Last month, those of us interested in the whereabouts of Scientology leader David Miscavige’s wife Shelly Miscavige — who has not been seen at Scientology events since 2005 — were surprised to learn from an anonymous tip at Reddit that she had been registered to vote in 2017 at an [...]]]>

Last month, those of us interested in the whereabouts of Scientology leader David Miscavige’s wife Shelly Miscavige — who has not been seen at Scientology events since 2005 — were surprised to learn from an anonymous tip at Reddit that she had been registered to vote in 2017 at an address in Petrolia, California.

Marc and Claire Headley picked this up in a memorable video, and then we independently confirmed that Shelly is currently registered to vote at the address of the secretive Petrolia facility operated by Scientology’s most hush-hush subsidiary, the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST).

This created quite a stir, but after consulting with our sources, we think it may be likely that Shelly is still being held at CST’s headquarters facility near Twin Peaks, California, in the San Bernardino Mountains about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the place we believe she has been located for almost all of the time since she vanished in late summer 2005.

If Shelly did spend some time at CST’s Petrolia location, it may have been for only a short duration, but long enough for her to perhaps renew a drivers license and therefore have her voter registration also renewed. (Records show that Shelly has not actually cast a ballot in an election since the 1990s.)

While we are still trying to find out more about Shelly’s current location, and whether she is still at CST’s Twin Peaks headquarters, we do have more information about the Petrolia location, thanks to the same reader who put together a really informative three-part series for us last year about CST’s properties and people (part 1, part 2, part 3).

Here’s our reader’s information about the Petrolia CST location, where, again, we suspect that Shelly may have only spent a short time on a special assignment, and perhaps more than once in the years she’s been “missing” since 2005…

 
Petrolia: Microcosm of Scientology’s Sea Org

Humboldt County, which sits along the Pacific coast of Northern California, is a densely forested, mountainous and rural county. It has an estimated population of approximately 136,000 people and is perhaps best known for its impressive redwood trees.

Scientology’s Petrolia compound, one of the sites managed by its Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) division, and staffed by Scientology’s Sea Org members, sits in a remote section of this county. It is a small, extremely isolated compound, where staff are largely cut off from support systems and interaction with others. Public records show only a handful of CST employees have any association with the small Petrolia facility, but these records help shed some light on how Scientology’s CST and Sea Org manage its people.

The Petrolia compound comprises seven adjacent parcels of land forming a combined 1,375 acres in the county. The most recent tax assessed value of this land lists it at $3 million. While the market value of this land and its facilities is considerably higher, this property benefits from Scientology’s status as a religious non-profit in its county tax assessments, as do all of Scientology’s properties.

In addition to the land itself, public records also show this property has five different mineral rights, taxed at $13,704 annually. This is the only identified CST property known to have mineral rights. According to Humboldt County’s Government website, gold mining became one of the first important industries in this area. Other minerals such as copper, chromium, silver, and zinc were also once produced. Current mineral resource production in the area is primarily limited to sand, gravel, and rock extraction. The purpose of CST’s mineral rights are unclear, but were part of the original deal when Scientology purchased the property.

In the years before the pandemic, Jim and Joyce Isaacson (now age 82 and 85, respectively) were known caretakers of this property, including most recently between 2015-2018. This included the time when Shelly Miscavige’s California voting address was first reportedly changed to the Petrolia compound in 2017. However, records show the Isaacsons were relocated to Scientology’s notorious Gold Base (also known as the Int Base) compound in Gilman Hot Springs, California sometime around 2018-2020. Similarly, Tania Skrabak (now age 85), is another long-time Sea Org member who was assigned to Petrolia as far back as 2016. She was also relocated to the Gold Base compound around the same timeframe, 2018-2020.

These individuals are actually fairly representative of elderly members of CST, who are not permitted to retire or reunite with family members on the outside after their time as CST caretakers concludes. Instead, they are relocated to Gold Base, surrounded by razor wire and allowed even less contact with the outside world when compared to Petrolia.

Today, aside from the recent voting registration located on Shelly herself, records show at least two other CST individuals associated with the Petrolia compound. Mark Locke, age 66, has been associated with CST in various roles since at least 1999. He likely first moved to the Petrolia compound between 2017-2018. Mark is believed to have a spouse, Jacqueline Locke, age 74, who likely first moved to the United States on a Religious (R1) visa. While Jacqueline is believed to be a member of the Sea Org, there are no records showing she is assigned to Petrolia or currently part of the CST division at all.

Similarly, Alfredo Gracida (also known as Alfredo Cuevas, age 57), has been associated with CST since 1998. Alfredo likely first moved to the Petrolia compound around 2020-2021. There are indications he also first came to the US on an R1 visa, which is becoming more common across many different CST properties, particularly as older US members age out and are moved back to the Gold Base. Records indicate Alfredo is separated from his wife and daughter, who are posted elsewhere.

In Shelly Miscavige’s own case, records indicate she likely has little financial independence and is not permitted to even have a credit card in her name. Just like others, she too is separated from family and has a sister housed at the Gold Base.

Scientology’s Sea Org has perfected its various hooks of control in the personnel it sends to such remote locations. From paying its Sea Org staff only $50 per week to the separation of family members to the control of visas and immigration status, this small compound appears to be a microcosm of trends occurring at many Scientology locations around the globe.

Technology Cocktail

“STANDARD TECH ALONE RESOLVES ALL CASES. No matter how bright, the other processes and new inventions of someone else (a) work only on a few and (b) are efforts to solve one’s own case by auditing others. To let Standard Tech go out is an act of Treason as Scientology then loses all meaning in an org.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1968

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

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

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

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

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman

 
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Source Code

“The reactive bank is a thing. It’s got sort of mushy looking electronic masses and it’s got pictures and locks and other things associated with this, it is a thing. Well, the physical universe and the remaining dynamics, of course, are themselves a thing. And that’s what we mean when we say our universe and the other fellow’s universe and everybody’s universe. There were three universes, if you can remember rightly. Well, that apparently is very true, there are apparently three universes, but we were speaking of the reactive bank as meaning one of those universes where, as a matter of fact, that’s a little bit of a curve in the line. It turns out that there was his universe, you know, his brick walls, and we’re not sure right now whether or not they’re his brick walls and everybody’s brick walls or only his brick walls, or exactly what’s the status of these brick walls, because we’re right up a bunch, right up against the ability to disintegrate matter, all these various phenomena that — a yogi has been known as a good yogi if he could, you know, something or other, if he could levitate, you know, you’ve heard all these tricks and nonsense pieces and that sort of thing. Kid game stuff. This is the level you’re looking at. You see?” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 23, 1965

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“RECRUITS: We appreciate all the new recruits. You are very valuable to us. It permits older hands to move up. In your turn if you do a good job, you will also be moving up in your time. You are expected to do the job assigned well and raise its stats. You are expected to complete your AB, SS I, SS II and Mission School during your study time, which should be about 2.5 hours a day during one or another of your study periods.” — The Commodore, February 23, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“I may wind up doing OT 9 in Reno with Rey Robles. I haven’t decided yet. Also, keep in mind that in Marty Rathbun’s 1st book, he recommended that any OT 7 who wants to do more can, on their own, discover for themselves new levels of awareness.”

 
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Past is Prologue

2000: Medical Examiner Joan Wood has changed her opinion of the manner of Lisa McPherson’s death. It has been changed from “undetermined” to “accidental”. From the St. Petersburg Times: “Scientology’s top executives, clearly pleased Tuesday, called the switch ‘extremely significant and a huge development that dramatically affects the state’s case.’ They said it supports their view that McPherson’s death while in the care of Scientology staffers in Clearwater was sudden, unpredictable, ‘undiagnosable’ and not the church’s fault. Assistant State Attorney Doug Crow, the lead prosecutor in the case, called the change ‘something of major significance we need to review.’ He declined to discuss how the case might be affected, adding: ‘We really need to evaluate that, and we’ll take some time to do that.’ Wood’s decision came after church officials and their lawyers spent months plying the veteran medical examiner with expert information that revealed the lengths to which Scientology has gone to defend itself. There were scientific studies on a body substance known as ketone, an elaborate accident reconstruction, even a report by an ‘anthropometric’ specialist who studied McPherson’s physical stature. Gone from the new report is the original reference to the bed rest and dehydration. Wood still traces the death to a blood clot behind McPherson’s knee. But she lists McPherson’s psychosis and a minor auto accident as major factors.”

 
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Random Howdy

“‘Ness is More.’ It’s Hubbard’s version of his favorite book ‘1984″ ‘Reduce the language down to its most base level and you can control what people think and it also separates them from the rest of society. Hubbard was already fairly knowledgeable about mind control techniques and hypnotism before he wrote Dianetics, so I don’t know why anyone would think his specific control techniques were by accident.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing February 26, 2024.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on March 20.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on March 26.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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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] REPORT: Scientology loses captain of its Florida ‘spiritual mecca,’ a fundraising marvel
[TWO years ago] Shekter: A trial by storm for Scientology’s most dedicated still resonates today
[THREE years ago] Gary Beeny, 1949-2020: Scientology figure in notorious takeover of anti-cult group
[FOUR years ago] For once Scientology gives up on Ideal Org, settles for a fancy ‘mission’ instead
[FIVE years ago] Leah Remini pays for vexing Tom Cruise with Scientology’s ‘Truth Rundown’
[SIX years ago] Laura DeCrescenzo fires back at Scientology’s desperate new federal court gambit
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s Celebrity Whisperer: An inside account of life in the fame-obsessed church
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology tried to suppress this video, and that’s why you’re seeing it here today
[NINE years ago] Scientology Australia spills its guts, and you can thank Bryan Seymour and Nick Xenophon
[TEN years ago] Five things to watch for in today’s first Scientology wedding in the UK
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: Fair Game!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 23, 2024 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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone

 In a new video they posted yesterday, Marc and Claire Headley revealed that a “Michele Diane Miscavige” registered to vote in 2017 at a Scientology address in Petrolia, California.

We’ve believed that since the summer of 2005, Shelly Miscavige — the wife of church leader David Miscavige whose name is Michele Diane Barnett Miscavige — has [...]]]>

 
In a new video they posted yesterday, Marc and Claire Headley revealed that a “Michele Diane Miscavige” registered to vote in 2017 at a Scientology address in Petrolia, California.

We’ve believed that since the summer of 2005, Shelly Miscavige — the wife of church leader David Miscavige whose name is Michele Diane Barnett Miscavige — has been held at Scientology’s “Twin Peaks” headquarters of the Church of Spiritual Technology in San Bernardino County. CST is the super-secretive Scientology subsidiary that operates a number of underground vaults where Scientology stores the words and lectures of founder L. Ron Hubbard so they can withstand civilization collapse.

There was plenty of evidence that Shelly was at Twin Peaks, including public records. And reporting by Yashar Ali last year showed that Shelly had registered for a drivers license in 2010 in West Covina, just down the mountain from Twin Peaks, and that she and an attorney had met with the LAPD in West Covina after a missing-person report was filed by Leah Remini.

We have often been asked if Shelly might be moved to another CST facility, such as the remote vault location in Trementina, New Mexico, but we were skeptical of that idea because only the Twin Peaks facility has any real activity, with about a dozen people working on projects for CST. Places like Trementina have almost no one there — how could they keep Shelly in such a place?

But the voter registration suggests that Shelly may have been moved to the Petrolia vault location, one of the most remote, near the California-Oregon border.

After the increased scrutiny of Leah’s 2013 missing-person report, and increased press attention on Twin Peaks, did David Miscavige have his wife moved to a location where only a couple other people would be working as caretakers? That’s pretty grim.

Marc Headley agreed with us, saying that typically a vault location will only have two people staying there.

“It’s usually a married couple,” he says. And he also agreed that the idea of Shelly being moved there was pretty bleak.

“Petrolia, that’s the one I’ve actually been to. It’s almost impossible to get to. And you are never getting away from there. It’s literally in the middle of nowhere,” Marc says.

But he says the timing does make sense to him.

“It makes sort of sense in the timeline. In 2017, that was when you and others were up at Twin Peaks poking around,” he says, and he figures that David Miscavige must have felt the Twin Peaks location was no longer isolated enough.

At Twin Peaks, Shelly could have been part of a crew of 12 or 15 people with work to do for CST. But at a place like Petrolia? There would be almost nothing to do.

“This is a sit-on-your-hands post. Make sure the weeds don’t grow too high, make sure the pipes don’t freeze. Just make sure nothing gets fucked when you’re there,” Marc says. “This feels like a remote location that serves Dave’s paranoia more.”

A Google earth view shows how far the vault location is from the buildings associated with it. It’s miles from the “LRH House” to the vault, and more miles to town.

Back in 2016 we featured drone footage of the Petrolia location, and our drone pilot happened to catch some kind of renovation work being done at the vault location, which has a kind of space-saucer look to it.

As with other CST locations, there’s an “LRH House,” an elaborate residence for L. Ron Hubbard to inhabit if he ever comes back. Is Shelly living there now? Would Dave allow her to live in an opulent house intended for Hubbard?

 
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Technology Cocktail

“The commands to be used for 8-C are: Look at that wall. Thank you. Walk over to that wall. Thank you. Touch that wall. Thank you. Turn around. Thank you. The auditor points to show which wall each time.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1965

 
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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.

 
——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

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

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

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

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman

 
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Source Code

“Man is continually representing to you that he owns a body, and he doesn’t. He steals one. And Freud was looking for guilt. Do you want to find some guilt? Let’s look that one in the eye for a moment. The very thing he owns with he stole and he knows he stole. And somebody comes along and grabs him and throws him into the clink or something for having run off with a couple of teaspoons from the local manor or something, and he goes into a complete fit. Why does he go into a fit? He thinks he’s going to be tried for his basic crime in this life which is the theft of one Homo Sapiens, which is kidnapping.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 23, 1953

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“JANIS GILLHAM is assigned a condition of LIABILITY for goofing up an LRH Conference recording resulting in that one side of the tape did not record. I am assigning myself a condition of NON-EXISTENCE for not testing recorder before the recording started.” — Msm Anne Tidman, January 23, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Ultimately the truth is that each of us is here by our own choices, perhaps naively without understanding the consequences, yet it is our own choices and compromises that have ultimately led us through the entire cycle of creation to where we are now. Whilst someone else is responsible for the problem and the solution. The person is basically at total effect. This is a lie, and a trap, a prison of disbelief the person has chosen to adopt as a way of protest. The responsibility is elsewhere with someone else. This is false. A neat trap.”

Past is Prologue

1997: Jeff Jacobsen reported having lunch with two Scientologists this week, who tried to persuade him to take down the Lisa McPherson web page and to stop the upcoming picket in Clearwater to protest her death. “To sum up, it seemed that they basically wanted a few things from me; 1) don’t mention the OT stuff next time I’m interviewed, 2) tone down my web page, 3) dump the Lisa McPherson page, and 4) stop organizing pickets of the church. #4 was the most interesting to me. They tried to imply that my calls to picket are dangerous because unstable people might join the picket and shoot someone or do something harmful. Their proof of this theory was a big stack of a.r.s. posts from names I don’t recall saying things like ‘bring a gun to your local picket and shoot up the place’, and ‘henri’s’ post stating ‘bomb your local Church of Scientology.’ I protested that there could be nuts on both sides and that us picketers are in just as much danger from crazy people as the Scientologists. I also reminded them that my demonstration page (http://www.primenet.com/~cultxpt/demo.htm) has *always* promoted a peaceful, non-violent picket,and I even quote Gandhi and Vaclav Havel. But they didn’t seem moved by these arguments. The worst part of the lunch was at the end, when the LA person began to apparently run the security check drill on me. She had previously accused me of being a liar, and now she asked me if I’d ever bombed a building. I said no. She asked if I had ever murdered someone. I grabbed my notebook and left. She followed me out trying to engage me in more conversation, which I refused to do.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Typical Space Ozzie & Harriet ‘Remember the good ole days before all the perversion and permissiveness that lead to the downward spiral?’ reactionary bullshit. Except for the Space Opera, Scientologists have the same mindset as your average teabagger, fundie christian, conspiracy nut, gun lovin’ closet Nazi wingnut. I suggest we round them all up and send them to the FEMA camp called Branson MO.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing January 29, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Discovery phase.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
——————–

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] Grant Cardone selling superhuman med beds to the wealthy sounds very Scientological
[TWO years ago] Scientology is begging members to download the new Freewinds app, and we’re green with envy
[THREE years ago] As Kevin Trudeau’s prison stint nears end, his pitch sounds more like Scientology than ever
[FOUR years ago] Cedric Bixler-Zavala blames Scientology for poisoned dog he had to put down yesterday
[FIVE years ago] Tonight, Leah Remini takes us into the incredible story of Scientology’s Clearwater takeover
[SIX years ago] Scientology relies heavily on Russian immigrants — and ‘disconnection’ doesn’t spare them
[SEVEN years ago] National civil rights museum knows it’s harboring Scientology front group, shrugs it off
[EIGHT years ago] Here’s your chance to meet the Sea Org at Scientology’s open house next week
[NINE years ago] Las Vegas attorney files 27th suit against Scientology rehab, Michigan attorney files 2nd
[TEN years ago] Monique Rathbun seeks sanctions, Scientology tries to kill Miscavige deposition in court today
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Scrambling to Deal with Bad Publicity

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 23, 2024 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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone

Five years ago we decided that on Christmas Day it would be a good time to review what we knew about the disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, wife to Scientology’s leader David Miscavige, who vanished from Scientology’s Gold Base in summer 2005. We wondered if Shelly, kept hidden in a remote mountain compound, even knew it [...]]]>

Five years ago we decided that on Christmas Day it would be a good time to review what we knew about the disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, wife to Scientology’s leader David Miscavige, who vanished from Scientology’s Gold Base in summer 2005. We wondered if Shelly, kept hidden in a remote mountain compound, even knew it was Christmas. For the sixth Christmas in a row, we’re posting that story, since it still represents what we know about Shelly’s whereabouts.

We understand that Shelly Miscavige may be resigned to her fate.

But there’s a reason that “Where’s Shelly” is the number one question we get from the public — and it’s the same for Leah Remini. (We checked.)

For non-Scientologists, it’s simply incredible to think that David Miscavige, the leader of a worldwide “religious” organization, could get away with banishing his wife to a small mountain compound, never to be heard from again. On a day like today we can only wonder, does Shelly Miscavige really feel no desire to be with her family, or even just to see a few faces besides the dozen other people she has seen day in and day out for 16 years?

The question “Where’s Shelly” reached a whole new audience in December 2018 thanks to Leah’s television show, which provided a lot of background for viewers about Shelly’s upbringing. But the episode was light on details about Shelly’s current whereabouts and what we’ve learned about it in recent years. It was obvious from the huge number of questions we got on social media that week that viewers were left with a lot of questions. So on this meaningful day, let’s revisit some facts.

It was late August or early September in 2005 when Shelly vanished. We know that you heard Valerie Haney, in her Aftermath episode, say it was 2006, and a lot of media tends to say that. But when we talked with Valerie directly for our follow-up interview and compared notes with her, she agreed with our other eyewitnesses that it was late summer 2005 when Shelly disappeared, not 2006.

As we pointed out in a video we put out recently, the last public footage we have of Shelly was from September 2004, when Shelly was with Dave and with Tom Cruise at the Ideal Org opening in Madrid. It was at that event when Tom admitted to Dave that after breaking up with Penelope Cruz he was looking for a new girlfriend. Shelly was then put in charge of the effort to audition actresses to find a new mate for Tom, resulting that November in recruiting Nazanin Boniadi for the role. After that relationship broke up in January 2005, Tom found Katie Holmes on his own and their relationship became public in April.

As 2005 progressed, Valerie Haney and Mike Rinder and others have told us, the relationship between Dave and Shelly became more and more strained as they lived at Int Base (also known as “Gold Base”), Scientology’s secretive 500-acre international management compound near Hemet, California, where, the year before, an increasingly unhinged Miscavige had created “The Hole,” a literal prison for some of his closest lieutenants. Concerned with how Dave’s erratic behavior and epic tantrums were affecting other people, Shelly took it upon herself to make a few changes when Dave spent some time in Los Angeles without her that summer. First, she rearranged some job positions (filled in an “org board”). It was Valerie who explained to us that Shelly did so in part to assign some people to positions where they would be less likely to be in contact with her husband. Shelly was trying to lessen their exposure to his volcanic temper, in other words. And she also had Dave’s belongings crated up so that a long-planned renovation to their quarters could finally get going.

When Dave returned and saw that she had taken the initiative, he blew his stack and returned to Los Angeles. A week later, Shelly vanished. A new detail that was finally confirmed for us by Valerie was that during that week between Dave’s freakout and Shelly’s disappearance, she grabbed a car at the base and drove to Los Angeles in a last-ditch effort to save her marriage. But she soon returned after that mission failed. She was then taken away. This is an important detail, we believe, because it counters the suggestion that Shelly, by taking the initiative while Dave was gone, purposely sabotaged herself so she could be sent away. Would Shelly have made the dramatic gesture of driving to LA to appeal to her husband if that was the case?

So, sixteen years ago at the age of 44, Shelly was escorted from Int Base (where “The Hole” was) about 60 miles to the much smaller compound in the mountains near Lake Arrowhead, the headquarters of the Church of Spiritual Technology, where super-secret CST operates its project to archive the words of L. Ron Hubbard to store in vaults for thousands of years. (We are constantly asked, could Shelly be in “the Hole”? No, the Hole is located at the base where Shelly was taken away from. And we have eyewitnesses to the poor wretches held in the Hole continuously from 2005 to 2016, and Shelly is not among them.)

Almost two years after Shelly was sent away, on June 25, 2007, her father, Maurice Elliott “Barney” Barnett, died at the age of 77. When his funeral was held that summer, Shelly was allowed to attend, but in the presence of a Scientology handler, Anne Joasem, the ex-wife of the defector Marty Rathbun. According to Marc Headley, when someone who knew Shelly approached her with a request, she told them, “Listen to me. I fucked up, and I’m not going to be able to help you.”

(Another indication that Shelly is aware of her fate and its punitive nature: In 2013, just before Leah filed her missing-person report, we revealed that Shelly had told a family member “there’s only one way” she would ever again leave the CST base, referring to the prospect of a family funeral.)

In the 16 years since that sighting — 18 total since she first was escorted from Int Base — various lines of evidence tell us Shelly has been confined to the CST headquarters compound in the San Bernardino Mountains. The place goes by several names, depending on who you’re talking to: Twin Peaks, Rim of the World, Rimforest, or also Crestline, for the nearest hamlet.

In July 2013 news of Leah Remini’s defection broke. On Monday August 5 she filed a missing-person report with the Los Angeles Police Department. Why the LAPD? For years Leah exchanged cards and gifts with Shelly, whose official address was 6331 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, and which is to this day David Miscavige’s official address. That location is the Hollywood Guaranty Building, an office structure that on its ground floor contains the “L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition.” The 11th floor is where Miscavige and his most trusted aides run Scientology when he’s in L.A. We’re told that there’s a place there where he can crash for the night, but it’s not the location of his apartment, which was actually a few blocks away.

Anyway, 6331 Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles was the address Leah had from the years she was corresponding with Shelly, and that’s why she submitted her report to the LAPD on Monday August 5, 2013.

Two nights later, on Wednesday, we got word that the report had been filed. The next morning, Thursday August 8, we broke the news that Leah had filed the report. Later that day, reporters who were calling the LAPD for comment were told that Shelly had been contacted and that the idea she was missing was “unfounded.”

Leah was hammered by the press, which for some reason thought her report had been dealt with in less than a day, because our story had come out that morning and by the afternoon the LAPD was saying there was nothing to it. But that’s not what happened.

After Leah filed her report on Monday August 5, and before the LAPD said it was unfounded on the afternoon of Thursday August 8, the LAPD claims that it visited Shelly and talked with her.

When we called to ask about it, we were forwarded to Lt. Andre Dawson, who told us two of his detectives had met with Shelly. He wouldn’t tell us where that meeting had occurred, and when we asked him if the conversation had happened in the presence of other church officials, he quickly said “That’s classified.”

Meanwhile, Leah herself never got any response at all from the LAPD, even though she had filed the missing-person report to begin with.

Did Lt. Dawson’s detectives go up to the CST headquarters, which is in another jurisdiction, San Bernardino County, to check on Shelly? Was Shelly instead brought down to Los Angeles to meet the detectives? Or was the LAPD merely lying to us?

In 2016, Leah still wanted answers about that. Through an attorney, she filed an official records request with the LAPD for documentation on what they had actually done when she filed her missing-person request. But the LAPD told her it was going to give her no documentation at all.

Around that same time, in 2016, we heard from a branch of Shelly’s family that is not involved in Scientology. They asked us for some advice about what to do, saying that they at least wanted to make sure that Shelly was all right. We pointed out to them that the CST compound is in San Bernardino County. So they approached the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, asking that a welfare check be done on her.

They were told that the Sheriff’s Department would require evidence that Shelly was at that location, and the department did nothing.

Surprised by that response, we sent our own letter to the Sheriff’s Department, explaining the evidence that Shelly was located at the compound, as well as a recent possible sighting of her in the town of Crestline itself. We received this response…

Hello Tony,

Concerning the welfare of someone within the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s department, any call for service we receive will be appropriately addressed and handled accordingly.

We encourage anyone with information regarding a crime, or potential crime, to contact Sheriff’s Dispatch or their local Sheriffs station to report it so the matter can be investigated and resolved.

Thank you,

Adam Cervantes, Deputy Sheriff

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dept.
Public Affairs Division

So, the LAPD claims it checked on Shelly in 2013 but won’t provide any details about it, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department says it doesn’t have enough evidence that she’s at the CST compound to go check on her.

Is Shelly even alive? We see this suggestion a lot on social media, that Shelly is already dead or has been killed, and there’s a good reason why we tell people it’s probably not true.

Scientology may be very effective at keeping Shelly out of sight, but covering up a death is another matter entirely. Consider the case of Anne Tidman, for example. Also known as Annie Broeker, Tidman was one of the last people to see L. Ron Hubbard alive, and she was also kept out of sight at a Scientology compound for years. When she developed cancer and then became very ill, she was moved to an apartment in Hollywood, where she died in 2011. Scientology was able to keep news of her death quiet for several months, but eventually her family was told about it, and that’s how we became aware of it. If Shelly died, we think the news would get out even more quickly.

Also, Scientology’s attorneys, in reaction to Leah Remini’s episode, made claims to the media that they had either personally seen Shelly or communicated with her. Scientology attorneys may be unpleasant human beings, but they aren’t going to risk their law licenses and claim that a dead woman is alive and well.

Shelly is alive.

She is at the CST compound near Crestline, California, the same place she’s been for 17 years. (We have amazing drone footage of the place, and a former employee there even pinpointed where he thinks Shelly is living and working there.)

She is now 62 years old, and if claims of a recent sighting in the town of Crestline is correct, she may be in ill health.

And yes, we will say again, she may be resigned to her fate.

But on this day, of all days, why can’t her family spend time with Shelly Miscavige? Why can’t she speak for herself? Why can’t we ask her to explain, in her own words, why she is shut up in a tiny mountain compound and can never leave?

 
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Continuing our year in review: The stories of May 2023

May was all about the Danny Masterson retrial, of course. And as the month began, Jane Doe 1 was on the witness stand. She had issues with Scientology attorney Vicki Podberesky being in the courtroom, and a flip of her hair that she said was an intimidation attempt. Her cross-examination by defense attorney Philip Cohen began later that day.

Meanwhile, the plaintiffs in the Tampa labor trafficking lawsuit asked for permission to make an interlocutory appeal to try and overturn the court’s decision to force the case into “religious arbitration.”

After a second full day of cross-examination of Jane Doe 1, attorney Philip Cohen is warned by Judge Olmedo that she’s not going to let him go on forever, and then she does cut him off. Cohen will later move for a mistrial over this, and is denied. Expect it to come up on appeal.

On May 3, Claire Headley got to testify about how everything the victims were saying about Scientology was true. Shawn Holley’s cross of Claire got into humorous territory when she implied that Claire hadn’t reached high enough in the OTs to be considered an expert.

Jane Doe 2 began her testimony the next day. Her account is so harrowing, and once again she provided a vivid account.

Tory Christman attended the trial, which we asked her about in our podcast.

Another big story outside the trial: A former Scientology PI, Alanna Warren, came forward to describe stalking Mike Rinder and Christie Collbran, as well as Mat Pesch and Amy Scobee. And she had photos and records. Wow.

“Apostate Alex” Barnes-Ross made his first appearance at the Underground Bunker.

On May 10, the mini-bombshell rocks the Masterson trial: For the first time, we hear in court about the DA’s office anger that much of their evidence in the case had somehow ended up in the hand of Scientology’s attorneys. Which of Masterson’s attorneys was responsible for the leak?

The next day, a huge moment in the trial: For months now, the defense has been using Det. Esther Reyes as its star witness, claiming that she had warned the victims about contaminating the case. But when prosecutors put her on the stand, Reyes testifies that in her opinion, the case wasn’t actually contaminated. Cohen is livid.

But he then got to subpoena us, so that might have been fun for him. (We ended up no testifying.)

On May 16, Ariel Anson knocks us out with her closing statement, which starts with the words, “It all starts with a drink.” She’s amazing. The jury had the case the next day.

Jury deliberations go on for eight days, including a break for Memorial Day weekend, but then on May 31, we hear there are verdicts. Verdicts! And we’re in the courtroom to hear that Masterson has been convicted on two counts of forcible rape. The third count is a hung jury, but two guilty counts is enough to send Masterson to prison under the “One Strike” statute that he’s being prosecuted under. Amazing. We feel relief for these victims, who have been through so much over so many years.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2022: Video evidence that Balance of Nature is tight with Scientology. Geoff Levin wanted us to know about some things he told New Yorker about Elisabeth Moss. Luke Y. Thompson gives us the only review of Tom Cruise’s new movie Top Gun: Maverick that you really need. Chris Shelton interviewed Kate Olson, who had just recently left the Sea Org. Danny Masterson fires famous defense attorney Tom Mesereau as his attempts to dismiss one of the rape charges and sever the others were denied.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2021: Jane Doe 1’s letter ripping the LAPD for its early mishandling of the Danny Masterson investigation. Hollis Jane Andrews reveals the insane nanny instructions from a Scientologist couple. Ian Rafalko bursts on the scene with a viral TikTok about his dad, Scientology donor Dr. Eric Berg. The Danny Masterson preliminary hearing unfolds in Los Angeles: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four. The California Supreme Court grants review of Scientology’s ‘religious arbitration’ gambit. At the Daily Beast we reveal what really happened between L. Ron Hubbard and Leni Riefenstahl.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2020: Reasons why NASA should send Tom Cruise into space. Dianetics turns 70. Leaked audio from Freewinds commanding officer Sharron Weber. Jane Doe in Miami dropped her lawsuit against Scientology. Phil Jones records a Scientology recruiter about wrecking families. Scientologist antivaxx star Leigh Dundas debuts at the Bunker.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2019: The Freewinds became world famous for a case of measles. Joey Chait told us his Freewinds horror story. Family awarded $11 million in Narconon lawsuit. Chris Owen has startling new info about L. Ron Hubbard’s biggest WW2 blunder. John Travolta’s daughter Ella Bleu makes her Scientology debut.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2018: Geoff Levin came forward to tell his story about finally reuniting with his brother Robbie and getting their band People! back together. Joy Villa took down her ‘testing the waters’ for Congress page. Some new L. Ron Hubbard letters up for auction included him talking about how Dianetics helped him “unfrigidize” women. Erika Christensen got a new trophy. And Luke Ayers gave us some Aussie-flavored Scientology hip-hop.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2017: We talked to the families involved in the Tennessee house of horrors operated by Scientologists and shut down by local authorities. We got our first drone footage of the compound where Shelly Miscavige is being held. A random photo revealed the location of a Scientology dad, disconnected for seven years. Leah Remini tided us over between seasons with a 2-hour special.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2016: One of Ron Miscavige’s fellow musicians sticks up for him. L. Ron Hubbard admitted he was mostly kidding. Kate Bornstein and Caitlyn Jenner raided the Los Angeles org. And Tommy Davis got a new job working for James Packer.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2015: Our book about Paulette Cooper, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely goes on sale and it’s featured on the front page of the Daily Beast. Paulette joins us for a talk on our book just two blocks from Scientology’s Los Angeles headquarters. At Spanky Taylor’s house we witnessed the meeting of Paulette and Leah Remini. Jamie DeWolf threw a twisted party for Paulette and your proprietor in San Francisco. And for once, Greta Van Susteren gets called out for her Scientology affiliation.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2014: Florida horse doctor Lee Shewmaker told us about what drove him away from Scientology. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden asked the IRS to review its policies on Scientology. We obtained the Clearwater Police report on the strange death of Russian Scientologist Evgeny Zharkin. And the National Association of Forensic Counselors files a massive lawsuit.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2013: Lori Hodgson makes a surprise visit to see her son in Austin, Ron Miscavige Sr. resurfaces by selling gym equipment, Wise Beard Man reports from Portland, and we review Marty Rathbun’s book Memoirs of a Scientology Warrior.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Common man likes to be happy and well. He likes to be able to understand things, and he knows his route to freedom lies through knowledge. Therefore, for 15 years I have had Mankind knocking on my door. It has not mattered where I have lived or how remote, since I first published a book on the subject, my life has no longer been my own. I like to help others and count it as my greatest pleasure in life to see a person free himself of the shadows which darken his days.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1965

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

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

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

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

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman

 
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Source Code

“1980 draws to a close and we enter 1981. I just wanted to say ‘hello.’ They say a man is known by the high quality of his friends. So I must be very well known. I think I am very fortunate to have such a friend as you. One owes a friend some accounting of himself. You may be wondering what I’ve been up to lately. Would you like to know? I am as well as can be expected for anyone several trillion years old. I’m not doing any motorcycling nor much driving. I miss the good old days of sailing around in the Apollo. Sitting on a mountain top looking at the distant sea is no substitute for being on it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, December 25, 1980

Avast, Ye Mateys

“Thank you for all your presents. This Christmas I was completely out-created — I received very many more presents than I gave — and all very lovely ones. Our poor AOs, SHs, ships and bases did not receive many greetings from Flag this year. We were so concerned about them that we didn’t use the last Couriers to send them our last minute Christmas greetings. We did send cards earlier. We’ll have to make it up to them. AOUK and AOLA sent lovely big cards. AOSH DK sent presents. Their best present was greatly raised AOLA and ASHO stats. We heaved an awful sigh of relief over that. Three cheers for our upstat cooks, stewards and engineers and QMs who made the Christmas for the rest. That was a terrific dinner. What a nice day!” — The Commodore, December 25, 1969

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Dear Mr. President, We Free Scientologists would like to contribute to the task of making America great again. The American writer L. Ron Hubbard developed an advanced technology to free the human mind from past experiences (trauma) so that the people can think freely and manage their lives successfully….Since then Scientology has experienced a hidden influence by intelligence agents, which finally took over Scientology in the 1970’s and put it under the control of the Deep State….As the intelligence community wanted a monopoly on these capabilities, they…put Scientology onto ‘Nixon’s enemy list’ and used the FBI-COINTELPRO to get rid of Hubbard — an Interpol-warrant was issued and he was imprisoned on 4 December 1972 without a chance of legal recourse….The original Scientology — as developed by L. Ron Hubbard — contains the methods and techniques to free the human spirit and mind from past experiences and constraints…We need all the resources available in each person to survive the global crisis which is ahead of us. We need many more people as clear and powerful as you, Mr. President, obviously are. Please help to rehabilitate the true potential of Scientology by ordering these agencies to stop infiltrating and get them out of our church….Thank you for being there and taking the responsibility of the post of US President. I love you too.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1995: Dick Cleek posted a letter to his local Chamber of Commerce from Fred Harris, L. Ron Hubbard Personal Public Relations Office International. “Recent events have made it only too clear that our communities still beg for an answer to the devastating effects of crime, substance abuse, domestic violence and illiteracy. As you may or may not know, L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, developed workable solutions that have broad application to the problems of society at large. His discoveries in the fields of literacy, drug rehabilitation and ethics are successfully used to handle the underlying causes of violence and criminality from South Central Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., from Russia to South Africa. Currently his technology is in use in 107 nations. To provide you with information on these programs being used daily by millions around the world, I am sending you a copy of the publication L. Ron Hubbard: A Profile. It gives a defining statement about Mr. Hubbard’s discoveries and their successful applications. You may want to take this publication home to read in more detail. It may give you renewed conviction that something can be done about the problems which face us all. If I can assist you in any way to implement the materials and programs developed by Mr. Hubbard, do not hesitate to contact me directly.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Christmas in the U.S was invented by Ulysses S. Grant, Macy’s, and Sears & Roebuck after the Civil War to help jump-start the economy and pay for the war. The Pilgrims banned Christmas. Christmas in Europe was a drunken eat-till-you-puke orgy.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing January 29, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Discovery phase.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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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] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas 2022?
[TWO years ago] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas 2021?
[THREE years ago] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas 2020?
[FOUR years ago] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas 2019?
[FIVE years ago] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas?
[SIX years ago] Thetans roasting on an open fire: It’s Christmas in the Bunker, and we’re full of cheer
[SEVEN years ago] From those who left, a special Christmas message for Scientology’s remaining members
[EIGHT years ago] Merry Christmas 2015: Here’s your Scientology present under the tree
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s 2014 in review: May your days be merry and bright!
[TEN years ago] Merry Christmas, and here’s your present! From the Underground Bunker, with feeling
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology’s 2012 in Review: Eight Days that Shook the World

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 25, 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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone

Journalist Yashar Ali posted a bombshell investigation to his Substack last night. After six years of reporting, he found that when the LAPD met with Church of Scientology executive Shelly Miscavige in 2013 after Leah Remini had filed a missing person report, the fingerprints that [...]]]>

Journalist Yashar Ali posted a bombshell investigation to his Substack last night. After six years of reporting, he found that when the LAPD met with Church of Scientology executive Shelly Miscavige in 2013 after Leah Remini had filed a missing person report, the fingerprints that were taken from Shelly didn’t conclusively match what was already on record — but rather than investigate further, the LAPD covered up the discrepancy for the church.

That summer we first broke the news on July 8, 2013 that Leah Remini had left Scientology, and then a month later in August, that she had filed a missing person report on her old friend Shelly Miscavige, wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, who had mysteriously vanished after being a very visible figure in the organization.

On August 8, 2013 the LAPD announced that Remini’s report about Shelly was “unfounded,” but we later spoke to LAPD Lt. Andre Dawson, who told us that two of his detectives had met with Shelly and that she declined the opportunity to make a public statement. When we asked Dawson if that meeting had taken place in the presence of other Church of Scientology officials, he said “that’s classified.”

Now, Yashar has learned that the meeting actually took place at a coffee shop in West Covina (outside of LAPD jurisdiction), and that Shelly was accompanied by Jeffrey Riffer, an attorney we have seen handle David Miscavige’s personal legal issues in the past. At the meeting, Yashar says, Shelly’s fingerprints were taken, but they didn’t match conclusively the set of prints that were already on file at the DMV.

Yashar also obtained a record of Shelly’s driver’s license renewal at a West Covina DMV office in 2010, including the photo of her you see above, the first photo of her since her appearance at a Madrid “Ideal Org” opening in 2004, and since her disappearance in the summer of 2005.

Also, security footage from the coffee shop that would have shown if the woman with Riffer actually was Shelly Miscavige was found to have been scrambled, Yashar says.

Yashar’s sources tell him that the LAPD violated numerous law enforcement standards during its investigation.

My sources, and a review of documents, told me that Shelly was not informed that she was the subject of a missing person’s report by the LAPD detectives and that Remini was the one who filed it. There is also no indication that they ascertained why she was missing or what led her to withdraw so severely from life and her friends.

Not presenting Shelly with this critical information goes against every standard practice of law enforcement when a missing adult is found, even if they claim they are voluntarily missing.

In 2016, Leah Remini pursued this kind of information when she filed requests with the LAPD for records of what had happened with her missing person report, but she was told she wasn’t going to get any records at all.

Now, Yashar Ali has done a remarkable job learning just what the LAPD did — and didn’t do.

His report also goes into detail about Shelly’s overall story and describes how Scientology has such a grip on the LAPD. It’s a remarkable indictment of a law enforcement agency that not only failed to ask Shelly Miscavige the most basic questions about her situation but also kept from Leah Remini any information at all about how her report had been handled.

Yashar also mentions that Shelly was assigned Scientology Sea Org women to “handle” her in her banishment, something that we had also learned from Ron Miscavige before he died: Antonella Tisi, who was Shelly’s auditor, and Anne Joasem (formerly Anne Rathbun), her “handler.” And Yashar adds another name: Elsie Benhraiem (formerly Tucker).

In August or September of 2005 (not 2006, as numerous sources have it), Shelly Miscavige was moved from Scientology’s secretive international management base (“Int” or “Gold” it’s called), up to an even more secretive and much smaller compound, the headquarters of the Church of Spiritual Technology in Twin Peaks, California, and not far from Crestline and Lake Arrowhead.

Based on multiple lines of evidence, and public records, we believe that Shelly has been kept at that compound ever since, being let out only occasionally since then for excursions to Crestline and other places. She was seen by former Scientology film director Mitch Brisker in Redlands around 2008, and a woman in Crestline may have seen Shelly in 2015 and 2016. There are no serious reports of Shelly being seen outside the compound since that time.

Scientology, when it is asked about Shelly, says that she’s on a special assignment and not missing, and they have cited church attorneys who say they have spoken to Shelly and that she’s fine. For that reason, we do believe that Shelly Miscavige is not only still at the CST headquarters compound, but that she’s alive. (Attorneys may help Scientology cover up her whereabouts, but they are less likely to cover up a death.)

Each Christmas, we review what we know about Shelly’s strange banishment to the CST compound, and what law enforcement hasn’t done about it. (Including a time when Shelly’s own extended family tried to do a welfare check on her in 2016 and were rebuffed by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.)

Now, thanks to Yashar, we know even more about the lengths that law enforcement will go to protect David Miscavige and the Church of Scientology. Incredible.

Technology Cocktail

“For the first time I have worked out a purely first dynamic process. It is used by the Auditor on a pc with lots of attention to ARC Breaks, havingness and, of course, smooth skill. The process is ‘Invent something worse than you.’ Theoretically this is a “one shot clear” process. It directly changes the being that is making the bank—the thetan.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1958

 
——————–

THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

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

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

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

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney

 
——————–

Source Code

“You’d feel awfully strange if a robot clanked into the room, sat down in the auditing chair and began to pump your hand. As a matter of fact, you’d feel a little queasy. And in view of the fact that this has probably happened quite often on the track, that a robot walked in and started to dismantle you or something of the sort because you’d just had your doll body revoked, you react very badly to something that doesn’t communicate. You probably wouldn’t even object to the robot dismantling your doll body if he came in and said, ‘Well, I got an order here from the general council that you, having been guilty of mopery and dopery in high space, are herewith deprived of one doll body, and we’re going to take it apart and leave it on the bench for seventy-two hours.’ No, that’s what I used to do. This is a different one.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 27, 1961

 
——————–

Avast, Ye Mateys

“I’ve just had a grand slam across the boards on C/S. With Belkacem auditing most, some by Dusty Rhodes and one by Otto, we really swept it up 100%. Two Very Well Dones and the rest Well Dones. And not easy C/Ses to do either. Boy can we get auditing done. Rest of you students better get going. You’ve got a lot to live up to with the standard now being set.” — The Commodore, June 27, 1969

——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“What is OT? If it is cause over matter, energy, space, and time, then it is still vague to me. It would be good to know what is possible with one’s mind and spirit, but granted, what LRH did in one lifetime was beyond amazing! Perhaps it is up to us to discover the possibilities. My 6th sense says to me that the CIA has an entire department that have studied and used Scientology tech for advanced horrors.”

Past is Prologue

1996: Variety magazine published an article on a film to be made with John Travolta and several other Scientology members. “At the same time he’s looking at doing a film with Sean Penn, Travolta has also been circling ‘Common Ground,’ a character-driven action drama about LAX security police during a series of bomb threats at the airport. The last incarnation of the project looked to be a Scientology reunion, with cast members Travolta, his wife Kelly Preston, and Kirstie Alley (who insiders said Travolta wanted in the picture) all members of the faith. Sources said there is a time constraint involved and the project may not happen with Travolta.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“You ever get up in front of 6,000 people who want to murder your ass until you prove you’re worthy of their adulation and they are spitting and throwing bottles and everything else they can lay their hands on? Because I have on numerous occasions.”

 
——————–

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentencing on Aug 4.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Trial scheduled for August 15.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— 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 June 28.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Next hearing August 1.
— 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.

 
——————–

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] After ‘Roe,’ can Scientology continue to force Sea Org women into unwanted abortions?
[TWO years ago] More minor Scientology celebrities making news, and not in a good way
[THREE years ago] The private eye who started out working for Danny Masterson & now may testify against him
[FOUR years ago] Tommy Davis is tying the knot in Morocco, and we didn’t get an invite
[FIVE years ago] In the Sea Org, no one can hear you scream: Another small slice of Scientology horror
[SIX years ago] REPORT: David Miscavige has not been to Scientology’s secretive ‘Int Base’ in four years
[SEVEN years ago] Leah Remini is shooting a TV series about Scientology
[EIGHT years ago] Did Scientology hire the man sent to prison for hacking us? Not his job to find out, judge said
[NINE years ago] Here’s a reminder of Scientology’s Cold War origins — L. Ron Hubbard on radiation!
[TEN years ago] Judge Whittemore Sets Evidentiary Hearing in Garcia Federal Fraud Lawsuit
[TWELVE years ago] Scientology’s ‘Martin Luther’ Nails Up His Disputation: Marty Rathbun’s Open Letter to his Texas Neighbors

 
——————–

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on June 27, 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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone

 Reporting on things like missing persons can be very tricky. We hear rumors all the time, but we do our best to make sure we have some confidence about sourcing before we bring things to you.

That’s especially true with the whereabouts and condition of Shelly Miscavige.

The wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, Shelly disappeared from [...]]]>

 
Reporting on things like missing persons can be very tricky. We hear rumors all the time, but we do our best to make sure we have some confidence about sourcing before we bring things to you.

That’s especially true with the whereabouts and condition of Shelly Miscavige.

The wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, Shelly disappeared from Int Base near Hemet in late August or early September, 2005.

We have talked to multiple people who were there at the time in order to nail down that timing.

From multiple lines of independence evidence, we believe strongly that Shelly was moved in 2005 to a compound owned by a Scientology corporation, the Church of Spiritual Technology, near Crestline and Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Shelly was then seen by multiple witnesses at the 2007 funeral of her father, Maurice “Barney” Barnett, which took place on a boat in San Pedro Harbor. We have talked to a person who was actually there and saw it with their own eyes, and who confirmed that Shelly was there with a Scientology “handler.”

After that, we reported that a woman in Crestline saw someone in town in 2015 and 2016 who looked like Shelly Miscavige. This person, who we gave the name “Rachel,” said that she saw Shelly in a hardware store and a grocery store on two different occasions, and that both times Shelly did not look well. On those occasions, she was being escorted by young men.

In 2021, we recorded an interview with Ron Miscavige several weeks before he died, and this is when we first learned that Shelly had actually been taken to the CST compound with two other women: Antonella Tisi, who had been Shelly’s Scientology auditor, and Anne Rathbun, Marty Rathbun’s ex-wife, who was acting as Shelly’s “handler.” We made this interview public in January.

Also, some months ago we began hearing about a sighting of Shelly at a café with three other Scientology Sea Org workers that took place in Redlands, supposedly in 2020.

We did not tell you about this sighting because we had not reached the person who actually made it.

Now, after some effort, we have finally heard from the person who made the sighting of Shelly with her three friends.

This person knew Shelly personally, and recognized her and the three Sea Org friends she was with, one of whom was Anne Rathbun, and that they appeared to be spending some free time. “They seemed relaxed and appeared to be having a good time.”

They tell us that this sighting did occur in Redlands — which is conveniently just about 35 minutes from Crestline — but that the timing was much earlier, sometime between 2008 and 2013.

The person said that while Shelly did look well, they pointed out, “most likely, this was long before the interminable nature of her isolation had set in.”

They also agree with us that Shelly has likely been held at the CST headquarters near Lake Arrowhead (with some short excursions to Crestline or Redlands) this entire time.

We will continue to seek information about Shelly Miscavige, and we’ll do our best to bring you the facts.

Again, to review the timeline:

2005: Taken to CST headquarters

2007: Seen at the funeral of her father with a handler

2008-2013: Seen by someone who knew her in Redlands with Anne Rathbun and others

2015-2016: Possibly seen in Crestline looking unwell

For more information about Shelly’s fate and her likely current location, please see our annual roundup of reporting about her.

 
——————–

Technology Cocktail

“It is quite amusing to notice that atomic radiation DOES reverse the genetic line. It gives a throwback. It produces the more original forms. So you would expect the human race at this time to be walking toward greater and greater individual survival and less and less group survival. And here you are with some kind of a notion of the fact that the third dynamic exists and you are able to march out a bit on the third dynamic and the rest of the world is retreating back to the first dynamic — probably an inverted first.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1957

 
——————–

THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

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

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

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

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams

 
——————–

Source Code

“I don’t know what number the GPM is back at the year 200 trillion. On some PCs it will probably be number 52; and on some PCs it’ll be number 31, don’t you see? So to get a consistent numbering, when we say the first GPM, we mean the one which is nearest or the latest formed one. It’s the goal of that one that you have to have, but some pcs have skidded their wheels. They’ve listened to speeches by the Democrats or they’ve they’ve looked over Australian legal procedure or something like that, and they’ve skidded their wheels. And they’ve gone back to the second GPM and are living this life in the second GPM. You understand that? They’ve met an oppterm, let us say, in the second GPM of sufficient magnitude to cause them to be the terminal of the second GPM. You understand? That’s horrifying, isn’t it? Well, I’ll tell you why it’s horrifying. Because if you found the goal that they are living at this moment, it wouldn’t run. That makes some PCs more difficult to find goals on than others. You follow that? Now, what is more complicated is that the first GPM may or may not be fully formed. You may have only the first eight items of the first GPM formed, or you may have only the first 16 items of the first GPM formed because of course the PC normally is forming these things progressively as you move on up the track. Well, as we were saying last night, it is really too bad that we didn’t have somebody at various points of the track, and he took a gun and he said, ‘Everyone will now postulate his 65th GPM goal’ —bang! You see, and we all did it at once. Only it didn’t work that way. Some fellows postulated theirs thousands of years ago, some billions of years ago, and some trillions of years ago. So this of course makes it an uneven number.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 21, 1963

 
——————–

Avast, Ye Mateys

“Vixie is OK. She was taken to the vet this morning. Her leg isn’t broken. It was a torn ligament. Mary Sue gave her a touch assist last night. Vixie went totally anaten. The pain shock was in her shoulder and went up to her head which she for awhile refused to permit to be touched. The touch assist was done on both sides of the body (other leg too) and near and far areas. You wear thick gloves in giving a dog or cat a touch assist as they snap and scratch and disassociate. The swelling went down and she came up to growl tone. On return from the vet she got a bone and sat in the foyer where she could bark at people.” —The Commodore, March 21, 1970

 
——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“I was three months into being a Scientologist and auditing was great for my PTSD but the church isn’t happy that while they were closed for the pandemic I got psychiatric help. Now I’m ‘not stable enough’ to even donate. It’s hard. I love the tech but they can be overbearing. I’m hoping to find an independent auditor. And hoping to learn the assists. But the church has made it clear I’m not welcome there anymore. I do believe in spiritual healing as a general thing but just never got to explore it.”

 
——————–

Past is Prologue

1996: An excerpt posted from the tech dictionary this week, describing a disease invented by LRH. “METALOSIS, osis. Greek. action; process, condition abnormal or disease condition caused by . METAL, any of a large group of substances (as bronze steel) that typically show a characteristic luster, are good conductors of electricity and heat, are opaque,can be fused or are usually malleable and ductile. A psychosomatic condition caused by the the interaction of body electric flows and magnetic and other fields of metal. The effects take a long time to occur. Engrams are formed. METALOSIS RUNDOWN. The procedure used in expanded Dianetics to cure metalosis.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“So when some little kid says ‘goo goo ga ga’ during an auditing session the auditor tells the parents that junior was speaking in a whole track alien dialect?”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Mistrial declared November 30. Retrial scheduled, jury selection begins March 29. Next pretrial hearing: Feb 16.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing Feb 13.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next status conference Feb 13.

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: March 15, 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.
— 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.

 
——————–

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] Quentin Hubbard’s suicide: A Scientology-based explanation so insane it might be true
[TWO years ago] ABCMouse honcho gives Scientology another $10 million — for construction of ‘LRH Hall’
[THREE years ago] Scientology and the coronavirus: Keeping the orgs open as ‘essential services’
[FOUR years ago] That feeling when Scientology tries to creep you out as a recruiting strategy
[FIVE years ago] Kirstie Alley goes OT 8, celebrates her ‘confront’ level on Scientology’s cruise ship ‘Freewinds’
[SIX years ago] Reza Aslan is already being dishonest about indie Scientology ahead of CNN episode
[SEVEN years ago] No longer working for Monique Rathbun to sue Scientology, Ray Jeffrey opens up
[EIGHT years ago] ‘Going Clear’ subject Tom DeVocht reveals new info about Tom Cruise and Scientology’s leader
[NINE years ago] Video Vault: L. Ron Hubbard at his campiest, in 1960’s State of Man Congress!
[TEN years ago] The Mother and Child Reunion: Another Dianetics Nightmare
[ELEVEN years ago] Battlefield Earth: Still Making the World Safe From Scientology Nearly 12 Years Later

 
——————–

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on March 21, 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

Well, we did it once again this week.

We got into some newsy stuff on our new podcast that we created for our subscribers, which we call Group Therapy.

We’ve brought together four of our Underground Bunker regulars, Andrea ‘i-Betty’ Garner, Lynette ‘Observer’ Waggoner, Phil Jones, and the [...]]]>

Well, we did it once again this week.

We got into some newsy stuff on our new podcast that we created for our subscribers, which we call Group Therapy.

We’ve brought together four of our Underground Bunker regulars, Andrea ‘i-Betty’ Garner, Lynette ‘Observer’ Waggoner, Phil Jones, and the enigmatic Pan.

We spend an hour talking about the Scientology news of the week, and we have a lot of fun.

This time, we described something surprising that happened during our conversation with Mike Rinder for the Mark Twain House. When we asked a question the both of us get all the time — who will succeed David Miscavige as leader of Scientology — Mike surprised himself with an intriguing answer.

He suggested that Shelly Miscavige might be in a position to take over in Dave’s absence.

And then, we heard from Phil Jones another surprising suggestion which might be even more plausible.

And it’s his own son-in-law, John Goodwin, who runs Galaxy Press out of Author Services, Inc.

ASI is L. Ron Hubbard’s literary agency, and David Miscavige once ran it before he took over Scientology itself, so there’s some precedent.

Could these be plausible scenarios? We’re looking forward to reading your thoughts.

And as for that discussion with Mike about his book, Mark Twain House has now put the hour-long talk on YouTube. Please dive in and let us know what you think of our questions and Mike’s answers.

 
We have a feeling that Pan is correct: Now that John Goodwin has been suggested as a possible successor to Dave, his goose is cooked.

But it made for some interesting discussion this weekend.

So that’s a small part of what you would have heard if you received Group Therapy on the weekend and we hope you consider subscribing to get future episodes and to support the work we do here at the Underground Bunker.

 
——————–

She’s baaaack!

Years ago we were approached by a woman who claimed she was dying in a Canadian hospital, that Scientology wanted her dead, and that she had been brought up a sex slave to Scientology leader David Miscavige, who kept her in an underground lab beneath Gold Base, where she was forced to bear him four sons, and also to be used for bizarre experiments in growing body parts.

She was a complete fabulist, of course, and we tried to warn folks about her nonsense. But to this day, there are still some gullible folks who take this woman’s claims seriously.

And now, she’s returned with a new story. We found out last night that she is claiming to have been sent lewd texts and photos from one of Scientology’s wealthy donors.

We just want to caution you if you hear these claims you should just dismiss them out of hand. This woman needs serious mental health help.

 
——————–

Technology Cocktail

“There are various states of mind which bring about happiness. That state of mind which insists only upon freedom can bring about nothing but unhappiness. It would be better to develop a thought pattern which looked for new ways to be entrapped and things to be trapped in than to suffer the eventual total entrapment of dwelling upon freedom only. A man who is willing to accept restrictions and barriers and is not afraid of them is free. A man who fights restrictions and barriers will always be trapped.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1956

 
——————–

THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— 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

 
——————–

Source Code

“A psychiatrist tells you that people aren’t really insane, because insane people could snap out of it if they wanted to, and this, therefore, is their reason for punishing people who are insane. See, their logic just goes haywire halfway through. They almost have an answer and then they miss it. Almost touch it, miss it. Once in a blue moon some psychotic will — well, this is not even a technique — but some psychotic will suddenly get sane on this statement made to him: ‘You don’t have to be insane, you know.’ You know, he all of a sudden gets sane. It’s quite amusing. Much more often, psychotics turn sane on this one: ‘Come up to present time, please.’ They do and they say, ‘Hello!’ They’re not insane anymore; just pull them out of an engram.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 24, 1957

Avast, Ye Mateys

“LOY AND CANDY: These two were doing all right until they came to Flag at which time their parents anti-Scn attitude keyed in and they became as cases ‘Troublesome Sources.’ They have been sent back at Flag expense to handle their parents and report to AOLA and complete their retrain at which time their Class VIII will be restored.” — The Commodore, January 24, 1970

 
——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“Dianetics doesn’t handle everything but it does handle a lot. It is absolutely amazing technology. The newer processes and the E meter make it even more amazing! As an auditor you will start to see how the tools work , very quickly experience past life events and start to see that engrams are very real and do create negative effects. I do wish LRH had included some of the newer processes in the book such as R3RA.”

 
——————–

Past is Prologue

1996: Scientology has been busy trying to influence the educational system in California. “Seems there is some bit of trouble in the Petaluma School District with a mailing they did to the school teachers up there. Something about a magazine ‘exposing’ the evil ways of the ZoMbiE PsYcHLoRdS in the schools, and how to combat such. Anyway, this didn’t seem to sit too well with the teachers, and they seemed particularly upset with the Scientologists getting their mitts on a mailing list of the teachers of the Petaluma School District. I guess they don’t like the Scienos having their addresses on file? There is scheduled to be a meeting at 7:00 PM at the Luther Burbank Center in Petaluma tonight (Friday). If your in the area, go on down. They could probably use some information from those who have been watching them awhile, since no doubt the Scienos will show up with a bus load of clams from San Francisco.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“If you believe that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organization, that makes David Miscavige the most successful crime boss in the world.”

 
——————–

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Mistrial declared November 30. Retrial scheduled, jury selection begins March 29.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Plea deadline scheduled for December 16.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff scheduled to time served with three years supervised release, restitution of $9.7 million.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial hearing December 9.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.

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.

 
——————–

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] L. Ron Hubbard’s galactic adventure: 36 years since the Scientology founder left the planet
[TWO years ago] AUDIO: Tommy Davis, as Scientology spokesman, secretly recorded discussing ‘disconnection’
[THREE years ago] Scientology files anti-SLAPP, says stalking and smearing Valerie Haney is free speech
[FOUR years ago] Thirty-three years later, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is still surfing the galaxy
[FIVE years ago] The Battle of Portland: How Scientology turned a nightmare court verdict into a major victory
[SIX years ago] Another Leah, inspired by her namesake, comes forward with a harrowing Scientology escape
[SEVEN years ago] On the 30th anniversary of L. Ron Hubbard’s galaxial soul ejection, an obit by an old friend
[EIGHT years ago] First time in full: 1997 interview of Barbara Klowden, L. Ron Hubbard’s PR agent and lover
[NINE years ago] Eric Idle and Kirstie Alley discuss Scientology!
[TEN years ago] Lawrence Wright: “Scientology Is Heading for a Reckoning”
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology: L. Ron Hubbard Still Surfing the Galaxy

 
——————–

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on January 24, 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

 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.

 
——————–

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

 
——————–

Jon Atack and Chris Shelton

 
——————–

THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— 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

 
——————–

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

 
——————–

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

 
——————–

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!”

 
——————–

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.”

 
——————–

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.”

 
——————–

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.

 
——————–

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 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!

 
——————–

——————–

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

Last week, we told you about a story by Gene Maddaus at Variety that laid out some stunning allegations about a former LAPD Hollywood Division commander named Captain Cory Palka, who is accused of using his influence to kill a sexual assault investigation of Les Moonves, CEO [...]]]>

Last week, we told you about a story by Gene Maddaus at Variety that laid out some stunning allegations about a former LAPD Hollywood Division commander named Captain Cory Palka, who is accused of using his influence to kill a sexual assault investigation of Les Moonves, CEO of CBS.

We pointed out that Palka was very familiar to us because he was also known, before his retirement in 2021, for his cozy relationship with the Church of Scientology. And we pointed out that Leah Remini in the past had complained that for years Palka had been the face of Scientology’s influence in the LAPD. She contacted us this week and told us that she was going to make sure that people made the connection between Palka, his past favors for Scientology, and his current scandal.

On Thursday, Leah put out a tweet thread about Palka and the LAPD’s corrupt relationship with Scientology, and she focused on the 2013 missing-person report she filed in regards to Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige who has not been seen at any Scientology events since 2005 and not in public since 2007.

Leah’s tweet thread went viral, racking up more than 155,000 likes so far, with other celebrities helping to raise its visibility.

The result? Late last night, the LAPD’s Public Information Office put out a response about how it handled Leah’s missing-person report. That report contained some inaccuracies.

We know, because it was the Underground Bunker that first broke the news of Leah’s missing-person report in 2013, and we spoke to the lieutenant who handled it at the time.

First, here’s the LAPD’s response to Leah’s tweets:

LAPD Responds to Comments Made by Leah Remini

Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Police Department is aware of public assertions recently made by Leah Remini regarding a missing person investigation involving Shelly Miscavige.

In 2014 [sic], Los Angeles Police Department detectives assigned to the Missing Persons Unit (MPU) went to Shelly Miscavige’s location and personally made contact with her and her attorney. Detectives found her to be alive and safe, and subsequently closed the missing persons investigation. The Missing Persons Unit handles adult missing cases throughout the City of Los Angeles and work out of LAPD’s Detective Bureau. This case was not investigated by Hollywood Division personnel and had no involvement by retired LAPD Commander Corey [sic] Palka.

Here’s what actually happened.

We broke the news at the Underground Bunker on July 8, 2013 that Leah Remini had defected from Scientology. A month later, on Monday, August 5, Leah filed a missing-person report about her friend Shelly Miscavige with the LAPD. Two days later, on Wednesday night August 7, we obtained a copy of the report. The next morning, on Thursday, August 8, we broke the news about the missing-person report.

Reporters from other news organizations began asking the LAPD for a response that day, and that afternoon the police department began telling them that the missing-person report had been designated as “unfounded.”

Those reporters, who were not aware that Leah Remini had actually filed her report several days earlier, on August 5, were given the impression that her report had been filed that morning when our story came out. Their stories subsequently mocked Remini for filing a frivolous “unfounded” report that had been open and closed on the same day.

At the time, the LAPD revealed none of the information they are referring to now, that they had actually spent some time going to meet Shelly “and her attorney” at her location.

In our own follow-up to the report, we asked to speak to the officer in charge of the investigation, and the LAPD connected us with Lieutenant Andre Dawson, who is now retired.

It was Dawson in 2013 who first told us that two of his detectives had gone to Shelly’s location (which he would not reveal) and spoke to her. He told us that all they could do was check to see that she was all right, and that she had declined to make any kind of public statement.

We asked Lt. Dawson if this meeting had occurred in the presence of other Scientology officials.

“That’s classified,” he said to us.

Meanwhile, even though the LAPD had given the impression to reporters that Leah’s report was a frivolous one that had been open and closed on the same day, and even though they had given us more detail when we asked for it, the LAPD never responded to Leah herself.

Three years later, in 2016, Leah had an attorney file a formal request for information about the investigation with the LAPD. But the department refused to comply, saying that it did not have to share any more information about it with her.

The department to this day has never given her a response about her missing-person report or explained what they did about it.

So where did the LAPD send two detectives to meet with Shelly in 2013? We believe that meeting actually occurred outside the jurisdiction of the LAPD, and in San Bernardino County.

For years, we have been reporting on the whereabouts of Shelly Miscavige. We have multiple, independent sources that put her at a small secretive Scientology compound in the San Bernardino Mountains, where she has been kept since late August or early September, 2005.

The only time she has been seen in public since then was at the funeral of her father, Maurice “Barney” Barnett in the summer of 2007. That funeral took place on a boat that spread Barney’s ashes at sea, sailing out of LA’s harbor, and Shelly was there with her Scientology “handler,” a woman named Anne (Joasem) Rathbun. It was clear to our sources who attended the funeral that Shelly had only briefly been let out, and would be going immediately back to where she was being kept out of sight.

Each Christmas, we publish what we know about Shelly’s location (even including a map), and evidence about her last days at Gold Base before she was taken away to her current location, the headquarters compound of a Scientology subsidiary known as the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST).

In December 2016, we reported that a person who lives a few miles from the CST base spotted a person who appeared to be Shelly Miscavige at a hardware store and a grocery store in the nearby town of Crestline in December 2015 and April 2016.

As a result of that story, we were contacted by some non-Scientology members of Shelly’s family who were concerned that in those sightings Shelly appeared “frail.” We suggested that they contact the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, which actually has jurisdiction at the location of the CST compound. They told us that the Sheriff’s Department refused to do a welfare check, telling them that they did not have proof that Shelly was at that location.

So we wrote a letter to the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, explaining the evidence that Shelly was, indeed, at that compound. Here’s what they sent us:

Hello Tony,

Advertisement

Concerning the welfare of someone within the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s department, any call for service we receive will be appropriately addressed and handled accordingly.

We encourage anyone with information regarding a crime, or potential crime, to contact Sheriff’s Dispatch or their local Sheriffs station to report it so the matter can be investigated and resolved.

Thank you,

Adam Cervantes, Deputy Sheriff

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dept.
Public Affairs Division

When Scientology is pressed about Shelly by news organizations, it puts out statements saying that she is working on a special project and does not want to make a public statement.

The special project that is done at the CST headquarters is the bizarre work to archive Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s words and speeches on media designed to last thousands of years and that is stored in underground vaults at that location and three others in California and New Mexico.

Years ago we received reports that Shelly was working on the archive project, as well as other Scientology initiatives that are performed at the CST compound. And we have said it repeatedly: She may be resigned to her fate and is not trying to “escape” the small mountain base.

In 2016, a reader at the Underground Bunker used a drone to take high-resolution images of the CST headquarters and then allowed us to premiere the footage. Former CST employee Dylan Gill pointed out the function of each of the buildings we could see, and even suggested where Shelly would likely be spending her days working, and even where she would living.

David Miscavige has become so confident that no law enforcement agency will inquire about Shelly’s whereabouts, in 2018 he profiled the archiving work done at the CST headquarters in a slick program for his new DirecTV television channel.

We’re very glad that Leah Remini has once again put the issue of Shelly’s current location in the forefront.

The LAPD will continue to put out excuses about its handling of her report in 2013. But the truth is, Shelly is not in the LAPD’s jurisdiction, and the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department has made it plain that it is not interested in disturbing Scientology’s mountain retreat.

When will the federal government become interested in a “religious” leader banishing his wife to a small mountain prison for the last 17 years?

 
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A special message from your proprietor

Yesterday afternoon we sent out a special Veterans Day message to our subscribers while we’re on a short break from the Danny Masterson trial. We’re releasing the short video to everyone this morning, and here’s also the version at our YouTube channel.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Communication outranks by far affinity and reality. Processing space, beingness and communication is the road through to fast clearing. Any kind of communication, even painful communication, is more desirable than no communication; just as the thetan would rather be anything than nothing.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1953

 
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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

“It is interesting that the Tagalogs weren’t ever told that you were supposed to stop when you were hit by a bullet. So they would get hit with three or four bullets through the heart and one through the head and then run seventy-five yards and take a machete and whack off an American soldier’s head. This was disconcerting to our troops during the Philippine insurrection. So we sent a lot of people in and convinced them that when you were hit by a bullet you were supposed to die. They have never repeated this performance. That is an interesting datum. And yet there were lots of Tagalogs running around getting shot at during World War II and none of them put on this kind of a performance. What actually happened to them was mechanical.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 12, 1951

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“Radical sweeping changes based on the wrong why can crash an org or area. When stats are awful or near zero it doesn’t much matter what you do. But when they’re on a nice steady week after week rise DON’T CHANGE ANYTHING! As one’s pay and morale and Scientology advance depends on this know-how, it is very very important!” — The Commodore, November 12, 1970

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Many gods rule the Matrix. They are the same ones since the Egyptians but names were changed for the Greek and Roman gods. There is one head God, many lesser gods, the watcher gods are in the millions and ultimately the ones that are here in charge of the prison planet and take human form.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1999: Stacy Brooks reported some of the dirty tricks being used against the new Lisa McPherson Trust, attempting to establish a presence in Clearwater. “I couldn’t find an office building that would lease to us. The office manager of the SunTrust building informed me that the owner had declined to lease to us. Then the realtor for the NationsBank building told me that he got an email from the owner of that building saying that the owner had ‘decided to rethink how he wants to utilize the building.’ I told the realtor it was obvious Scientology had contacted him. He hemmed and hawed and said he’d have a final answer for me the next day. Next I tried at the Clearwater Tower building. The way that realtor refused us was to tell me the owner had said they would have to get a release from all the other tenants in the building before they could lease to us. The owner of the AmSouth building at first told me there would be no problem leasing to us, but later changed his mind and refused. In conversation with the realtor for that building I was able to discover that Scientology had sent him a large package of materials ‘documenting’ the dangerous nature of each of the principals in the Lisa McPherson Trust. He refused to show me the package, but he did mention that the owner wouldn’t want to lease to a ‘convicted felon.’ I told him he was being given false information by Scientology and told him the real story of the assault charge against Bob in Boston and how the charge had been thrown out by the judge.”

 
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Random Howdy

“I’m bemused that ex-Scientologists still actively engage in magical thinking, not realizing that the number one reason that they got sucked into Scientology in the first place is because they were already engaged in magical thinking through a belief and interest in the supernatural and the paranormal which had already placed them on the slippery slope to cult hell.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Trial began October 11 in Los Angeles.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Arraigned on August 29.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff scheduled to be sentenced on Oct 28.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for September 19.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.

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 scheduled November 17 to argue the arbitration motions.
— 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 December 13.
— 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?

 
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Lest we forget: Scientology started out as quack cure-all, selling electronic snake oil
[TWO years ago] Valerie Haney takes fight against Scientology ‘arbitration’ to California Supreme Court
[THREE years ago] Woman who fled Scientology after being lured in by Jason Dohring acting class goes public
[FOUR years ago] AUDIO: Scientology fundraising throws in a little conspiracy-mongering for effect
[FIVE years ago] Tonight on ‘Leah Remini’: Scientology’s front groups, including Narconon, get a special look
[SIX years ago] Leah Remini schools us on what motivates Scientologists to toe the line
[SEVEN years ago] Countdown to Room 174: Remembering, in real time, Scientology’s grimmest scandal
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Photoshopping: Erasing L. Ron Hubbard’s second wife from ‘The RON Series’
[NINE years ago] Bruce Hines Joins Us As Claire Headley Keeps Us Moving Through Scientology’s OT Levels!
[TEN years ago] Scientology Desperately Wants Your Children: The Cruise Ship Come-On
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Seasickness: Commenters of the Week!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 12, 2022 at 09:00

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

One of the really remarkable things about the new labor trafficking lawsuit filed against the Church of Scientology is that its 88-page complaint names so many names.

The lawsuit was filed on April 28 in federal court in Tampa, but all [...]]]>

One of the really remarkable things about the new labor trafficking lawsuit filed against the Church of Scientology is that its 88-page complaint names so many names.

The lawsuit was filed on April 28 in federal court in Tampa, but all three plaintiffs — Gawain and Laura Baxter, and Valeska Paris — are Australian former members of Scientology’s Sea Org.

In the complaint, they allege that since they were children they were forced to work and in extreme conditions, with harrowing punishments. Valeska also alleges vile sexual mistreatment by other Sea Org workers.

And in page after page, specific Scientology executives are named as perpetrators of their abuse, from Scientology organizations such as the Commodore’s Messenger Organization, the Freewinds cruise ship, the International Association of Scientologists Administration (IASA) and others.

The lawsuit names one person as a defendant in the suit — Scientology leader David Miscavige — as well as five Scientology organizations: Church of Scientology International, the Religious Technology Center, IASA, the Flag Service Organization (which runs the Flag Land Base), and the Flag Ship Service Ship Organization (which runs the Freewinds cruise ship).

About 50 individuals are also named in the complaint who aren’t defendants in the lawsuit.

We thought we’d highlight three of them, because they help illustrate a point: In Scientology, the people dealing out abuse often later find themselves on the receiving end of it.

At one point, for example, the complaint describes how Valeska knew she’d be punished for reporting abuse, even though she was being sexually assaulted by a co-worker. When, after three months of the abuse she finally did say something, her worries about being punished came true.

Julie Ginge-Nielson, Valeska’s CMO supervisor, along with her husband Mark Ginge-Nielson, chastised and punished Valeska for causing the abuse. Valeska was even required to continue doing [her abuser’s] laundry. As a result, the abuse continued.

If you are a longtime Scientology watcher, you know how consistent this is in the history of the organization, that women in particular are punished for coming forward with allegations of abuse.

But one name in that passage really stunned us to see in the court document.

Mark Ginge-Nielson.

Longtime Scientology watchers no doubt are doing a double take as images of a bathroom floor being licked clean may be playing in your mind right now.

We’re talking about the explosive testimony of Debbie Cook, which took place in a San Antonio courtroom in 2012. She was being sued by Scientology for daring to criticize Miscavige and his leadership of the church in an email that was sent to a few thousand people as midnight struck on January 1 of that year.

Scientology sued Cook because, they said, even daring to send out an email criticizing Miscavige was a violation of contracts she’d signed in the Sea Org, and they said her penalties might total in the millions of dollars.

Cook’s attorney Ray Jeffrey struck back by having Debbie get on the witness stand as soon as he could, and had her describe the horrific abuse she’d suffered in the Sea Org, including her time as a prisoner in The Hole at Int Base, near Hemet, California.

The Hole was an office trailer that had been turned into a prison for Scientology executives by Miscavige, she testified. And when one Sea Org official, Mark Ginge-Nielson, dared, at a meeting in Los Angeles around 2007, to raise some concerns about how these prisoners were being treated, his punishment became perhaps the most vivid moment of Cook’s testimony.

At the Author Services Inc building on Hollywood Boulevard, where the meeting had taken place, Ginge-Nielson was ordered to go into a bathroom and lick the floor clean for about 30 minutes, Cook testified.

Ever since, it’s become one of the most legendary images in Sea Org history, and a symbol of David Miscavige’s ruthless paranoia.

Ginge-Nielson is no longer in the Sea Org and is working for a staffing firm in Copenhagen. We emailed him, wondering if he’d seen the new lawsuit and if he knew he was named in it.

He’s not being sued, he’s listed as someone who helped punish Valeska Paris for daring to come forward about being sexually assaulted.

Years later, in 2012, he would forever be known as the alleged floor-licker who had been abused by Scientology leader David Miscavige.

He hasn’t responded.

The second example we wanted to bring up about someone who is named as an abuser in the lawsuit who later became known for their own victimization is Janet (Light) McLaughlin. She’s mentioned numerous times in the lawsuit as a harsh taskmaster. Here’s one line from the complaint, for example…

Work assignments on the Freewinds were often dangerous. In Gawain’s first year on the ship, Janet McLaughlin, the senior most IASA officer on the ship, ordered him to squeeze into fuel tanks and clean them by lantern in the dark, without a respirator or other protection from fumes. The tanks were a meter high by a meter wide and a meter deep, and Gawain had to crawl from tank to tank.

We’ve heard from numerous other former Freewinds employees who describe similarly hellish conditions. But eventually, McLaughlin herself had the tables turned, as she and her husband were allegedly roughed up and sent to separate holding facilities.

In 2012, when we published a list of Sea Org executives who had served at least some time in The Hole, McLaughlin made the list. By then, however she had been able to get herself out of the Sea Org and Scientology altogether. Our attempts in the past to speak with her have been unsuccessful.

And the third person who naturally grabbed our attention was from this description of Valeska’s attempts to appeal to higher ups for help getting off the ship.

Valeska wrote a letter to Shelly Miscavige, the wife of David Miscavige, describing the abuses and stating that she wanted to leave the Freewinds, but Sharron Weber found the letter, tore it up and sent Valeska to the engine room as punishment until she accepted her fate. Six months later, Valeska wrote a second letter to Shelly Miscavige requesting permission to temporarily leave the ship, but Shelly Miscavige reported the letter to security and instructed them to tell her that her request had been denied.

This was before, of course, the summer of 2005, when Shelly herself vanished from Int Base after angering her husband. Since then, we believe that she’s been kept out of sight at a super secretive compound in the mountains above Los Angeles, and each year, at Christmas, we review what we know about her fate.

There’s no doubt that Shelly Miscavige was a top-ranking, hard-as-nails Sea Org executive in her own right, and we have heard other stories about her loyalty to her husband and the cause.

She’s not a defendant in the lawsuit, just another person named as contributing to the horrific treatment of the plaintiffs.

Does that mean she might be called to testify?

We have doubts that she’d be let out of her mountain fastness for that opportunity.

 
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At the Daily Beast: Leonardo DiCaprio and Scientology

We don’t want to give away too much about our story at the Daily Beast today. We just hope you’ll go over there and give it a look.

It’s a piece we’ve been working on for a while, and we think you’ll enjoy the tale that unfolds.

It’s our first home-page-topping story there since our piece on Kuba Ka in October.

 
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California Supreme Court extends its own deadline in Masterson case

We received notification yesterday from California’s State Supreme Court that it will be giving itself some additional time, until June 22, to make a decision about Danny Masterson’s petition for review of a denied motion to dismiss in his criminal rape prosecution.

The court previously asked Masterson’s prosecutors to submit an answer to Danny’s petition, which the DA’s office turned in last week. Masterson’s reply is due this week. But now the court has announced that it will be giving itself some more time to make up its mind in the matter.

Is that significant? We don’t know if it’s a logistical issue or something more substantive. But as far as we know, Danny’s reply to the DA’s answer is still due this week.

 
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Duke of Chug!

 
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Sign up for a daily email when we post a new story on Scientology.

Did you know you can get an email every morning when we post our daily Scientology story? We know some of the folks who come to the Underground Bunker aren’t here to talk about the politics of the day, and that’s why we created a daily politics feature over at our other blog, The Lowdown, and we ask readers to take their political discussions over there. And if you drop us a line at tonyo94 AT gmail, we’ll put you on the list so you get a morning reminder that a new Scientology story has been posted — and only for our Scientology stories.

 
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Source Code

“All I’m trying to do here is show you that the most hidden factors of the mind were, of course, the things that aberrated the mind, because nobody has ever freed a mind before. So therefore, they must have been the most concealed or they would have gotten as-ised. Just as simple as that, see? Almost anybody could have come along and as-ised them if they hadn’t been very hidden. ” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 12, 1961

 
——————–

Avast, Ye Mateys

“RHODESIA: The anti-Scn bill in Rhodesia hit a heavy snag due to our attorney, the legal office of the government chopping down on their parliament saying its unconstitutional. The name of a notorious anti-govt psychiatrist appeared and got the govt legal dept antagonistic. Also, I had excellent PR in Rhodesia when I was there and they’re still trying to explain their actions. The Guardian Office Africa and all concerned did a fine job there. It’s all held off indefinitely.” — The Commodore, May 12, 1971

 
——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“When media wanted me to adjust to the rules of a radical feminist society, with alcoholism and political correctness and gay propaganda — a free field for psychiatry and antidepressants — I chose to stay home and become a Scientologist.”

 
——————–

Past is Prologue

1997: Scientology’s Freedom magazine is calling for information on any misdeeds by executives of the St. Petersburg Times. The information will likely be used in future “dead agent” attacks against the paper. “Under Investigation: Readers with information about crimes or misconduct by executives at the ‘St. Petersburg Times’ should send full details in writing to ‘Freedom’, 503 Cleveland Street, Clearwater, FL 34616. This includes information regarding racial and gender bias or discrimination, sexual harassment, employee abuse or any violation of exisisting laws.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“I wouldn’t sweat it. I’ve been doing this since 2008 and I’ve given vaLLarrr and other Scientologists more than enough clues as to who my sister is that if they wanted to dox me and come after me they could have long ago. All they got left is squirrel cams, fat sleazy P.I’s and slime sites that no one reads except other Scientologists.”

 
——————–

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next pretrial conference May 31. Trial scheduled for August 29.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Last hearing was on January 18, referred to grand jury. Additional charges also referred to grand jury after January 5 assault while in jail.

Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court.
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Eleventh Circuit affirmed ruling granting Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Garcias considering next move.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Valerie’s motion for reconsideration denied on March 15.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Next hearing scheduled for June 29.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for December 6.
— 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.

 
——————–

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’s Chicago Ideal Org says it’s next to open. Is Second City ready for its closeup?
[TWO years ago] Scientology’s $20 million hole in the ground: The secret vault to nowhere
[THREE years ago] Scientology finds the dream solution to its recruiting woes — the QR Code!
[FOUR years ago] Scientology’s toxic policy of ‘disconnection’ — we check in with the people who endure it
[FIVE years ago] One of Scientology’s most secretive temples is offering a rare look inside on Monday
[SIX years ago] Monique Rathbun formally ends her lawsuit in Texas; Ken Dandar wins again in Florida
[SEVEN years ago] AUDIO LEAK: Scientology leader David Miscavige ‘makes L. Ron Hubbard out to be an imbecile’
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology is determined to conquer this Internet thing
[NINE years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Portland Is Now Cleared, On to the Rest of Earth! UPDATE: PHOTOSHOPPING?
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Stalking Richard Leiby, Part 2: Frenemies Among Us

 
——————–

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on May 12, 2022 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

 Remember “Rachel”? She’s the person who tipped us off several years ago about a possible sighting of Shelly Miscavige in the town of Crestline, just about a mile from the small Scientology mountain compound in Southern California where we believe that Shelly’s been kept since the summer of 2005.

Rachel excitedly messaged us and called yesterday [...]]]>

 
Remember “Rachel”? She’s the person who tipped us off several years ago about a possible sighting of Shelly Miscavige in the town of Crestline, just about a mile from the small Scientology mountain compound in Southern California where we believe that Shelly’s been kept since the summer of 2005.

Rachel excitedly messaged us and called yesterday to tell us that something’s up at the compound.

She’s seen a lot of construction activity, and some dark material has been added to the fencing to keep outsiders from seeing what’s going on. She snapped a photo of the darkened fence for us…

 
“They’ve blacked out the fencing so no one can see, and that’s brand new as of this past week,” she tells us. “The fence that’s dark is on the back side, not the main road to Twin Peaks.”

She says that her husband saw not only construction equipment, but also materials that would suggest solar panels are involved. So perhaps it’s just a large upgrade the compound is going through.

As ever, if you have some info on what’s going on at the compound, please let us know.

 
——————–

Chris Shelton on Scientology management

Says Chris: “This week I welcome returning guest and friend of my channel Ciprian Ivanof for the first in what we expect will be a short series of podcasts about Scientology’s leadership and management theories and the gross inefficiencies that really do keep the organization from growing or becoming even more prosperous. Of course, we aren’t doing this to give Scientology advice, but to show up just how inefficient and even destructive authoritarian systems like Scientology are and how they preach one thing but do the very opposite every time.”

 
——————–

Jon Atack on Holocaust denial

“There is plenty of fake news out there, but perhaps the worst example is Holocaust denial. Ed Stratton has been studying the Nazis for many years, so Jon asked him to do a deep dive into the reality of the Holocaust or Shoah. Ed has some startling information.”

 
——————–

Scientology jurisprudence update

A couple of items from the cases we’re watching: Based on interviews done of his sister, Brian Statler may have a second biological daughter, initials S.C., so by agreement of both sides in the lawsuit she’s been added as a plaintiff in case she does turn out to be his daughter.

Also, Jay Spina is appealing his criminal conviction, and has requested an attorney appointed by the court because he’s completely broke according to a filing he submitted. The appointment of such an attorney is pretty much automatic, and it’s also not surprising that there would be an appeal. As far as we know, however, he’s still expected to surrender himself to begin his 9-year prison sentence on July 13.

 
——————–

Source Code

“The United States is having an awful happy time right now pouring billions into foreign aid so these dirty, filthy, fly-ridden grass huts in Balooga-uga-uga-stan can all be torn down and they can put in nice seven-bedroom ranch houses with hot and cold running politicians throughout. And they’re just having a ball. And nobody is more surprised or will be more surprised than the United States government at the end of a period of time to find out that the exact proportion of ‘hate the United States government’ and ‘love the United States government’ exists as before. They might even have gone over toward ‘hate it’ before, to the degree that they actually enforced people to live in these seven-bedroom ranch houses, see. Because you talk to a boy in Blooga-uga-uga-uga-stan and he’s liable to tell you something on this order: ‘Ah, nice house, yeah, nice house. Yeah, reeds, reeds, nice reeds, side of a river, nice reeds. Wife there to raise some yams and so forth, and nice reeds, very thin walls.’ So you say, ‘What do you mean, very thin walls?’ He’s kept crooning over this idea of these thin reeds, you know. And it doesn’t sound like this guy’s very smart. And he looks at you like you’re crazy.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 12, 1963

 
——————–

Avast, Ye Mateys

“Your bonus and wherewithal to work depends on the arrival and departure of students. Flag expense is up to three and a half times to five times what it was last year, mostly in the FAO. Two recent weeks were only around three thousand and six thousand. Such an average would be just about a tenth of the total cost. The income of Flag must be such that 20 percent of the gross covers bonuses. If it does not, then there are no bonuses.” — The Commodore, June 12, 1971

 
——————–

Overheard in the FreeZone

“I worked with Ron last life, and this life also before DM had him killed off. I do not trust anything of DM’s time, OK? I have met now four claiming to be Ron, but I just invited the one who is the real Ron returned. The others may also have some of the knowingness, but are not the same being.”

 
——————–

Past is Prologue

1999: Anonymous a.r.s poster “Safe” had his true identity revealed to Scientology by AT&T this week. From The Deseret News: “A law firm affiliated with the Church of Scientology on Monday compelled AT&T’s Internet service to reveal the name of a subscriber who had been critical of the church in an online newsgroup. ‘It is terrifyingly easy to rip off the cover of anonymity,’ said Daniel Leipold, a Santa Ana, Calif., attorney who represents the man. Bridge Publications Inc., which publishes literature for the Church of Scientology, recently took advantage of a federal law enacted last year – the Digital Millennium Copyright Act – that allows subpoenas to be issued even without the filing of a suit in cases involving potential copyright infringement. The man, known only as ‘Safe,’ had posted documents to the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup. His attorney argues that the postings are protected under ‘fair use’ doctrine because they commented on how ‘suppressive’ some of the church’s rules are, and then supported that contention by listing 274 ‘crimes’ against the church cited in one of its publications. Citing potential copyright infringement, Bridge subpoenaed records from AT&T, which handled Safe’s Internet account. After notifying Safe, AT&T turned his name over to Bridge Publications on Monday.”

 
——————–

Random Howdy

“As long as you’re not a boo-hoo or a grim weeper, you’re all right in my book.”

 
——————–

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: Next pretrial conference set for June 18.

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] Youth baseball coach arrested for sex trafficking has OC Scientology past
[TWO years ago] Scientology’s new strategy for ex-members ignoring its letters: Sending out invoices
[THREE years ago] How to get fired from a Scientology job the easy way — a real-world example
[FOUR years ago] Scientology and kids: L. Ron Hubbard talks about small children as ancient beings
[FIVE years ago] Scientology’s ‘Battlefield Earth’ campaign, featuring Frank Frazetta and a crashed saucer
[SIX years ago] Jon Atack: Scientology’s early history is something most members don’t actually know
[SEVEN years ago] APPEAL BRIEF: Scientology argues that our coverage of them legitimates their spying
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Doesn’t Want You to See Documents in Laura DeCrescenzo’s Forced-Abortion Lawsuit

 
——————–

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on June 12, 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