication!

Ron also discusses a couple of notorious deaths on the base, and about his own experience being thrown in the lake there as punishment.

We think you’re going to find it a fascinating discussion. Let us know what you think about it!

 
——————–

 
HowdyCon 2017: Denver, June 23-25. Go here to start making your plans.

 
——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 4,657 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,254 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,294 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy in 1,006 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 473 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 4,591 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 1,761 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,081 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,056 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 412 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin in 4,714 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 821 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis for 1,223 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,096 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 677 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike in 1,182 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 1,426 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 12,535 days.

 
——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on February 8, 2017 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes 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 book, 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 about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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 | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

The Underground Bunker has obtained court documents which describe a stunning attempt by a Milwaukee attorney to secure secret government-held documents that are potentially crippling to the Church of Scientology.

That attempt came very close to being successful.

In June of [...]]]>

The Underground Bunker has obtained court documents which describe a stunning attempt by a Milwaukee attorney to secure secret government-held documents that are potentially crippling to the Church of Scientology.

That attempt came very close to being successful.

In June of last year, the attorney, Jeremy P. Levinson, arrived at the West Allis, Wisconsin Police Department, demanding to see the department’s then chief, Charles Padgett. Levinson had with him a court order instructing the police department to turn over to him a trove of information that had been collected as evidence in a criminal investigation from a couple of laptop computers. Levinson said he wasn’t going to leave without the entire collection of evidence.

When he was told that it would take time for so much material to be gathered, he said he would be back the next morning.

But by then, the West Allis Police Department figured out what was going on, and told Levinson he was getting nothing.

What almost happened, we’re told, would have led to the possible destruction of damaging information about the way the Church of Scientology carries out elaborate and sophisticated spying operations — information that has not been seen in public, and may never be.

And the people we talked to for this story tell us that the audacious operation to get that information out of the government’s hands could only have been masterminded by one outfit — and that’s the Church of Scientology itself.

 
Tonight, a new episode of A&E’s hit series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath will focus on the rise of David Miscavige, who took the reins of Scientology after the death of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, in 1986.

And to help explain David Miscavige’s rise, Leah will talk to David’s father, Ron Miscavige, who escaped from Scientology in 2012 and earlier this year published a memoir titled Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me.

One of things that motivated Ron to write his book was the shocking realization in 2013 that he was being stalked by private investigators hired by his own son.

On July 30, 2013, two Florida men, Dwayne Powell (41 at the time), and his son, Daniel, 21, were stopped by West Allis police officers after they had been reported acting suspiciously in a residential neighborhood. When police searched their car, they found a small arsenal of rifles, handguns, and ammunition, as well as a collection of phones, computers, and other electronic devices. Most importantly, among Dwayne’s possessions there was an item made out of a 25-inch length of PVC tubing that he said he used with a rifle during target shooting. It was a homemade silencer — the possession of which was a serious violation of federal law.

With Dwayne facing ten years in prison, he and his son proved willing to give lengthy interviews to the police, which were recorded and later released to the media. (The full police report of the arrest was also made public.) The Powells told detectives that they were private investigators who had been hired by the Church of Scientology, and were being paid $10,000 a week to follow Ron Miscavige, who was now living in West Allis. For more than a year, they said, they had been tailing Ron, following his movements by attaching a tracking device to his car, for example. They said that they were instructed to recruit people to befriend Ron and his wife, Becky Bigelow, to get information from them. And above all, they were to stalk Ron and Becky without giving away their presence.

 
At one point, when the Powells were watching from a distance as Ron walked across a parking lot, Ron, who was 77 at the time, clutched at his chest and seemed to stumble. Ron was actually fumbling with a smartphone in his shirt pocket, but the Powells thought they were seeing an older man have a heart attack. They called their handler, a private investigator in Florida, but they were soon patched through to David Miscavige himself. When they asked whether they should blow their cover and provide aid to Ron, David said, “If he dies, he dies,” and he told them to stay back.

Those statements, made to police in recorded interviews, were released to Ron Miscavige himself by the West Allis detectives, and eventually, the public got to hear them as well. But the vast majority of the evidence seized from the Powells was never released to anyone, including Ron Miscavige.

“The police told me that Dwayne Powell had two laptops,” Ron tells us. “One of them was tracking me and Becky. On the screen, it showed our location. And that laptop, they said, would hold all the historic data of the tracking that they’d been doing of us.

“The second computer, though. That’s the one that really matters. On that one, Powell said to the cops that he kept the reports he was making to Scientology about what Becky and I were doing. Those documents spell out the day by day spying operations like nothing else.”

We asked former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder how significant the information on Dwayne Powell’s laptop would be if it were made public.

“Nobody gets documents like that. The last time documents like that got out was after the 1977 FBI raid. I mean, they’re that significant,” Rinder says, referring to what was the largest raid in FBI history up to that point, resulting in the seizure of more than 100,000 documents and the prosecution and sentencing to prison of 11 top Scientology officials.

“I think that they could be as damaging as what was found in the FBI raid, seriously. Nobody has seen that kind of documentation since then,” Rinder says.

And then something really interesting happened to that evidence.

 
West Allis police told Ron Miscavige that at first, the Powells were very cooperative. Perhaps because of the seriousness of the charge that Dwayne faced, they gave police their consent to have their equipment thoroughly searched.

A couple of weeks later, Powell had hired an attorney out of Chicago, and the police were notified that Powell had changed his mind about that consent. By then, however, the data from his laptops had been downloaded. The police had access to all of his information, they told Ron, but they couldn’t do anything with it.

Then, on June 24, 2014, Dwayne Powell cut a very favorable deal with his prosecutors. His attorney, Mark Rotert, had worked out an agreement with Assistant US Attorney Lisa Wesley that would defer prosecution. In the agreement (which we obtained, and we’ve posted below), Powell admitted that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but Wesley would dismiss the charges against him without prejudice — meaning that the charges could be refiled if he broke any law over the next five years.

In other words, if Powell kept his nose clean over the next five years, the matter would be dropped.

But there was an additional wrinkle, spelled out in the last of the 16 points covered in the agreement:

16. The parties acknowledge, stipulate, and agree that the United States, and particularly ATF and the West Allis Police Department, shall keep and maintain all the evidence seized and secured from the defendant on July 30, 2013, for future use as evidence in the event of a violation and breach of this agreement. If there is no violation of the agreement, the defendant is entitled to have the property returned at the end of the approximately 5 year period.

So for the next five years, the West Allis Police Department would hold — but not be allowed to look through — documents from Dwayne Powell’s laptop that were potentially explosive. After those five years, the laptops and their data would be returned to Powell.

But then, Dwayne Powell did something that seems incredible for a man who had managed to escape a ten-year prison sentence scot-free.

Powell somehow decided to risk jeopardizing that agreement, and putting himself in prison, because he couldn’t wait five years for his laptops and their evidence.

 
In April 2015, the story of the Powells’ arrest and the secrets they had spilled about being Scientology spies went public with an exclusive story in the Los Angeles Times, as well as items at TMZ and on NBC in what appeared to be a coordinated effort.

And later, we learned that that’s exactly what it was. It turns out that Ron Miscavige has a close relationship with Lisa Marie Presley, who had made her own journey out of the Church of Scientology and was also interested in exposing the secrets of David Miscavige. It was Lisa Marie who told Ron that the information about the Powells and their arrest shouldn’t come out for the first time in his book but instead should first come out in the press. So she hired an attorney who fed the story to the L.A. Times and TMZ.

It was a brilliant media strategy, and resulted in a wave of negative press for Miscavige and his church.

Two months later, on June 9, 2015, a hearing was held in a Wisconsin state circuit court in Milwaukee. A local attorney named Jeremy Levinson had filed a petition on behalf of his client, Dwayne Powell, asking Judge M. Joseph Donald for a court order that would instruct the West Allis Police Department to turn over Dwayne’s evidence to him. (The court’s docket indicates that Dwayne Powell himself did not attend the hearing.)

Specifically, Levinson was asking for…

(1) all electronically stored data (including the downloaded contents of Mr. Powell’s iPhones, camera, and possibly other devices); (2) data storage devices taken from Mr. Powell; and (3) documents (including photographs) taken from Mr. Powell

Was Levinson unaware that his client, Dwayne Powell, was at the time under a federal criminal deferment, and did he also not realize that he was asking a state court judge for an order to seize evidence in direct violation of a federal agreement with the US Attorney’s office?

 
We reached Levinson by phone Monday, and explained quickly what we were asking about, that his petition pitted a state judge against a federal agreement, and that the state judge had apparently not realized what was going on.

“I barely recall it,” Levinson said, but then he seemed to remember something about it. “I recall generally the situation. But I couldn’t possibly comment on a client matter,” he said.

We then told Levinson that several legal experts we’d consulted told us that what Levinson had done could have serious consequences. One appeals attorney who has handled federal cases told us that if Levinson had known about Powell’s federal agreement when he filed the petition in state court, it could even result in disbarment.

“Is that a question?” he asked.

We told him that we were just wondering if he’d heard about potential trouble over the incident from either the court or the state bar association.

“My license is in good standing,” he replied, and added “I’m going to hang up now” before we got a chance to ask him if the Church of Scientology had been involved in his hiring or the filing of the petition.

Meanwhile, why didn’t Judge Donald realize that he was being asked to issue a court order that would violate a federal prosecution deferment agreement?

Ron Miscavige supplied a possible answer. He said that the West Allis police explained to him that because Dwayne Powell had been charged under federal law, his records wouldn’t be accessible by the state court computers used by Judge Donald.

“Someone really thought this through,” Ron says the West Allis police later told him.

At the June 9, 2015 hearing, Judge Donald granted a court order, instructing the West Allis Police Department to hand over Dwayne Powell’s evidence to him. And the scope of the court order was somewhat stunning…

The City of West Allis shall forthwith return to Powell’s exclusive possession all property (including any and all copies) without disclosing or providing such property to any third-parties and without retaining any copies of same. In doing so, the City of West Allis shall confirm in writing that it and any third-parties or its agents who had been given access to The Property retain no copies of the above-described property.

Ron Miscavige says the police he talked to about it pointed out to him that the language of the order seems to indicate that it would be used not only to get the police department to turn over its evidence, but that the news organizations that had received copies of the police report and the audio recordings of the Powell interviews would be asked to return their copies as well.

After being handed the court order, Levinson moved quickly to have it fulfilled. Ron says police told him about the scene at the chief’s office, as Levinson seemed in a big hurry to get the evidence turned over to him, and wouldn’t leave until it was. But he was eventually told to come back the next day. And during that time, word got to officers in the department who actually knew what was going on with Powell and his deferment agreement.

Lisa Wesley, Powell’s prosecutor, was notified, and she sent out an email that Ron Miscavige received a copy of.

“Please see paragraph 16 of the executed [deferred prosecution agreement]…The parties agreed the government would maintain all seized property as evidence until such time as the [agreement] expires,” Wesley wrote. “Accordingly, the government is not turning over the requested materials per the court order. Thanks for your attention to this matter.”

Levinson didn’t get the documents. And to this day, that material from the Powell laptops is still safely being held by the West Allis Police Department.

Ron Miscavige tells us that police were livid over what they saw as a blatant attempt to back-door the federal agreement and fool a local judge into issuing an order that would allow for the release of potentially explosive information about the Church of Scientology.

“I must say it was rather cunning. They must have done their homework to find that back door,” Ron says.

But why would Dwayne Powell risk his deferred prosecution to have evidence turned over to him that he was entitled to receive a few years later?

“Powell gains nothing from this petition. And yet he risked everything. Why?” Ron asked us.

We tried to ask Powell himself. After his 2013 arrest, he returned to Florida but then moved to Tennessee, getting involved in a series of small restaurants in places like Waynesboro. We called several phone numbers associated with places he had lived and restaurants where he had worked, but got through to him on none of them. We’re going to keep trying, and we’ll add to this story if we succeed in talking to him.

Ron suspects — and he says the West Allis police agree with him — that Scientology was likely involved in convincing Powell to go along with the court petition.

We didn’t get a chance to ask Levinson about that in our phone call. And an email we sent to Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw was not answered.

Ron even believes the church still expected to get its hands on the evidence even after the June 2015 attempt failed.

A few weeks later, on July 1, 2015, the Hollywood Reporter wrote a piece after Ron’s forthcoming book had been announced. Asked for a comment about the “If he dies, he dies” remark attributed to David Miscavige, an unnamed church representative told the publication, “No such conversation with Mr. Miscavige ever took place and any claim that one did is provable bullshit.”

The phrase, “provable bullshit” was so odd, and out of character even for Scientology’s salty press statements, it made an impression.

“When they said ‘provable bullshit,’ I think what David was counting on was them getting hold of this evidence and destroying it,” Ron says.

Instead, it still sits in a Wisconsin evidence room.

 
Which brings us to our final point in this story, which is an appeal to our fellow journalists.

The Underground Bunker is one man in New York with very few resources. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we manage to make some trips when reporting calls for it. But we don’t have the backing to take on what this story calls for.

Editors in Milwaukee or Chicago or, hell, New York. There is an incredible treasure trove of crucial information that, the facts in this story suggest, someone with a lot of money is willing to go to some pretty impressive lengths to get their hands on. They wouldn’t do that if that information were not radioactive.

If you’ve ever wanted an opportunity to mount a legal challenge to get some records unsealed, this is a fat, juicy target. The prosecution of Dwayne Powell is deferred. It is not an open investigation — the West Allis police can’t even look through the evidence they have.

Perhaps there’s a smart and enterprising media lawyer out there who can convince a federal judge in the Milwaukee area that Dwayne Powell’s laptop contained information that the public has a legitimate interest in seeing.

It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?

 
The Documents:

1. The deferred prosecution agreement, signed in June 2014…

Dwayne Powell Deferred Prosecution Agreement by Tony Ortega on Scribd

 
2. Judge Donald’s court order of June 9, 2015…

Powell: Order to Return Evidence by Tony Ortega on Scribd

 
——————–

Go here to start making your plans.

 
——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on December 20, 2016 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes 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 book, 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 about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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 | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

 Contributor Jeffrey Augustine has taken a close look at Scientology’s over-the-top attacks on Ron Miscavige for this piece today. We think you’re going to find that he unearthed some really eye-opening stuff!

 On May 3, Ron Miscavige published a book about his son, Scientology leader David Miscavige. Titled Ruthless, the book is an unsparing account of [...]]]>

 
Contributor Jeffrey Augustine has taken a close look at Scientology’s over-the-top attacks on Ron Miscavige for this piece today. We think you’re going to find that he unearthed some really eye-opening stuff!

 
On May 3, Ron Miscavige published a book about his son, Scientology leader David Miscavige. Titled Ruthless, the book is an unsparing account of how Ron watched his son take over Scientology and became a pitiless dictator.

David struck back with a typical Scientology “Fair Game” retaliation scheme. In this case, it was in the form of an anonymous smear website attacking his own father, as well as a concerted effort to market that website in online ads and in emails. Here at the Bunker, we’ve already looked at some of the claims being made on that website.

After my own close look at that material the church has thrown at Ron Miscavige, one thing stood out to me: The glaring contradictions between what David Miscavige said under oath in a 1994 court declaration, and what’s being said about him in the church’s attacks on his father.

In 1994, David Miscavige gave a sworn declaration in a lawsuit that grew out of the 1991 TIME magazine cover story that called Scientology “a thriving cult of greed and power.” The person who wrote that story was Richard Behar, who, like other journalists, described David Miscavige as the man who ran Scientology with an iron fist, and controlled everything down to the smallest detail.

In his court declaration, Miscavige denied that he exerted that level of control:

Since March of 1987, I have been Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (“RTC”), a California non-profit religious corporation recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. RTC is not part of Church management, nor is it involved in the daily affairs of various Church of Scientology organizations or missions. RTC ensures that the trademarks of Dianetics and Scientology, and the technology they represent, are properly used around the world. It exists to see that Dianetics and Scientology technology is safeguarded, is in good hands, and is properly used.

This is the typical line that the church usually takes: That David Miscavige is the “ecclesiastical leader” of Scientology, the chairman of the board of the Religious Technology Center (COB of RTC) and is not involved in the Church of Scientology and its day to day activities — and certainly not in its notorious retaliatory schemes against the church’s perceived enemies.

But here’s the irony. David Miscavige and Scientology are so anxious to discredit David’s father Ron on its smear website about him, the church has provided video testimony from workers at the International Base — also known as “Gold Base” for Golden Era Productions, the studios at the base where Scientology music and videos are produced — as a way to claim that Ron was not the person he describes in his book. But the unintended consequence of that is, many of these base workers have provided testimony that completely contradicts what David Miscavige said in that 1994 court declaration!

Statements from the executives and musicians who are featured at the smear website claim that David Miscavige is intimately involved in the daily affairs of the most detailed activities inside Scientology. These executives speak of David Miscavige being involved in the minute details of planning and building kitchens, studios, apartment complexes, and even the laundry rooms.

Remember, Miscavige claimed in his court declaration that his only job was to safeguard Scientology technology from his perch at RTC. So what is he doing planning kitchens and designing apartments at Gold Base?

Here, listen to Jennifer Alpers, Director of Domestic Services at Golden Era Productions: “So in 2005, Mr. Miscavige directed the redesign and replanning of our kitchen. And he had the vision that it would be a model kitchen.”

 
In a video at the smear website, Jennifer Alpers takes us on a tour of the Church of Scientology’s Golden Era kitchen. And here’s what she has to say:

It was Ron’s son, Mr. David Miscavige, who made sure that the planning and design was done for the kitchen and dining room and everything taken care of so we have a state-of-the-art kitchen and an exquisite dining room facility. Ron was able to use and enjoy both facilities and knew that his own son was behind the entire thing. For Ron to badmouth him in any way is outrageous considering what he did for Ron and all of the staff living at Golden Era Productions to ensure we have the nicest environment possible to live and work…

Alpers further elaborates David Miscavige’s involvement in the daily affairs of the church…

Ron [Miscavige] lived in the most beautiful staff apartment facility that I have seen. This facility was again established and put here by Ron’s son. And by this I mean he oversaw the design of the rooms and the buildings down to every single detail. The apartment complex for the staff includes a separate laundry and dry cleaning plant which washes all of the bed and table linens for the staff and does all of the dry cleaning on site. Ron never had to wash his own sheets or towels. He was provided with a laundromat in his apartment building and given all of the supplies to care for his room. While Ron was given all of this, thanks to his son who he now thinks he can criticize, Ron didn’t do his part to keep his room clean…About 4-5 years ago, once again Ron’s son made sure that Golden Era Productions got a new fleet of cars and vans for the property.

Let’s take another look at that 1994 declaration by David Miscavige. Repeatedly, he talks about how disconnected he is from the daily management of the church itself: “In the course of my duties I travel widely. I often appear at Church events and briefings which serve to keep Scientologists around the world aware of the widespread application of Mr. Hubbard’s writings. In all such appearances, my position as Chairman of the Board of RTC is known, as is its distinction from actual Church management officials of CSI.”

Over at the Ron Miscavige smear site, however, the people at Gold Base sure seem to have a hard time keeping that distinction in mind. For example, there’s this testimony from Chris Maio, a Golden Era guitarist…

 
“At Golden Era Productions…we were even given the most beautiful and professional studio in the world to use to create musical scores in, by Mr. (David) Miscavige, who made sure that every detail of the studio — the equipment, the designs, the renovations, and even down to little audio technical details — was perfect for us to produce in. No other leader that I am aware of personally goes down to those details to make sure staffs have everything they need to do their jobs.”

Whoops. And back to David in his 1994 declaration: “Neither RTC nor I has any corporate authority over any Scientology church, including [the Church of Scientology International]. CSI is the Mother Church of the Scientology religion and has been since its inception in 1981. As such, CSI is responsible for the activities commensurate with such a role, including the ecclesiastical management of Churches, dissemination and propagation of the faith and defense of its activities, including external and legal affairs. All of the foregoing facts were submitted to and thoroughly reviewed by the Internal Revenue Service prior to the recent recognition of the tax-exempt status of CSI, RTC and a host of other Church corporations and entities.”

Did you get that? Miscavige is acknowledging here in his declaration that his “shore story” about being a lofty ecclesiastical figure with no involvement in the daily details of church management was crucial to Scientology getting tax exempt status from the IRS in 1993.

So maybe the IRS ought to take a look at the Ron Miscavige smear site, where it would find these statements about how involved David Miscavige really is, like this one from Eve Stumbke, Deputy CEO for Golden Era Productions…

Eve Stumbke…works with Mr. [David] Miscavige in maintaining the spectacular condition of Golden Era Productions, from the kitchen area and staff housing, to recreational areas and film production facilities… “To give you some idea, you should know that we have the most beautiful and breathtaking facilities for the staff. This includes a full dining facility and state of the art kitchen, where fresh & organic food is prepared for the staff daily. We have stunning 5-star accommodations with full laundry & dry cleaning facilities. The Music Studio where Ron worked is truly state of the art with nowhere like it in the industry. We have state-of-the-art exercise facilities, including a swimming pool, football field, tennis court, volley ball courts, golf course, par course and a fully decked out gym. And you should know, this was ALL put here by the leader of our religion, Mr. David Miscavige specifically for the staff that work at Golden Era Productions.”

Once again, let’s take a look at the language from Miscavige’s 1994 declaration, where he continued to insist that he and RTC simply have nothing to do with managing church facilities: “RTC was formed with the specific purpose of seeing that the religion of Scientology was kept pure and true to the source materials of the religion. In fact, a major reason for its formation was to have such a Church organization that performed these functions in a capacity entirely separate from the actual management of the various Churches and Missions of Scientology. Not only is RTC not involved in the management of the international hierarchy of Scientology churches, but its very existence and performance of its true functions depends on the fact that it is NOT part of Church management.”

For such an above-it-all religious leader focusing on the “purity” of Scientology teachings, Mr. Miscavige sure seems to roll up his sleeves when it comes to new churches being built. At the Ron Miscavige smear site, Ciara Rogers, Scientology’s “International Landlord,” provides this glowing account of her boss and his involvement in Scientology’s “Ideal Org” program…

Mr. [David] Miscavige looked at it as something that could be achieved and he actually laid out the exact strategy and organization within the Landlord Office to achieve this. So the genius of what Mr. Miscavige has actually laid out in the strategy is that he was looking at how do we…how can every parishioner in every local area and field and zone, how are they able to obtain and get an Ideal Church of Scientology for themselves. And how is that even possible? If all of them were to individually try and do it themselves it would be impossible. It wouldn’t be possible to get it done. And it really was Mr. Miscavige who, you know, came up with the entire, you know, layout of how are we going to actually achieve this, and he’s directed that…that we are, you know, in correspondence with those parishioners and that they are creating their own Ideal Churches of Scientology. So, through the planning, through the design, and through everything that the International Landlord Office is…is doing and accomplishing, you know, those parishioners know that their Ideal Church of Scientology is going to be for their town and exactly as they want and as L. Ron Hubbard intended. He then came up with what is that organization that needs to go in place and how do we establish a machine at a global level to achieve, you know, getting every single Ideal Church of Scientology completed. And, you know, he apprenticed and trained myself and many others on exactly how that process is done and how…how we can actually achieve it to the standards that L. Ron Hubbard has already set in those policy letters.

OK, you may be asking, perhaps David Miscavige’s job has changed since he made that 1994 court declaration. Perhaps in 1994, Miscavige saw himself as a philosophical leader who was divorced from the details of church management, but that over time he has become more hands-on.

Once again, however, the Ron Miscavige smear website delivers some pure gold. Rick Cruzen, another Golden Era musician, describes how, in 1990, after an epic 100-year flood damaged Gold Base (something that was described as a significant turning point in Ron’s book), David Miscavige rolled up his sleeves and oversaw every detail of rebuilding…

At this critical juncture, Mr. David Miscavige intervened to restore the entire property, so that it would never happen again. This included a full-scale drainage system, silt basins and reinforcement of the nearby river levee, as well as complete planning of all production facilities and full training of the staff as experts at flood, earthquake and fire prevention. At the completion of the training program, he awarded the staff with a huge party. And subsequently, based on his planning, the property was built into one of the most valuable, functional and beautiful studio facilities in the world, safe from any natural disaster.

Hang on a minute. David Miscavige did all that detail work in 1990, four years before the 1994 court declaration in which Miscavige claimed he was only an ecclesiastical leader and had nothing to do with daily management? Wow. That’s some admission, and on Scientology’s own smear website.

We really have to thank Scientology for making all this so plain with its attack on Ron Miscavige. We’ve learned that David Miscavige will say one thing in court, but that his own employees say something very different about him now that Ron Miscavige’s book has exposed him as a tyrant.

We can only wonder if, when they were putting together this attack on Ron, they realized what interesting evidence they were supplying the IRS.

Now, will the IRS pay it any mind?

— Jeffrey Augustine

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 30, 2016 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes 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 book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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 | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

 It’s been nearly three weeks since bookstores received Ron Miscavige’s memoir, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, and the news about it is finally dying down. The book has fallen off the New York Times bestseller charts after debuting at #1 in ebook nonfiction. But its rankings at Amazon are still healthy and [...]]]>

 
It’s been nearly three weeks since bookstores received Ron Miscavige’s memoir, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, and the news about it is finally dying down. The book has fallen off the New York Times bestseller charts after debuting at #1 in ebook nonfiction. But its rankings at Amazon are still healthy and we expect it will continue to sell well for quite a long time.

Meanwhile, Ron’s son, Scientology church leader David Miscavige, is continuing to hit back. You probably received the same email we did this morning from one of Scientology’s proxies, directing us to the newest salvo at a website set up by the church to attack Ron and his book. This time, it takes aim at an attempted rape charge stemming from a 1984 incident which we told you months ago would be a focus of the church’s “Fair Game” operation against Ron.

In January 2012, Philly.com reporter Jason Nark wrote an excellent piece about David Miscavige’s background in New Jersey, near Philadelphia. In that piece, Nark got his hands on the original court documents in Ron’s criminal case, and he found that it involved a torn blouse and an identification of Ron that the judge threw out, along with the case. But here’s the important part. When Nark asked the Church of Scientology for its comment on the case, it characterized Ron Miscavige as a “victim” in that prosecution. (Ron at that time was still working and living at Scientology’s secretive “Int Base” near Hemet, California. He and his wife Becky didn’t make their escape from the base for another two months, on March 25, 2012.)

Even the new smear site has to acknowledge that Scientology doesn’t really, today, believe that Ron was guilty of the 1984 crime: “The Church does not debate Ron’s guilt regarding these charges,” the anonymously posted website says.

So what’s the point of the leering, skeezy website then if Scientology, even today, doesn’t argue with the outcome of that court case?

“Ron has no excuse for downplaying and ignoring David’s efforts in ending a horrifying episode in Ron’s life that had him scared to death,” the site says.

So because David Miscavige helped his dad get out of that scrape and then gave him a job in Scientology’s Sea Org, it’s really unconscionable that, 31 years later, Ron would write a book exposing the deprivations of the Sea Org and that his son is a shit heel to his employees?

Seriously, that’s all Scientology has, an extended whine by David Miscavige that he’s getting exposed by his dad?

Is it any wonder that this smear campaign is gaining no traction?

 
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Private message to Mathew Pritchard

Mathew Pritchard, please listen carefully.

Scientology in Manchester, England is not a thing. There may be an org there, but the total number of actual Scientologists in your area could probably fit inside your town’s smallest pub, with plenty of room to spare. They don’t need you to save them from Scientology. They will come out on their own, as the rest of them do while the church crumbles.

You are what, 17? Live life, man. Leave the infiltrating of Scientology to the experts.

We appreciate the link to our site. But please just stay away from the Scientology org. Far, far away.

— The Proprietor

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 23, 2016 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes 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 book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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 | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

 As we expected, Ron Miscavige’s book being released today, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, contains a bombshell that should send the celebrity press into a frenzy.

And we revealed it to you two weeks ago.

Ron Miscavige learned in October 2014 that his two daughters, Denise Gentile and Lori Verneuille, had cut him out [...]]]>

 
As we expected, Ron Miscavige’s book being released today, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, contains a bombshell that should send the celebrity press into a frenzy.

And we revealed it to you two weeks ago.

Ron Miscavige learned in October 2014 that his two daughters, Denise Gentile and Lori Verneuille, had cut him out of their lives permanently on orders from their brother David Miscavige, Scientology’s supreme leader. After Ron confirmed with his son-in-law that Denise (who is David’s twin) never again wanted to see him, he called Lisa Marie Presley.

The famous singer, daughter of Elvis Presley, had grown up in Scientology, but since about 2008 she’d been pulling away from the organization. She had also been talking to Ron about what he was going through since he escaped from Scientology’s International Base near Hemet, California, in 2012.

Lisa Marie was so incensed by what Ron told her about his daughters “disconnecting” from him in the Scientology way, she attempted to have a showdown of her own with David Miscavige at his Florida office. But instead of meeting with her, Miscavige sent Denise and Lori in his stead, and they proceeded to scream at Lisa Marie in an unhinged rant, making accusations about their father Ron and brother Ronnie Jr. in a bizarre scene.

“Lisa Marie’s husband told me afterward that watching Denise do her thing was like seeing Dave with a wig on blowing a gasket,” Ron writes, and he goes on to say that it was this episode, his disconnection from his daughters, that ultimately motivated him to write his book.

Shockingly, the ABC 20/20 episode about Ron and his book that aired Friday night made no mention of Lisa Marie Presley’s appearance in the book or her crucial involvement in Ron’s story. Instead, they brought on actress Leah Remini, who claimed she was the one who encouraged Ron to write his book.

Leah Remini’s name does not appear anywhere in Ruthless, not even in the acknowledgments.

There’s also very little about Tom Cruise or John Travolta in Ron Miscavige’s book; Ron didn’t really know them at all. He also says almost nothing about his missing daughter-in-law, Shelly Miscavige, who vanished in the summer of 2005 and then was seen in public only once since then, at the funeral for her father in the summer of 2007.

Ron agrees with what we’ve already written numerous times, that he believes Shelly has been living and working at the Church of Spiritual Technology headquarters — a small Scientology compound near Lake Arrowhead, California — and she might be resigned to her fate.

Ruthless may not contain major revelations about Cruise or Travolta or Kirstie Alley, but it does deliver a withering portrayal of David Miscavige, told by a father who literally had to escape from a prison-like camp in order to return to a normal life. And if he’d been left alone, he probably would not have written a book at all.

But after a year away from Scientology’s gulag, Ron learned that his son was paying $10,000 a week for two private investigators to follow him, and then he learned that his two daughters planned never again to talk to him. So he decided it was time to describe what he had seen in his more than 40 years as a follower of L. Ron Hubbard and for 27 years as an employee in Scientology’s “Sea Org” working for his own son.

“I firmly believe that Scientology has morphed into an immoral organization that hides a long list of abuses behind First Amendment protections,” he writes.

In order to make that case, Ron tells a fascinating tale about how he got from trumpet playing teenager in Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania to a 76-year-old on the run from the Church of Scientology in 2012. Along the way, he not only talks about his own personal history, but also the history of Scientology as he’s been able to gather from the many people in and out of the organization that he’s known. And, most importantly, he reflects on the development of his family in that complex history, wondering about how his adorable children grew up into such troubled adults.

At one point, Ron wonders if the permissive environment of Mt. Carmel (pronounced CAR-mel) may explain some of the behavior we see in his grown kids. “So long as you did not break the law too much, you were OK. You could bend it quite a bit, though. I have carried that attitude with me my whole life, and I am certain my children absorbed some of it,” he writes. It’s observations like that which we found most useful for trying to piece together a picture of the Miscavige family and what tore it apart.

And Ron can’t spare himself from the unsavory parts of the family album. As we saw on 20/20, he has to admit to getting physical with his first wife, Loretta Gidaro, something that he says he’s not proud of. And later, he describes an attempted rape arrest that he insists was a case of mistaken identity. This is an incident that got magnified in the telling over the years, but an investigation of the original court documents by a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter in 2012 tends to support Ron’s version of events.

For longtime Scientology watchers, there’s plenty that will be familiar in the book — Ron even cites authors like Janet Reitman for some of the historical background in the book — but even for oldtimers, there are some fun surprises as we learn about the life of David Miscavige from Ron’s perspective.

We knew, for example, that Ron hoped Scientology might help his son with his bad case of asthma when he first took David for auditing at 9 years old in 1969. But the details of just what they went through, particularly with some of the ways Ron had been dealing with David’s problems, were fascinating, as were details about how seriously David grabbed on to Scientology once he had been introduced to it.

David was serious and he was physically strong, if not the tallest kid around. (Ron says his son David is “at most 5-foot-4,” but David’s former tailor, Claudio Lugli, told us it was 5-foot-1, “at max.”)

At times, Ron stops his narrative to remind us that Scientology, as envisioned by founder L. Ron Hubbard, had a lot of good in it, and that the only real problem today is that his son has perverted Hubbard’s “technology” and policies. It’s at these times that we were most conscious that Ron chose to write his book with the help of Dan Koon, a former longtime Scientologist who had worked at the highest technical levels in the organization. Koon is still an “independent” Scientologist, and the views in this book are indistinguishable from what he’s posted online about how Scientology can be saved from Miscavige.

At one point, for example, after Ron has talked about his son accepting a $10,000 suit for his birthday, and paying $1,500 for a pair of shoes — what Ron made in a year as a Sea Org worker — he makes a startling admission about his son’s excesses: “To be truthful, though, I would not begrudge him any of the perks of his leadership if he had remained true to the humanitarian objectives laid out by L. Ron Hubbard.”

That statement was a little hard to swallow, coming near the end of a book that describes Scientology as a dystopia of mental torture and physical deprivations, much of which is based on policies written by Hubbard as early as the 1950s.

We’re not sure the book’s general reader will notice these passages as much as we did. But we also couldn’t help wondering how it might have read if St. Martin’s Press had paired Ron up with a co-writer with less invested in convincing the reader that Scientology was worth salvaging.

If we found those parts of the book somewhat distracting, we have to give Ron and Dan credit for their vivid portrayal of Scientology’s many current problems, particularly its toxic policy of “disconnection.” Not only did they provide numerous examples of it that Ron personally witnessed and experienced himself, but we really admire the way they handled the church’s insistence that disconnection is “voluntary”…

“Do you want to keep your job, your friends, family and your continued progress in Scientology, or do you want to keep talking to that no good son of yours who had the nerve to speak his mind about Scientology? You’re free to make your own decision!”

That’s about as good a characterization of Scientology’s Orwellian control mechanisms that we’ve run across. In the Sea Org, workers were so beaten down and completely dominated, the bars are inside their heads, as we’ve heard from so many former Scientologists. And if you dare to object or, heaven forbid, walk away, you’re in for the hell of Fair Game, Scientology’s legendary retaliation policy.

You could argue that Ron should have realized that he would be perhaps the most radioactive defector since Pat Broeker, a rival for Scientology leadership that David Miscavige had followed for 24 years by two private investigators in an operation that cost the church about $12 million. But somehow, Ron was shocked that he was being tailed by similar private eyes, whose job was to spy on him daily and send back reports to a firm out of Florida that in turn passed on their reports to Scientology headquarters in California.

And now, Ron is getting even more of the full treatment. No expense was spared by Scientology, for example, putting together more than 100 slick videos of Ron’s former colleagues in the Sea Org, who trash Ron as a lazy embarrassment and worse. ABC’s 20/20 revealed the existence of this campaign during Friday night’s show. And then this morning, emails from a dodgy source went out to many of the people who read this website, directing them to a website where all of the videos can be seen, as well as letters written by Scientologists trashing Ron’s reputation.

It’s a smear campaign that’s par for the course.

Ron, hopefully, knew that he’d be the target of such a campaign, and we assume he’s mentally prepared himself for it.

But we can’t help wondering if David Miscavige will have the strength of character to read Ron’s book and see himself from his father’s perspective. We don’t know if it would make any difference, but we hope that if he decides to give Ruthless a look, he gets all the way to the end, where his father has left a message for him.

We won’t tell you what it is. But we’ll just say it says everything about the person that Ron Miscavige is, and that so far his son has proven that he isn’t.

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 3, 2016 at 00:00 GMT+1

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes 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 book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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 | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield