Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He's written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology's harassment of Paulette Cooper titled 'The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.' He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world from an undisclosed location in an underground bunker he shares with four cats and one of them wrinkly Shar Pei dogs. Despite his super-secret security protections, you can still reach him pretty easily by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you'd like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.) [Header image courtesy John Rickard]
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How Scientology sets up its members to find themselves helpless in court

We’ve provided a lot of detailed, step-by-step coverage of numerous lawsuits involving the Church of Scientology in recent years. They tend to involve large dollar amounts (as in the case of the Garcias, who say they were defrauded of about $440,000), or years of abuse (as in the case of Laura DeCrescenzo), or major legal []

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Long before Xenu: Scientology’s actual origin story, as told by a former member

 We have a real treat for you today. Derek Bloch noticed that Scientology’s “Xenu” story that was made famous in South Park in 2005 and was given another great treatment in Alex Gibney’s film Going Clear this year (pictured above) is often referred to as Scientology’s “origin story.” This is simply untrue. The Xenu incident, []

Scientology’s billion-dollar slush fund, its slick operators, and how it gets around regulation

Prepare for Jeffrey Augustine to blow your mind as he takes us on another deep dive into Scientology’s finances, this time laying bare the IAS slush fund even more than he did last time. We think you’ll find this is Jeff’s best piece yet!

 As discussed previously, the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) is not a []

Jon Atack puts us on the spot at the Toronto Scientology conference

This morning, Paulette Cooper and your proprietor will be on the hot seat at the Scientology conference in Toronto. Jon Atack has asked us to speak about Paulette’s legendary harassment by the Church of Scientology as a way to discuss the Guardian’s Office and the Office of Special Affairs — the spy wings of the []

Guest post: Five extreme examples of hypocrisy in Scientology’s ‘Freedom’ magazine

Last week went so well, we have another list put together by Underground Bunker contributor Jeffrey Augustine. This time, he takes a look at Scientology’s propaganda magazine, Freedom, which has gone under a transformation lately.

For several years, Freedom only came out every year or so, whenever Scientology leader David Miscavige had another target that needed []

Scientology hit with another federal lawsuit over refunds — but with a twist

A new federal lawsuit was filed this week by former members of the Church of Scientology who are asking the organization to return money that they had put on account. John A. (pictured) and Mary Lou Dettmer of Avon, Indiana are suing Scientology’s Illinois branch after it refused to return $77,810 that the Dettmers had []

One Scientologist is out to teach HBO a lesson for its upcoming documentary

Myles Binford

The last time we checked in on Myles Binford, the Orange County, California businessman was organizing a running race in order to benefit a couple of Scientology’s front groups.

Binford is an OT 8 — the highest step on the Bridge to Total Freedom is Operating Thetan Level Eight, and the people who []

Scientology’s 2014 in review: New lawsuits and a house for sale in August!

With the new year only days away, we’re still looking back at the most significant stories we covered at the Bunker in 2014.

Join us as we look through the best stories of []

Scientology’s 2014 in review: For July, a stunning story of independence

We’re still looking back at the most significant stories we covered here at the Bunker this year as we get ready to welcome in 2015.

Today, we’re looking at the stories of July, and once again we had some real fireworks lighting up the summer.

And wow, what a surprise we had for readers on Independence []

Give Scientology $1,000 and all you’ll get is this lousy T-shirt

We’ve mentioned in the past that Scientology is not finished with its “Mecca” in Clearwater, Florida. Despite the completion of its city-block-sized “Flag Building” (a/k/a “Super Power” building), the church is still raising money for yet another building that will go next door: The L. Ron Hubbard Hall.

For years, Scientology held its big annual Clearwater []