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Scientology Asks for Protection in Texas; ALSO: Lawrence Wright a Finalist for Nat’l Book Award

Scientology doesn't want Monique Rathbun to share information with her husband Marty

Scientology doesn’t want Monique Rathbun to share information with her husband Marty

The next phase of Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against Scientology leader David Miscavige will involve some blockbuster depositions from the likes of actress Leah Remini and former church spokesman Tommy Davis, but for now the two sides are stuck on a question of confidentiality. And surprisingly, Scientology is trying to make an argument it just lost in the same case.

As we reported earlier, Judge Dib Waldrip moved the next hearing in the lawsuit to December 11, giving both sides more time to schedule depositions as they gather evidence to argue over jurisdictional issues. Miscavige has asked to be removed from the suit, saying that he has only a limited role in the church and has had nothing to do with activities in Texas. Monique’s side disagrees, and at the December 11 hearing, both sides will be presenting evidence that should make for another fascinating day in court.

Continue reading Scientology Asks for Protection in Texas; ALSO: Lawrence Wright a Finalist for Nat’l Book Award

SCIENTOLOGY’S FRAUD CONVICTION UPHELD BY FRANCE’S HIGHEST COURT

Scientology in France -- still a fraud

Scientology in France — still a fraud

Our man in Paris, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen, is on the scene and tells us that French media have just reported that Scientology’s fraud conviction has been upheld.

Jonny’s been all over this case for years at his blog, Infinite Complacency, where he had recently put together a four part series of background leading up to this decision. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). He’s also kept a close watch on the prosecution of the church in Belgium, and was one of the first to report on violence at Scientology’s International Base in California.

Continue reading SCIENTOLOGY’S FRAUD CONVICTION UPHELD BY FRANCE’S HIGHEST COURT

Chicago’s On Fire: Jason Beghe and Christian Stolte Send Their Regards to the Bunker

ChicagoFireWith both of them working on the same television series, NBC’s Chicago Fire, we knew it was only a matter of time before two actors who are favorites of readers here at the Underground Bunker got together for a laugh.

We’ve been writing about Jason Beghe since 2008, when he made a very public exit from Scientology. Christian Stolte we got to know more recently when he defended Leah Remini on Twitter and skewered Scientologist celebrities like Kirstie Alley.

In the series, Stolte plays a fire lieutenant, while Beghe plays a cop playing a very complex game of corruption-as-investigative-tool. (You have to watch the show, it’s really something.)

Continue reading Chicago’s On Fire: Jason Beghe and Christian Stolte Send Their Regards to the Bunker

Help Us Decode Leah Remini’s Anti-Scientology Dance From Last Night’s Dancing With The Stars

Leah_Remini_DWTS4If you didn’t catch last night’s Dancing With the Stars on ABC, you really missed something remarkable — interpretive dance on national prime time television!

And it was performed by King of Queens actress Leah Remini, who once again had a giant platform to talk about her experience of walking away from the Church of Scientology. The contestants were asked to describe their “most memorable year” and then make it the inspiration for a dance, and in Leah’s case, it was no surprise that she chose this past year. In fact, it was twelve months ago, in October 2012, when she met with Scientology leader David Miscavige — a rare honor, even for a top Scientology celebrity like Leah — but she reportedly came away more determined than ever to leave Scientology. She then spent several months preparing her family to leave with her, and by July, when we broke the news, she was out for good.

Continue reading Help Us Decode Leah Remini’s Anti-Scientology Dance From Last Night’s Dancing With The Stars

Leah Remini Takes Another [Muffled] Shot At Scientology On DWTS (AND SURVIVES!)

Leah_Remini_DWTS3
 
Tonight’s episode of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars had a theme — contestants were asked to describe their most memorable year, and then turn that story into a dance, or something.

Anyway, during the week, Leah had revealed that this year was her most memorable, and we can imagine why — it’s been a big year for us, too, ever since we broke the news in July that Leah was ditching the Church of Scientology. “You can’t let anybody dictate to you how you should live,” Leah said in tonight’s preview, and so we prepared for another unloading on Tom Cruise’s weird church.

Continue reading Leah Remini Takes Another [Muffled] Shot At Scientology On DWTS (AND SURVIVES!)

Scientology Payback: Revenge of the Videographers

Bert Leahy

Bert Leahy

We’ve told you Bert Leahy’s story before. He was the Texas freelance videographer who worked briefly for Scientology’s “Squirrel Busters” caper, helping to snoop on Marty and Monique Rathbun in 2011, before his conscience got the better of him.

Bert soon realized that working for “Dave Statter” wasn’t really the documentary project he thought he was working on — he and his fellow Squirrel Busters were obviously just stalking the Rathbuns, and had been told, in Statter’s words, to “Make Marty’s life a living hell.”

Leahy quit after a couple of days, and then felt so lousy about taking part in something so nefarious, he contacted Rathbun to apologize. That’s when, after talking to Rathbun, the two of them realized that “Statter” was really Scientology private investigator Dave Lubow.

Continue reading Scientology Payback: Revenge of the Videographers

Sunday Special: Remembering Some People Who Mattered

NFDetailThe last couple of weeks have been very intense here at the Underground Bunker — culminating in Friday’s devastating release of Laura DeCrescenzo’s “pc files” and the picture of Sea Org slavery that they portray.

On Sundays, we like to relax a bit by enjoying the wacky Scientology mailers that our tipsters have forwarded during the week. This time, however, we have something a little different for you.

We asked Observer, our shoop expert, to put together an image that came to us recently as the comments section here at the Bunker went through a few days with more agita than usual. We are very fortunate to have such an intelligent discussion happening here, with many great regulars. But like any Internet forum, things can get a bit wild and woolly. For some reason, as things got heated, an image came into focus of the folks who might be keeping a close watch on the news we break here at the Bunker, as well as the many great contributions by our readers. And here’s what we asked Observer to create for us.

 
Continue reading Sunday Special: Remembering Some People Who Mattered

HOW SCIENTOLOGY COERCED A CHILD TO HAVE AN ABORTION: THE LAURA DECRESCENZO FILES

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In anticipation of her biggest day in court yet, Laura DeCrescenzo and her attorneys hit the Church of Scientology with 928 pages of new filings

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Details from 18,000 pages of evidence show how Scientology manipulated a child to keep her working under slave-like conditions

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A key document describing DeCrescenzo’s unwillingness to have her coerced abortion is missing from the evidence Scientology was ordered to produce

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Laura DeCrescenzo in the Sea Org the year of her abortion, 1996

Laura DeCrescenzo in the Sea Org the year of her abortion, 1996

 
By Tony Ortega

Wednesday afternoon, Laura DeCrescenzo filed explosive new information in her four-year legal odyssey against the Church of Scientology, submitting 928 pages of new declarations and exhibits in anticipation of a crucial October 23 hearing in her lawsuit against the church which alleges abuse, including allegations that she was forced to have an abortion at only 17 years of age.

Continue reading HOW SCIENTOLOGY COERCED A CHILD TO HAVE AN ABORTION: THE LAURA DECRESCENZO FILES

OOPS: Government Shutdown Stalls EEOC Lawsuit Against Miami Scientology Chiropractor

Dennis_Nobbe3File this under the WTF? department: You may remember a story we published in May about a Miami Chiropractor named Dennis Nobbe (right). His practice, Dynamic Medical Services, Inc., was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the complaints of four named employees who said that Dynamic forced them to take Scientology courses as part of their jobs.

In fact, Nobbe ran his own Scientology academy, and we heard from past employees who said that for many years, taking courses at the academy was a big part of working at the chiropractic business.

We were told by an EEOC attorney that it was unusual for a lawsuit to be filed, an indication that settlement talks had been fruitless. And now, we’ve learned that settlement discussions have broken down again — but it’s those lunatics in Congress that are at fault this time!

Continue reading OOPS: Government Shutdown Stalls EEOC Lawsuit Against Miami Scientology Chiropractor

Anonymous and Craigslist: Proof that Scientology Knows It’s Under Attack

CraigslistWe’ve been meaning to come back to the subject of Scientology and Craigslist since our story of September 22 seemed to kick off some interesting and frenetic activity in that sector.

Since 2009, folks at Project Chanology, the Anonymous collective that watches Scientology like a hawk, have been making efforts to curb the church’s use of deceptive ads at Craigslist. This “Clear Craig” program was coordinated at WhyWeProtest.net, but had slowed down in recent months, as one would expect after several years of effort.

Then, a reader sent us a previously secret manual that Scientology was using to train its “cyber dissemination” people to post ads on Craigslist from locations around the country.

And that’s when things got interesting.

Continue reading Anonymous and Craigslist: Proof that Scientology Knows It’s Under Attack