We’ve been telling you that one of the issues facing Valeska Paris and Gawain and Laura Baxter in their labor trafficking lawsuit against Scientology is that the church doesn’t allow a transcript to be taken during its “religious arbitration.” And so when there is disagreement over what happened in the room, there’s no record to point to.

So yesterday, Valeska and the Baxters asked Tampa federal Judge Thomas Barber to allow oral arguments and an evidentiary hearing to determine who is telling the truth about the arbitration, which lasted for 15 days until the plaintiffs walked away from it on February 9, calling it a legal farce.

Scientology disagrees, saying the arbitration was a professional proceeding. But who’s telling the truth? An evidentiary hearing, with sworn testimony, could get to the bottom of it, the former Sea Org workers argued.

But the same day, Judge Barber denied the request for oral arguments or an evidentiary hearing. If he needs more information from either side, he said, he will ask for supplemental reports and determine later if a hearing is warranted.

Wow, was Judge Barber quick on the trigger. He is obviously watching this case very closely, and denied the request for an evidentiary hearing right away.

But how will he rule on the motion to reconsider by Valeska and Baxters, after they went through an arbitration that they said was intimidating and even frightening?

This is the lawsuit filed in Tampa, Florida in April 2022 that alleges years of abuse aboard Scientology’s cruise ship, the Freewinds, as the Baxters and Valeska say they worked as virtual slaves as children and adults. Judge Barber ruled that contracts signed while they were Scientologists obliged them to seek arbitration rather than to sue in court. The plaintiffs have previously asked the judge to reconsider his ruling, which he denied in 2024.

At that point, the plaintiffs had little choice but to go through with the arbitration, which required them to ask Scientology’s International Justice Chief, Mike Ellis, to make the arbitration happen.

Only three lawsuits in Scientology history have resulted in court-ordered arbitrations. The Garcia lawsuit resulted in an arbitration that lasted only a single afternoon in 2017. Valerie Haney’s 2019 lawsuit was the second case, and last November she completed 15 days of arbitrating that have taken place over a three-year period. She and her attorneys have alleged that it has taken that long because the arbitrating panel — made up of three current Scientologists — is wasting time and harassing Valerie with a lot of irrelevant questioning.

And now we’ve learned that Valeska Paris and the Baxters have also been put through 15 days of arbitration, which took place over three weeks at the Atrium, a Scientology-owned office tower in Clearwater, Florida. The proceeding was scheduled to continue on the morning of Monday, February 9. The arbitrating panel was there, and so were Scientology’s attorneys, but Valeska and the Baxters and their attorneys simply didn’t show up. Mike Ellis, the IJC, then sent them a sternly worded letter letting them know the arbitration has not been completed and remains open.

Valeska and the Baxters want Judge Barber to step in at this point, asking him to reconsider his ruling to force them into a proceeding they say was highly unprofessional and intimidating. Like with Valerie Haney, they weren’t allowed to have their attorneys with them, no transcript was kept, and they say the arbitrating panel (made up of Scientologists) is wasting time with a lot of irrelevant material.

Scientology counters that the plaintiffs aren’t telling the truth, and that the proceeding was professional but takes a lot of time because there’s so much evidence to hear in regards to claims made by the Valeska and the Baxters that runs to 150 pages of allegations. In a declaration by Peter Mansell, the longtime Sea Org official said the arbitration was probably only a few more days from finishing.

Our appellate attorney expert, TX Lawyer, had predicted that the plaintiffs would ask for an evidentiary hearing, but that Judge Barber may end up agreeing with Scientology that his hands are still tied at this point as long as the arbitration hasn’t been completed and the plaintiffs may have to go back and get it done. However, he did point out that Judge Barber could hold Mansell and the Scientologists to their statement that the proceeding was almost finished, and tell them they have to wrap it up.

That may be the best outcome for the plaintiffs at this point. If the judge can compel Scientology to finally finish this thing, it will then give Valeska and the Baxters the opportunity to appeal to a higher court, which is really where they want to get to.

Sure, it’s disappointing that we won’t get an evidentiary hearing — we would have loved to see arbitrator Cathy Fraser have to testify in federal court. But who knows, maybe eventually she still may.

Bonus items from our tipsters

Meanwhile, from the new Ideal Org in Puerto Rico…

I joined staff because I wanted to be part of the team that would Clear the planet. I had been on the sidelines too long. I had made the computation that if I just donated money, I didn’t need to do anything else. But I was selling myself short because my REAL PURPOSE is to help people. This is the best way in the entire universe to do that!

Come join me!

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

For more than a year now, we’ve been pointing out the way wealthy Scientologists have taken up positions of influence with the current White House gang. Figures like Trish Duggan (the wealthiest of all Scientology donors), John P. Coale, and Grant and Elena Cardone, all have connections to the president.

We also pointed out that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a longtime relationship with a couple of OT Scientologist attorneys who, with Kennedy’s help, have crusaded against vaccines like Gardasil in litigation. In fact, when Kennedy was going through confirmation hearings, it was one of the biggest issues raised by his detractors: Would he continue to take money from those cases while he was at HHS.

Now, more than a year into his tenure, Kennedy this week announced a program to scale back the prescribing of antidepressants, which also happens to be one of Scientology’s most longtime and cherished goals.

Scientology operates numerous front groups that play down their connections to the church while promoting the “genius” of founder L. Ron Hubbard. But among the front groups, Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) is the most rabid and unhinged about its goals: To eradicate the psychiatric profession.

We’ve documented over the years how CCHR, despite being more open than other front groups about how it’s forwarding Scientology’s goals, on occasion finds politicians and even medical professionals to help push its agendas. And in the HHS effort against antidepressants the White House will no doubt find advocates who will couch this as a reasoned and healthy debate.

But what we always try to remind people is that CCHR really isn’t interested in a healthy debate. Its actual goal, as we said, is to completely eradicate psychiatry from the planet. (Hubbard claimed that psychiatrists, who originate from the planet Farsec, have been booby-trapping human minds for trillions of years — yes, that’s trillions with a T.)

So what does Scientology imagine it will offer in place of the mental health profession once it achieves its goals?

Well, we got a nice reminder of that this week in the latest email from the very eager new Ideal Org in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Iliamar and Angel are ready to start their next step up the Bridge, the Survival Rundown! They are taking their next step to make LRH’s dearest island, his Clearest island.

YOUR next step is waiting for you RIGHT NOW at the Church of Scientology Puerto Rico. We are thrilled to announce that public can come into the Org TODAY and begin their Survival Rundown!

On the Purification Rundown, you purified your body. Now you are ready for your next step: gaining control of it. On the Survival Rundown, you will do just that.

The truth is most people go through life with only about 25% of their awareness in the present. What about the other 75%? It’s usually stuck in countless past moments. With so much attention focused in the past, it’s no surprise that accidents happen, poor decisions are made, anxieties abound and thoughts race out of control. This influence from the past can inhibit your ability to handle and control your present environment. The Survival Rundown bring you to 100% awareness- survival at an entirely new level.

This is YOUR moment. This is OUR island’s moment.

Don’t let another day go by. Walk through our doors, sit in the chair, and start moving. The wins are real, the gains are lasting, and our staff are here and ready to help you every step of the way.

That’s a pretty story, isn’t it. But what really grabbed our attention was the image of the two of them standing in front of a wall decoration at the new Ideal Org which celebrates Scientology “objective processes,” and in particular the book-and-bottle routine. (Look closely and you can see that’s a bottle on one table and a book on the other.)

Oh wow, they have literally enshrined on the wall one of the most batshit crazy things about Scientology and the alternatives it imagines it can substitute for the mental health profession.

We first learned about the lunacy of the book-and-bottle routines from Marc Headley, way back in 2009 when his book Blown for Good was first coming out. He described in the book that it was Tom Cruise himself who had led a young Marc through these routines, but he didn’t really describe what they were. So we asked him to tell us.

“You do a lot of things with a book and a bottle,” Headley says. “It’s known as the book-and-bottle routine.” Cruise, he says, would instruct Headley to speak to a book, telling it to stand up, or to sit down, or otherwise to move somewhere.

“You do the same with the bottle. You talk to it. You do it with an ashtray too,” he says. “You tell the ashtray, ‘Sit in that chair.’ Then you actually go over and put the ashtray on the chair. Then you tell the ashtray, ‘Thank you.’ Then you do the same thing with the bottle, and the book. And you do this for hours and hours.”

Let us get this straight. Tom Cruise, who had already starred in Risky Business and Top Gun and Born on the Fourth of July and Days of Thunder, the man who, at the time, was 28 years old and perhaps the biggest movie star in the world, spent hours and hours of each day, for three straight weeks, instructing Headley to speak to inanimate objects, requesting that they get up and move on their own, and when they didn’t, told Headley to move them anyway, and then thank them?

“For hours and hours,” Headley says.

In God’s name, why?

“It was to get your intention over to the bottle.”

Your what?

“It was supposed to rehabilitate your ability to control things. And to be controlled,” he says.

And there was more. It involved doorknobs.

“Tom would ask me to find a place in the room that I could easily communicate to. I was supposed to look around the room, and then tell him the place I had picked out. I might say, ‘the doorknob.’ And he’d tell me to go over there and touch it. And then he’d say, ‘OK. Now do it again with another place.’”

Headley says that after a couple of weeks, he did begin to wonder about trying to make objects move by talking to them. But this was Tom Cruise, and not someone you would question.

That was part of why Headley had been chosen. He was young and green, and had few contacts outside the base.

“It couldn’t be someone who might run off the next day and tell the National Enquirer that Tom Cruise was telling me to talk to a bottle for the last three weeks,” he says.

We also heard from others that the “objective processes” that the book-and-bottle routine are part of can be incredibly grueling.

Here’s an account of what one Scientologist told us the experience is like.

The amount of time on Survival Rundown ends up equaling hundreds of hours. You are expected to do 25 hours a week on SRD, so you and your twin each get an intensive a week. I work a 40-hour job, and doing 25 hours at the org is very difficult.

I have had to abandon everything in my life to do the 25 hours on the rundown. I don’t have hobbies anymore, I don’t see friends, I don’t drink, I don’t have a spouse nor am I dating, I don’t see my family, I don’t go to the gym or exercise.

Every twinship I know is taking a year to complete, in some cases over a year. Only one that I know of took less than a year and in that case, it took between 7 to 9 months, and those are people who have done Objectives before.

I can personally vouch for being run and run and run on processes. I have also had to run, run, run my twin. Once, on a process he had a full blown panic attack and I had to acknowledge and keep going.

I personally have felt crazy, insane, not sleeping, waking up in the middle of the night crying, waking up in the middle of the night enraged slamming and punching my pillows. This is NOT normal behavior for me. I’ve been unable to focus or think at work for days in a row. This is not normal for me.

Sounds great, right? That is what Scientology expects it can offer someday to the rest of us after it achieves its goal and destroys the mental health profession.

So, Scientology will be celebrating that the White House itself is now pushing the same agenda, to attack the prescribing of antidepressants.

Sure, it will be couched in a way that makes it sound reasonable, just to curb the worst excesses of “overprescribing.”

But once again, this White House is aligned with Scientology in a way that must make church leader David Miscavige wonder how long he can keep up his current streak of good luck.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

While we’ve seen no evidence that Scientology has been able to climb out of its struggles with recruitment and staffing, at the same time we have seen plenty of evidence that church leader David Miscavige is pushing hard to counter that bad news with major pushes in two directions: New buildings, and a new heavy focus on kids.

The children of existing Scientologists, that is, who are the focus of the “Golden Age for a New Generation,” a set of new books and courses that are aimed at indoctrinating a new crop of youngsters into the way of Scientology thought.

We saw Tom Cruise and John Travolta giving church leader David Miscavige a standing ovation on March 14, the night he revealed the new initiative.

We saw the books themselves, which Sea Org members are reportedly trying to get into major chain stores.

We saw Scientology staffers ecstatic about the new books arriving.

We started to see the success stories coming in from kids themselves.

And we’ve also seen the way that parents are getting the pressure to get involved.

Well, you know Dave. If there’s one thing he wants when it comes to his initiatives, it’s flashy PR to show off at a future event. And here’s great proof of it, a photoshoot that took place last week at the Flag Land Base in Clearwater. We can’t wait to see the images that come from this session!

This announcement was accompanied with the photo you see above.

Attention-attention-attention!

Exciting photoshoot for all parents and children on the next generation courses.

It is being asked that we do a huge photoshoot for all the kids that are actively on the next generation courses or have finished the entire line up. This means a minimum of 200 kids.

This will be Sunday, May 3rd at 10am in the Flag building.

But there’s more...

It is also wanted that we get a shot of ALL parents that are actively training and/or auditing!!!

We want a massive photoshoot that will be sent all around the world to inspire hundreds of parents to move up the training and auditing side.

Flag has the largest number of concentrated parents and families that are actively moving up the Bridge than any other place on earth — AND WE WANT TO SHOW OFF!!!!

Let’s show up in large numbers Sunday morning. The shoot takes place exactly at 10am, so arrive at 9:45am please.

Dress nicely. This photo is going to be used all over the world.

For the kids, please bring any certificates you have for them (at least) one, framed or not.

For parents, Flag will supply us with packs. If you are a trained auditor, wear your Trained Auditor jacket.

Let’s do this! See you there, bright eyed, bushy tailed with make up and nice clothes.

I appreciate your support.

PS: For any kids not yet on the courses there IS still the Scn Kids Seminar run by Rebecca Stickles also at 10am.

Speaking of Clearwater, a reader sent along this posting at Facebook, with this comment…

“In Clearwater, where Scientology maintains a dense residential and organizational footprint, living arrangements for members are not always a simple matter of personal choice. Those who wish to move out of church-run accommodations and live ‘off-base’ are reportedly required to seek approval before doing so. Yes, independence must be applied for, reviewed, and granted, as if it were a limited-edition privilege.”

Also at Facebook, a Scientologist helpfully pointed out that there’s a free Tone Scale app put out by Sterling Management, the Scientology front group, something we didn’t know was available.

The Tone Scale was discovered and delineated in L. Ron Hubbard’s works and is a major break through in the field of human interaction and prediction of behavior.

Sterling is licensed to deliver Mr. Hubbard’s administrative technology to its clients. Application of this technology has been the key factor underlying many of our clients’ success and prosperity.

The Attitude App was created by Kevin Wilson for Sterling clientele, their staff and especially for their children as an introduction to the Tone Scale. Both adults and children can benefit from this app.

The Tone Scale is a scale of emotions (Enthusiasm, Strong Interest, Apathy, Grief, Fear, etc. — there are about sixty emotional tones on the full scale). For this app, we have chosen a number of these tones and have provided educational material as well as real-life demonstrations for each one. Reading the information provided about the tone can give one an understanding of how an individual at that tone will act and what he might say.

This is a vital and indispensable tool for interaction between staff and clients, family members and people in general.

Before releasing this app, Sterling received the required authorization and permissions regarding use of L. Ron Hubbard’s copyrighted material.

And finally, one more item passed along to us from our wonderful helpers. Another report from the new Ideal Org in Puerto Rico!

Luna is taking her first stop up the Bridge, she just enrolled on the Purification Rundown!

Every day, our bodies are exposed to toxins from the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the environment around us. Over time, these substances can weigh us down mentally and physically, holding us back from living at our full potential.

The Purification Rundown is a carefully designed program that helps your body eliminate accumulated toxins through a combination of exercise, sauna therapy, and nutritional support giving you a clean slate from the inside out.

Whether you’re just starting your journey or having to do it again, our Purification staff are here to support you.

Take the first step toward a cleaner, healthier, more vibrant you.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

One of the things Leah Remini has done so effectively in her lawsuit against the Church of Scientology is detail how the organization uses a network of social media accounts to smear her and others who dare to speak up about the church’s abuses.

But even in Leah’s court documents, it’s only assumed that Scientology recruits an army of volunteers to run those accounts and to post smears relentlessly against her.

Now, we have actual video evidence showing Scientology doing just that.

Alex Barnes-Ross sent us a video made by his former friend and fellow London Scientology staffer, Charlie Wakley, giving a “masterclass” in how his volunteers should create and populate accounts at TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube in order to spread hate against Leah and others.

You can watch along as he explains how to do it!

It’s amazing evidence of what we have always assumed was going on.

Watch the video, and then read Alex’s comments about it.

Ahh, Charlie.

This is funny on so many levels. First, the social media strategy in itself is exactly the same as the one I first developed back when I was on staff. Although we didn’t have TikTok then, the concept was the same: Create multiple accounts, post frequently, and swarm social media with Scientology content. For us, it was Twitter, and I remember setting up ‘Find My Stress,’ ‘Dianetics London,’ and several other accounts to post LRH quotes, photos of staff, and success stories. And now here we are over 10 years later and Charlie is still using the plan I created. Cute.

Secondly, we now know who’s behind the STAND League London account. It has only posted a handful of videos since it was created, and I suspect this is due to OSA demanding full control over these types of accounts, but it was eye opening to see just how active my former Org is in the Fair Game campaigns against us critics.

But perhaps most amusing of all is the little details that will probably be missed by most. At the very beginning, you can see a glimpse of his recent text conversations and the first one says “was there not a document [..] being a cult”

When he opens up YouTube, you can clearly see ‘Alex’ and ‘Joy Villa’ as recent searches… and then of course, when he searches for STAND League Scientology, it produces one of my videos and a bunch of content produced by ex-Scientologists. I don’t think Charlie realizes that YouTube search results are personalized based on your own watch history.

We now also know that Charlie is recommending staff members use AI to write captions and edit videos. Lazy.

But perhaps the best part was when he tries to upgrade his Opus Clips account and his card gets declined for insufficient funds. You’ve got to laugh.

Well, thanks for putting a smile on my face, Charlie. You may now think of me as an enemy, but I still consider you a friend and I will be there for you when you wake up.

— Alex Barnes-Ross

Mark Bunker on Scientology’s new moves in Clearwater!

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

Earlier, we showed you the sworn declarations of Valeska Paris, and Gawain and Laura Baxter, about the aborted “religious arbitration” they were forced into which took place in January in Clearwater.

The three of them are former Sea Org workers who tried to sue Scientology over what they say were years of virtual slavery aboard the church’s cruise ship, the Freewinds. But federal Judge Thomas Barber (reluctantly) agreed with Scientology that contracts the three had signed obliged them not to sue but to submit to the church’s internal version of arbitration, which Scientology entirely controls.

After 15 days of the proceedings, which Valeska and the Baxters, as well as their expert witness, Dr. Chitra Raghavan, said were one-sided, unfair, intimidating and even frightening, they refused to go any further. They are now asking Judge Barber to reconsider his decision to force them into such an unprofessional farce that in no way resembles a legitimate legal proceeding.

However, something we’ve long pointed out is that Scientology very cleverly not only doesn’t allow the claimants to have their attorneys with them in the room, they also don’t allow recording devices or a transcript to be kept. So, as we’ve seen in this case and others, Scientology can tell the court that what the claimants are saying simply isn’t the truth.

And in fact, in this case, they submitted a lengthy affidavit from a Scientologist who was in the room. Longtime Sea Org official Peter Mansell was there representing one of the defendant organizations, the Flag Service Organization, which runs the Flag Land Base. We thought you’d want to see his version of what happened. And put yourself in Judge Barber’s place. He has no transcript to look at to assess who’s telling the truth. How do you think he will size up this statement in contrast to what we’ve seen from the others?

Peter Mansell hereby states and declares as follows:

1. I am over 18 years of age and am competent to testify as to the facts contained herein.

2. I have served as a member of the Sea Organization, the religious order of the Church of Scientology, for more than three decades. Throughout that time, I have worked as a paralegal in the Church’s legal department.

3. I served as the corporate representative for the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization (”FSO”) at all times during the religious arbitration of Plaintiffs’ claims, which began on January 19, 2026.

4. Each of the corporate Defendants had a representative present during the religious arbitration.

The Initiation of the Arbitration Proceeding

5. On November 15, 2024, Plaintiffs submitted their Statement of Claim (the “SOC”) to commence arbitration. Plaintiffs’ SOC contains seven counts and is 150 pages in length.

6. Before arbitration began, Plaintiffs participated in selecting the panel of religious arbitrators.

7. Plaintiffs nominated the first arbitrator, Defendants nominated the second, and those arbitrators then nominated the third.

8. On the first day of the arbitration, January 19, 2026, the Chair of the panel (the “Chair”) spent much of the day explaining the procedures to be followed in the arbitration, answering Plaintiffs’ questions and receiving Plaintiffs’ exhibits.

9. The Chair explained that consistent with the arbitration agreements Plaintiffs signed, the arbitration would be governed by Scientology Ethics and Justice procedures. The Chair further explained that the purpose of the proceeding was to get to the truth and decide the claims in a fair and equitable manner, that all parties were expected to be truthful, and that the proceeding could hear any dispute, claim, or controversy. The truth-seeking purpose of Scientology Ethics and Justice procedures is established in the writings of L. Ron Hubbard, the Founder of Scientology.

10. All parties indicated they understood the procedures.

11. The Chair asked Plaintiffs to identify their witnesses and their witnesses’ availability. Plaintiffs provided the names or roles of their expert witnesses and their available dates. No witnesses were called on Day 1 (January 19, 2026).

12. Plaintiffs each gave opening statements. Plaintiffs provided a binder containing their exhibits to each of the three arbitrators and one binder for the defense representatives, along with additional documents including expert declarations and reports. Plaintiffs also submitted an expert report stating that they were seeking $845,000,000 ($845 million) in damages, broken down as follows: Gawain Baxter: $303,710,911; Laura Baxter: $166,207,739; and Valeska Paris: $375,608,265.

13. Plaintiffs took extensive notes of Defendants’ statements and were given access to those statements over several days to complete their notes. Plaintiffs took their notes of the arbitration outside of the arbitration room during their breaks and when they left each day.

14. On January 20 and 21, 2026, the Chair repeated the procedures to be followed and offered to provide the full body of Scientology Ethics and Justice materials for Plaintiffs’ review. Plaintiffs declined each time.

The Presentation of Evidence

15. The proceedings were conducted over 15 days, approximately eight hours per day, with breaks as needed and as requested by Plaintiffs.

16. An independent, non-Scientology security firm was retained to handle security measures. The arbitrators, defense representatives, and Plaintiffs were all screened by the security firm before entering the arbitration room to ensure no recording devices were brought into the arbitration room. All individuals were treated in the same manner by security.

17. The Chair conducted the questioning of the witnesses who testified.

18. The Chair asked witnesses questions on behalf of the panel and questions submitted by the parties. All parties were treated in the same manner by the Chair throughout the arbitration.

19. The Chair asked over 150 questions on Plaintiffs’ behalf over the course of the proceedings. Approximately 10 questions posed by Plaintiffs were declined as not relevant by the Chair over the course of the proceedings.

20. 35 witnesses have testified during the proceedings to date on matters relating to Plaintiffs’ claims, including Plaintiffs’ expert witness, Dr. Chitra Raghavan, who testified in person for most of the day.

21. Plaintiffs submitted written reports and declarations from three additional expert witnesses who did not attend the arbitration even though the panel indicated they would be permitted to testify and asked Plaintiffs to schedule their testimony.

22. To date, close to 250 exhibits have been entered by Defendants, and 135 exhibits have been entered by Plaintiffs.

23. The exhibits include documentary evidence, photographs, video evidence, correspondence, and documents Plaintiffs selected from the review of their own Ethics files during the proceedings.

24. Plaintiffs were provided ample opportunity to review all evidence and to make notes of the evidence.

25. At the outset of the arbitration, Plaintiffs were provided copies of the corporate Defendants’ responses to the SOC, which addressed Plaintiffs’ claims, including their allegations of duress, human trafficking under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (”TVPRA”), forced labor, and peonage. Plaintiffs talked amongst themselves and took notes while reviewing those responses. In addition, extensive testimony and documentary evidence were presented in relation to those claims during the arbitration.

26. The panel conducted itself professionally and was courteous to all parties, treating Plaintiffs and Defendants equally and respectfully. I never observed the arbitrators display any animosity toward the Plaintiffs and at no time did the arbitrators yell at Plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs’ Consultation of Attorneys

27. There were no attorneys for any of the parties in the arbitration room at any point during the proceedings.

28. Throughout the proceedings, Plaintiffs took more than 50 breaks, during which they had the opportunity to speak with their attorneys.

29. On multiple occasions across multiple days, Plaintiffs returned from consulting with their attorneys and read prepared written statements to the panel. These statements contained legal arguments, legal citations, and legal terminology.

30. On Day 14 (February 5, 2026), when the Chair indicated she wanted to question Plaintiffs individually, they took a break for over three hours to consult with their attorneys. When Plaintiffs returned, they read a multi-page prepared statement to the panel, refusing to be questioned separately. The panel then continued the proceeding with all parties present.

The Application of the Law

31. I reviewed Plaintiffs’ Exhibits 24A-D to their Motion for Reconsideration, which purportedly include Plaintiffs’ notes taken on January 19 and 23, 2026, during the first days of the arbitration. I distinctly recall that the panel explained, consistent with the parties’ agreements, that the arbitration would be governed by Scientology Ethics and Justice procedures and that it was religious arbitration, not a secular courtroom proceeding. The discussion concerned the procedures by which the arbitration would be conducted. Moreover, I recall the panel stating they would consider and address all Plaintiffs’ claims.

32. At no point did the Chair or any member of the panel say they would not consider or apply state or federal law, such as the TVPRA.

33. I always understood that the panel would consider and apply the law when it deliberated and reached its findings. The SOC specifically asserted claims under the TVPRA and related theories, and the corporate Defendants’ written responses, witness testimony and documentary evidence addressed those claims. The Chair also assured Plaintiffs several times that she had read and was familiar with their claims and that the panel fully intended to consider all evidence relevant to those claims.

Sealed Proceedings & No Ex Parte Communications

34. During breaks from the arbitration proceeding, including breaks to eat lunch, Plaintiffs and corporate representatives were separated from the arbitrators.

35. The arbitrators had their own room at the front end of the suite. Defendants’ representatives had a separate room at the other end of the suite, about 50 feet away. Plaintiffs and their attorneys had their own separate rooms.

36. The parties were not permitted to take anything out of the arbitration room except their own notes.

37. In the arbitration room, Defendants’ representatives had only our notepads and the binder that Plaintiffs provided to us on Day 1.

The Duration of the Arbitration Proceeding

38. On Day 1 (Monday, January 19, 2026), at the commencement of the arbitration, the Chair said the arbitration will take as long as necessary to ensure that all relevant evidence is reviewed and all necessary testimony is heard. Specifically, both parties will be given a full and complete opportunity to present all facts and evidence so that the arbitration can determine the truth of the matter.

39. On Day 8 (Wednesday, January 28, 2026), after Plaintiffs’ expert Dr. Chitra Raghavan testified, Paris announced that Plaintiffs were resting their case. The Chair responded that there was evidence from the Defendants that had to be presented and reviewed and Defendants’ witnesses that needed to be heard.

40. On Day 9 (Thursday, January 29, 2026), at the beginning of the day, the Chair stated, in substance, as follows:

a. There remained substantial evidence to review, including hundreds of documents and several witnesses.

b. Based on what had been covered so far, a fair estimate was that the arbitration would not be finished until the end of the following week.

c. The parties were being advised so they could make necessary arrangements.

d. The Plaintiffs had been informed at the outset that the arbitration would take as long as necessary to complete a full review of the evidence and testimony.

e. The arbitrators intended to proceed and complete the arbitration rather than stopping midstream, the Plaintiffs departing, and then requiring everyone to return at a later date.

f. The panel had no interest in taking one minute longer than necessary to complete the arbitration.

g. The panel had accepted the responsibility of conducting the arbitration and was committed to doing it properly, thoroughly, and completely, no matter how long it would take.

h. Everyone needed to be present in person for the presentation of all evidence.

41. At the end of Day 9 (Thursday, January 29, 2026), Paris stated the Plaintiffs would remain through the next week, but only if there was a guarantee that the arbitration would be completed by then (February 6, 2026). She requested Plaintiffs be given that confirmation the next morning (Day 10, Friday, January 30, 2026).

42. On Day 10 (Friday, January 30, 2026), the first thing the Chair took up was Plaintiffs’ request for a confirmation that the arbitration would conclude by February 6.

43. The Chair stated the panel could not guarantee that the arbitration would be completed by Friday, February 6, 2026. The Chair reiterated:

a. The Panel estimated the arbitration would continue through the end of the following week and had no interest in taking one minute longer than necessary.

b. The arbitration required the parties’ in person participation.

c. The Plaintiffs had the ability to ask any questions they wished and knew the Defendants had the same right. Plaintiffs had also suggested that testimony be taken by affidavit or remotely. The Chair stated that in a Scientology Justice proceeding testimony is taken in person and the parties have the right to confront and question the evidence and testimony presented.

d. The Plaintiffs had indicated they rested their case, but there remained additional evidence that was part of the Defendants’ case which had to be reviewed, and Defendants had key witnesses who needed to be heard.

e. The panel was committed to completing the arbitration during the Plaintiffs’ time in the United States so they would not have to return at a later date.

44. The Chair further reiterated that the panel could not predict what may arise as new evidence was presented and further witnesses were heard, and that the arbitration would not be concluded until all evidence was reviewed and all testimony heard. The Chair reminded Plaintiffs that they had been informed of this multiple times, including by the International Justice Chief as early as April 4, 2025, and that it was reiterated again at the outset of the arbitration proceedings. The Chair then continued the arbitration proceedings.

45. On Day 11 (Monday, February 2, 2026), Gawain Baxter stated he and Laura Baxter wanted to review their Ethics files. Therefore, the Plaintiffs’ case was reopened and two entire days — Day 11 (Monday, February 2, 2026) and Day 12 (Tuesday, February 3, 2026) — were spent reviewing Plaintiffs’ Ethics files. Plaintiffs asked that numerous documents from the files be added to the evidence they submitted. This was despite the fact Plaintiffs had indicated they had already rested their case and despite the fact the Baxters had known since at least Friday, January 23, 2026, that their Ethics files were available should they wish to review them, but had previously declined to do so.

46. On Day 14 (Thursday, February 5, 2026), Plaintiffs took a break during the arbitration for more than three hours to consult with their attorneys.

47. On Day 15 (Friday, February 6, 2026), at the beginning of the day, the Chair addressed the schedule and completion of the arbitration. The Chair reiterated that all parties had been informed from the outset that the arbitration would take as long as necessary to ensure that all relevant evidence was reviewed and all necessary testimony was heard, and that the panel could not predict what may arise as new evidence was presented and further witnesses were heard. The Chair then stated:

a. This had proven true during the course of the week.

b. By way of example, at Plaintiffs’ request, they were provided the opportunity to review their Ethics files, which required two full days, and Plaintiffs also took a break of more than three hours to confer with their attorneys.

c. Those were matters Plaintiffs were entitled to take up, and the panel did not hold any of it against them, but merely reflecting that developments arise during an arbitration that cannot be predicted in advance and that necessarily affect timing.

d. There remained additional evidence that must be reviewed and key witnesses that must be heard, including questions to be asked of Plaintiffs. Based on what had been covered thus far, and what remained, the panel could not and would not provide a guarantee as to a specific completion date.

e. The length of the proceedings was a function of the scope and volume of matters Plaintiffs had raised and the issues that arise in addressing them fully, and that the panel was proceeding diligently and without delay.

48. The Plaintiffs appeared to note down what the Chair said and did not object or disagree. The arbitration then proceeded. At the end of the day the Chair told all parties that the arbitration would reconvene on Monday, February 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. The Chair repeated what she had told the parties at the start of the day. The Chair further reiterated that the proceeding required the parties’ in person participation, including the ability to question witnesses face-to-face and review evidence directly. The Plaintiffs were told by the Chair that, consistent with what had previously been stated to them, if at any time they made themselves unavailable before the arbitration concluded, the arbitration would remain open until such time as it could be concluded in person, in Clearwater. The Chair reiterated that the panel would see them at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, February 9. The Plaintiffs left without any further comment.

49. As of Friday, February 6, the key witnesses for Defendants still needed to testify. At no point did Plaintiffs object to or dispute that Defendants had more evidence and additional key witnesses to present.

50. It was my impression that the proceedings could likely have been concluded during the week beginning February 9, 2026.

51. At no point did the Chair indicate that the proceedings would continue indefinitely.

52. Each of the corporate representatives participating in the arbitration had ongoing duties and responsibilities which they set aside in order to be present for the proceedings. Several of the representatives traveled to Clearwater for that purpose and remained available throughout the arbitration with the understanding that the proceeding would continue through to completion in person. The representatives were present while Plaintiffs presented their claims, evidence, and witnesses. As of February 6, 2026, Defendants had not yet completed the presentation of their evidence and principal witnesses. Defendants remained prepared to proceed and complete the arbitration. When Plaintiffs did not return to continue the arbitration, Defendants were not able to present their remaining evidence and principal witnesses.

Abandonment of Arbitration

53. On February 6, 2026, the final day Plaintiffs were present, the Chair stated that the proceedings would continue Monday, February 9, 2026 at 10:00 a.m.

54. On Monday, February 9, 2026, the arbitrators, all defense representatives, independent security personnel, and defense counsel appeared at the arbitration venue. Plaintiffs did not appear.

55. Plaintiffs did not return on February 10, 2026, or on any date thereafter.

56. The arbitration is not complete. Defendants remain ready to complete the arbitration.

Under penalty of perjury and the laws of the United States, I declare that I have read the foregoing Declaration of Peter Mansell. The declaration is true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Executed in Clearwater, Florida.

Dated: April 23, 2026

Peter Mansell

Now available, for the discerning Scientology-watcher!

Wow, a new book from Chris Shelton and a new documentary from Geoff Levin, and both out at the same time! Go here to see Chris’s new book that explores what it’s like to cope after leaving a group like Scientology. And go here to see Geoff’s fascinating documentary about two brothers torn apart by this nefarious group.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

Once again we discussed the week’s revelations with our gang of jokers and degraders.

It’s all the enturbulation you could want!

— The Proprietor

Read more

A big thank you to Alex Barnes-Ross for sending over the flier that Scientology put out, announcing that next week, another anniversary party will be held for Dianetics at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida.

Last year, church leader David Miscavige held what we figured was a one-off celebration to mark 75 years since the first publication of L. Ron Hubbard’s 1950 bestseller that launched what eventually became the Scientology movement.

The book first came out on May 9, 1950, and May 9 has always been one of the holiest days on the Scientology calendar ever since.

But last year’s party was a real blowout, with Miscavige on stage against one of his patented expensive backdrops, and his big announcement that a new, 75th anniversary edition of Hubbard’s book would be coming out, the first new edition since 2007. (We call it “Taylor’s Version.”)

Dave had so much fun last year, apparently he wants to do it all over again on the 76th anniversary of the book’s publication.

We asked Alex if he thought Dave would once again be in attendance, and he suggested that since it’s being held at Ruth Eckerd Hall, and Dave lives in Clearwater these days, he probably will be there.

Well, why not. Some speeches, some awards being handed out. And maybe some more promised new television shows that never end up happening.

Oh, you don’t remember that?

Last year, Dave made a big deal about the fact that a new “season” of Scientology TV would be premiering on June 2, and it would have some special new additions that were tied to the celebration of the new edition of Dianetics.

There would be a program called “Dianetics: The Adventure of You,” which would feature Glady Ferguson, wife of former NFL player Nick Ferguson, who is a big Scientology promoter.

According to Scientology, the show would be “A bold, 30-minute program — unapologetically hard-hitting — hosted by dynamic TV personality Glady Ferguson. It will broadcast across morning and late-night television and drive viewers to the all-new Dianetics org site to start their own Dianetics adventure.”

A year later, we haven’t seen any sign of the show, and there isn’t anything about it at the Scientology TV schedule.

Dave also promised a new talk show about Dianetics hosted by actor Jason Dohring, and in its first episode featuring actress Erika Christensen.

Again, a year later, we’ve seen no sign of this show either.

And Dave also promised a video podcast about Dianetics featuring Kerri Kasem. Where’s that, Dave?

Well, we can’t wait to see what he promises this year. And no doubt, he’ll tell his audience that Dianetics has over the last year had its biggest boom ever. We can’t wait to hear about those through-the-roof stats, COB!

Phil, Patty, and Alex join us on Group Therapy!

Today at noon Eastern subscribers will receive Episode 167 of our special podcast series, “Group Therapy.”

We discuss the week’s revelations with our gang of jokers and degraders, including Patty Moher, Phil Jones, and Alex Barnes-Ross!

It’s all the enturbulation you could want!

We’re offering this series as thanks to our subscribers for helping to support the work we do here at the Underground Bunker.

Now available, for the discerning Scientology-watcher!

Wow, a new book from Chris Shelton and a new documentary from Geoff Levin, and both out at the same time! Go here to see Chris’s new book that explores what it’s like to cope after leaving a group like Scientology. And go here to see Geoff’s fascinating documentary about two brothers torn apart by this nefarious group.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

Bob Duggan’s Summit Therapeutics really took it in the shorts this week on Wall Street, losing about 25 percent of its value in a single day. Jeffrey Augustine estimates that Bob himself may have lost $2 billion of his $14 billion fortune. Ouch! While Bob licks his wounds, we thought we’d bring back this bizarre story about him and his former wife Trish Duggan that we first published on October 15, 2014. (Bob and Trish split up in 2015 and their divorce was final in 2017.) We consider it one of our most important stories ever about Scientology, and we decided to find room for it here at our Substack so it will have an ad-free archival home. — T.O.

Gentle readers, we have an unusual and, we must say, rather mystifying story to tell you today. It’s about a successful businessman by the name of Robert W. Duggan. This illustration of Bob, who is a robust 70 years old, is inspired by an image from his personal website, which we encourage you to visit.

Bob’s website has several different pages. We learn from them that as a kid from Berkeley and San Jose, Bob was an avid sportsman. He grew up loving to surf and play tennis, and he even once ran the Palo Alto marathon in 2 hours and 49 minutes, which, if you didn’t know, is seriously fast for an amateur. (We once ran a half-marathon and it took longer than that, we’re pretty sure.)

Bob studied economics at UC Santa Barbara in the class of 1966, and also studied business management for a couple of years at UCLA, taking a degree from neither. But while he was at UCSB, he met the woman who would become his wife, Patricia J. Hagerty, better known as Trish. At her Twitter page, Trish uses a photo of herself with a cheetah. Here’s our illustration of it.

We’re not sure what the deal with the cheetah is, but Trish studied art at Santa Barbara and she’s known for her work in sculpture today. We encourage you to go through her online gallery, where you will find that she does hauntingly beautiful work in blue glass. We’ll take just a small snapshot of her gallery, purely for informational purposes…

We think it’s fun that Trish plays with space alien motifs in her art. In 1975, she and Bob got involved in Scientology, and if you’ve seen a certain 2005 episode of South Park, you know that Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard had some really intriguing ideas about outer space visitors to the planet Earth.

Bob and Trish Duggan are very big fans of Mr. Hubbard, and they have been awarded repeatedly for being the most generous members of the Church of Scientology. In fact, they donate so much more to the church than anyone else, Scientology leader David Miscavige keeps making bigger and bigger trophies to recognize their gifts to the International Association of Scientologists (IAS)….

In the magazine’s most recent issue, reporting on an event last fall, it was announced that the Duggans had reached a new IAS level of giving that had to be invented for them, called “Diamond Maximus with Honors.” Our sources, some of whom actually worked with Scientology’s charitable giving, tell us that in order to reach that level, the Duggans have donated something in the neighborhood of $50 million, more than double what Forbes magazine estimated last year.

It’s no wonder the Duggans are the only donors Miscavige poses with in Impact magazine photos each year — he doesn’t do that for anyone else, even the church members who have given more than $10 million.

Also, the Duggans give a lot more than just to the IAS. They’ve also given huge amounts for some Scientology building projects. And at their websites, Bob and Trish make it clear that they give to other causes as well, which is only fair, because they are seriously loaded.

According to Forbes magazine, Bob Duggan is the 395th richest American, and the 1,164th richest person on the planet, worth $1.5 billion.

How did a surfer from UC Santa Barbara end up so rich? Well, Bob’s been a risk-taking entrepreneur and savvy investor for decades, but there’s also a bittersweet and dramatic tale for how he and Trish ended up in the .001 percent of the world’s earners. In 1997, the Duggans lost a son to cancer, and five years later, Bob made an investment in a promising pharmaceutical concern called Pharmacyclics that was struggling to bring a cancer drug to market.

That drug failed, but Pharmacyclics then picked up another drug, Imbruvica, and Duggan took control of the company, becoming its CEO and placing a slate of his hand-picked directors in 2008.

“Imbruvica…turned out to be a potent treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, shrinking tumors in 58 percent of patients failed by all other drugs, and mantle cell lymphoma, a rarer disease. Johnson & Johnson inked a $975 million deal to copromote Imbruvica in 2011, beating out other Big Pharmas, and Pharmacyclics’ stock has risen fortyfold…turning [Duggan’s] stake into a $1.4 billion fortune,” wrote Forbes magazine earlier this year.

After losing a child to cancer, the Duggans now have the chance to help countless others with a great new drug — and have managed to become super wealthy in the process.

Bob and Trish Duggan have been generous in other ways as well. We’ll explain what we mean by looking at yet another of Bob’s websites, which includes this portion we’ve snipped…

As you can see from that list of biographical information, Bob and Trish have a very large family. In addition to a biological daughter, they have adopted six other children as their own, and gave them all names that begin with the letter “D.” Like Bob, they’re all sports fans, as explained on one of Bob’s websites…

“Since moving to Palo Alto, he and all of his six adopted children are big fans of the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, since they know that he is also adopted.”

So Bob and Trish have six adopted kids, and they live in Palo Alto and root for the 49ers. Hey, that’s great.

Except, that’s not entirely true.

Now we’re going to tell you about something that you can’t find on the websites of either Bob or Trish or Forbes magazine. And in order to tell this part of the story, we want to introduce you to a fellow named Charlie Mikich.

This illustration of Charlie shows him with his youngest of two daughters. Charlie is not a wealthy person. He’s been through some tough times, scraping by and living a pretty uprooted life that’s taken him all around the country.

More than a decade ago, he hooked up with another uprooted person, a young woman he met on a long Greyhound bus ride to San Francisco. They moved in together, then kept moving. They got pregnant in Texas, and they had a son in Cut Bank, Montana in August 2001.

For the purposes of this story, we’ll refer to that little boy simply as “V.”

Charlie’s restless girlfriend left for Santa Barbara and then sent for him. By the time Charlie and his infant son got there, his girlfriend was homeless and pregnant by another man. (She had the boy, and we’ll refer to him — V’s half brother — as “T.”) Charlie tried to care for V on his own, but the county stepped in and placed the boy with foster parents who ended up adopting the boy.

Some ten years later, when Charlie had his first daughter, the state, concerned about Charlie’s history, tried to take the girl away. During testimony in the ensuing court battle, Charlie was asked about his son, V. In a court transcript Charlie supplied us, you can see his daughter is referred to as “A.M.” and his son as “V.D.”…

Charlie won that court battle, and has custody of both of his daughters today. But a decade earlier, he didn’t have an attorney, and he says he had little choice but to agree to let a wealthy local couple, Bob and Trish Duggan, adopt his son. They also adopted V’s half-brother, T.

Charlie says it was Trish Duggan he worked with, arranging the details of the adoption. Although Charlie says he didn’t like the idea, the Duggans changed the boy’s name to begin with a “D.” They also changed the name of V’s half-brother.

Charlie says that he last had contact with V when the boy was about two years old, and the last photo he received was when the boy was three. Since having his battle over his daughters, he now says that he regrets not fighting to hang onto his son, and is still interested in being a part of his life. But he hasn’t heard anything about V in years.

So Charlie was very surprised when we told him we had photos of V at 11 and 12 years old. And in this next section we’ll tell you why we had them.

These folks are Shelley Ashurst, her husband Andrew Jackson, and their daughter Dominique Sundelowitz. They live in Johannesburg, South Africa, and until recently they were very active longtime Scientologists.

Shelley explained to us that in 2012, her husband Andrew was involved with a church project that was having some trouble. Andrew was a subcontractor on a project to renovate a building in Pretoria to become Scientology’s next “Ideal Org.”

The Ideal Org program is the brainchild of Scientology leader David Miscavige who, in 2002, began pushing for ordinary churches — called “orgs,” short for organizations — to be replaced by more elaborate facilities, often in renovated historic buildings. Funding for these projects is the responsibility of local church members, who often struggle to raise the millions of dollars it takes to create an Ideal Org. In various cities — Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia — Ideal Org projects are stalled as local fundraising has been inadequate to complete renovations.

Don’t take our word for it. Here’s a recent story that appeared in the Boston Globe about the difficulty Scientology has had with the Ideal Org project in that city.

In the summer of 2012, a similar situation had stalled construction in Pretoria, and Andrew says he was told by the project manager that the church was in default, short millions of dollars (US) to get the work completed.

Then, in October of that year, a man from the local area was sent to the United States in the hopes of finding a solution to the problem. That man was Robin Hogarth.

Robin had a website (still archived) where he described his work as a music producer. In 2007 and 2008, albums by the Soweto Gospel Choir that Robin produced won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album. Also, Robin is married to Shelley Ashurst’s sister, Carol.

Robin made his trip to the US looking for help with Scientology’s South Africa construction projects in October 2012 and returned around the middle of November, according to notes that Carol put on Facebook. At that time, Shelley and Andrew say, Robin gave the local Scientologists a briefing.

“He said people in America love South Africa. And there was one guy who could literally write one check to pay for all of South Africa’s ideal orgs,” Andrew tells us.

As 2012 ended, however, the Pretoria project still seemed to be dead in the water. “They closed down over Christmas because they had no money,” Andrew says.

And then, suddenly, there was plenty of money. “The arrears were taken care of suddenly,” Andrew says. After the first of the year there was a mad dash to get things done. After no progress for months, now they had just weeks to prepare the place for its February 23, 2013 grand opening.

“We were working up until half an hour before the ribbon cutting,” Andrew says.

Suddenly flush with cash, the Pretoria Ideal Org got done on time. And it wasn’t just Scientology that was going through major changes. Around the same time the Pretoria Ideal Org was finished, Shelley Ashurst learned that her sister Carol and her husband Robin had a new member of their household.

“The next thing I heard was that Carol and Robin had acquired a Duggan child,” Shelley says. “Carol had never had children. She doesn’t like children. Their lifestyle was utterly unsuited for this. They’re 65 and 54 and are never home.”

Shelley and her family say that Carol and Robin had somehow become the caretaker for one of the adopted children of Bob and Trish Duggan.

Shelley first met the boy herself in March. And then in May, on Mothers Day 2013 in South Africa — which is celebrated the same day it is in the US — Shelley visited with her sister at the Johannesburg zoo for a concert in the park. Shelley took several photographs that day, which she sent us. We’ll show you one of them, which features her sister Carol and the boy, whose face we’ve obscured.

We sent copies of the unredacted photos to Charlie Mikich, who positively identified the child as V, his son who was born in August 2001. Charlie was stunned, telling us he had no idea that his son was in South Africa.

Shelley and Andrew and other South African Scientologists tell us that in fact, two of the boys adopted by the Duggans were sent to South African families early in 2013. (V’s half-brother, T, was not one of them. He is still with the Duggans as far as we know.)

Shelley also says that Carol needed a lot of help taking care of the boy, and Shelley’s daughter Dominique, and her daughter-in-law Kirsty Viljoen, were asked to help out. We talked to both young women, who described what it was like to care for V. Dominique says she was paid 10,000 Rand (about $1,000) a week by her aunt, which is extremely high for such work in South Africa.

But Robin and Carol seemed to have plenty of money. In May 2013, Robin went to Clearwater, Florida and finally completed OT 7, the difficult and expensive Scientology level that can take some people years to finish. Carol was thrilled and planned to take a whirlwind trip with him, as she explained on Facebook…

Then, just two months later in July 2013, Robin completed another expensive Scientology course, this time finishing “OT 8,” the highest level of achievement, which is delivered on the church’s private cruise ship, the Freewinds.

Meanwhile, in South Africa the church continues to push for new Ideal Orgs, and in a recent church flier which made its way to us, we noticed that there was no doubt who is considered the most generous of South Africa’s donors — so generous, they alone are given the status “Legend”…

For some reason, the Duggans have chosen to pour money into South Africa’s projects while Ideal Org renovations in their home state of California (particularly in Mountain View and the San Fernando Valley) have struggled to complete funding, along with many other locations in the United States.

While the Duggans prop up Scientology in South Africa, and while two of their adopted sons are being cared for by families there, Shelley and Andrew and their children have given up on the church. They split with Scientology, and it was one of the things that created a rift between Shelley and her sister, Carol.

And so Shelley is speaking out today, confirming that her sister is caring for the Duggan child.

At one point, Shelley says, she criticized her sister about the arrangement.

“Carol went ballistic,” Shelley says.

Soon after that, on March 16, 2014, Carol posted this on Facebook…

“This is an astonishing story — but there is more to be revealed which you can expect will now be forthcoming,” says former Scientology spokesman and legal affairs executive Mike Rinder, who left the organization in 2007. “The church obviously thought this wasn’t going to get out — the people they selected to participate were all ‘high on the Bridge,’ long term Scientologists with extensive familial connections. They believed this would keep them quiet, and it probably would have except some of these people started wondering what the hell was going on with the constant demands for money, got a bit uppity, and then were declared suppressive [Scientology’s version of excommunication]. I said at the time they were kicked out it would backfire on the church, and this revelation is further proof that Scientology has lost control over its South African ’empire’.”

We sent email messages to Robin and Carol Hogarth and received no replies. When we called Robin Hogarth yesterday, he acknowledged that he’d received our email but declined to talk to us. We called and emailed Pharmacyclics and gave a detailed explanation for why we wanted a statement, but received no answer. We emailed Bob and Trish Duggan directly, and heard nothing back.

This Friday night, Scientology will once again hold its annual IAS gala in East Grinstead, England, and church leader David Miscavige will give his customary two-hour presentation about all of the past year’s accomplishments by the organization’s various front groups. On another night over the weekend, the year’s big donors will be recognized.

The Duggans may be in town to receive another large trophy from Miscavige. If a British journalist manages to catch up with them, we would sure appreciate it if they would ask the Duggans about the coincidental timing of their largesse to the Scientology churches in South Africa and their adopted sons going there to stay.

We checked in with Charlie Mikich this week, to see if he had heard anything new from the Duggans. He hadn’t. But he told us that he’s started a new chapter of his life in Key West, and he’s still anxious to get more news of his son.

“I think if there’s any way I could get him back to where he belongs, I would,” he told us.

For now, Charlie’s son is living with Carol and Robin Hogarth and are home after some recent travel.

Saturday Bonus Stories: We’ve been posting some of our favorite articles from the past that are becoming hard to find on other platforms. Some of them are about Scientology and some of them are not. We hope you find them interesting.

Phoenix New Times (1995-1999): The cosmic life of Robert Burnham Jr. | The real story of Comet Hale-Bopp’s discovery | Interview with the Viper | Cult Buster: The Rick Ross story | On the road with the Pistoleros

New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002): Battling Babe-Hounds: When two dating gurus took their mutual hate to a courtroom | Sex, Spies, and Videotape: Channel 13 and the CIA ‘sex slave’ | Kevin MacDonald on anti-Semitism and DNA | Double Crossed, the Graham Berry story

The Village Voice (2007-2012): Secrets of the Super Power Building | Scientology and oiliness | The strange death of Flo Barnett | ‘Tom Cruise Worships David Miscavige Like a God’: The Jean Brousseau interview | How Scientology spied on Tom Cruise | Why Annie Broeker had to die in secret | Tommy Davis secretly recorded

The Underground Bunker (2012-2022): Scientology’s Master Spies | L. Ron Hubbard’s 1960 talk supporting apartheid | How Scientology broke up Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers | The full set of 1997 Secret Lives outtakes about L. Ron Hubbard | Rare tape reveals origin of Scientology’s space cooties | Jefferson Hawkins has your roadmap out of Scientology | Scientology’s ultimate prize: The current ‘OT 8’ materials | David Miscavige’s military ribbons decoded! | Marty Rathbun’s curious career as church rebel | Secrets on a Scientology spy’s laptop | L. Ron Hubbard’s darkest war secret | Finding Scientology’s famous vanished spy

Now available, for the discerning Scientology-watcher!

Wow, a new book from Chris Shelton and a new documentary from Geoff Levin, and both out at the same time! Go here to see Chris’s new book that explores what it’s like to cope after leaving a group like Scientology. And go here to see Geoff’s fascinating documentary about two brothers torn apart by this nefarious group.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

In 1975, the Church of Scientology surreptitiously crept into Clearwater, Florida in order to create what it called its “Flag Land Base” by secretly purchasing the iconic Fort Harrison Hotel.

This was after founder L. Ron Hubbard had spent eight years running Scientology from a ship and was in increasingly poor health and wanted to come back to solid ground.

The people of Clearwater were not consulted about whether they wanted to become Hubbard’s “spiritual mecca.” But ever since then, Scientology has dominated the city’s downtown and made it a creepy dead space to outsiders as the church, under current leader David Miscavige, has bought up more and more property.

Now, Miscavige wants to complete his vision for Scientology’s Vatican City. Near the Fort Harrison and the city-block-sized Flag Building, Dave plans to erect L. Ron Hubbard Hall, a massive performance space that will hold 3,500 people, and across from it, a small L. Ron Hubbard Park.

He already owns all the property he needs to make it happen. However, between the future Hall and the Park, there is a small road, South Garden Avenue, that he wants the city to “vacate” and turn over to the church. Initially, he was willing to pay $1.375 million for it, but now he says state law — backed up by an opinion from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier — says that if the road is vacated, Scientology can have it free of charge since it owns all the adjacent land.

Clearwater’s city council was ready to cast a vote 3-2 against vacating the road when Miscavige pulled back his previous proposal, but now he’s back with a new one, confident that with the AG’s opinion, he will persuade swing vote David Allbritton to now make it a 3-2 vote for.

(The Save the Garden effort is trying to put an initiative on the August ballot that would require future vacation requests to be put to a vote of city residents. But there is no requirement for a vote by the public at this point.)

We thought you would want to see the actual language of Dave’s proposal, which is signed by one of his minions, Sarah Heller, and submitted recently to the city. It’s a massive 901-page package, but we’ve pulled out the most important section, where Heller makes the case for why the city should vacate the road and get out of the way of Dave’s vision of making his Holy City complete. Here it is.

The Project And Its Purpose

L. Ron Hubbard Hall is the Church’s principal ecclesiastical convocation facility in downtown Clearwater. It is designed as a large-capacity assembly venue for religious services, major congregational events, international gatherings, and charitable and civic use. The Hall will accommodate more than 3,500 persons, with fully adaptable interior space to support a wide range of assembly functions. This is not a speculative concept or a general redevelopment proposal. It is a defined, purpose-built facility, planned over decades and now ready to proceed.

The public park fronting the Hall is part of that same functional design. It creates the forecourt and gathering space required for a facility of this scale while converting a limited-use roadway frontage and underutilized area into an active, publicly accessible civic environment. The park is intended to increase green space, improve walkability, and provide a place of use and benefit to the broader community.

The Roadway Conflict

The continued existence of an active roadway directly in front of this Hall is incompatible with the safe and functional use of the site.

This is not a matter of design preference or aesthetic ambition. A functioning road at this exact location places moving vehicles across the primary ingress and egress point of a large-capacity assembly venue. It preserves a direct conflict between vehicular traffic and concentrated pedestrian movement at precisely the location where the largest numbers of people will gather.

For a facility of this scale, that condition is unacceptable.

The Hall is intended to serve large congregations and recurring events involving thousands of individuals entering and leaving within compressed periods of time. Maintaining ordinary roadway traffic across the frontage would create a predictable and avoidable hazard. Sound site planning does not accommodate that condition. It removes it.

Traffic and Transportation

The submitted materials confirm that removal of this conflict can be achieved without cost to the public and without disruption to the surrounding transportation network.

Traffic analysis demonstrates that this segment of South Garden Avenue serves minimal independent public use and is not a critical component of the downtown grid. The most recent study found an average daily traffic count of approximately 611 vehicles, of which approximately 68 percent are Church-related. Non-Church traffic amounts to roughly eight vehicles per hour. The study further concludes that vacating the segment will not negatively affect surrounding roadway operations.

That conclusion is consistent with the City’s own historical assessment. In 2013, the City’s Manager of Traffic Operations stated plainly that there was “no real transportation benefit” from this segment and that a petition to vacate it would be expected to be granted.

More broadly, the surrounding street network does not depend on this segment for circulation. Future traffic flow analyses confirm that north-south movement is carried by other corridors and that the segment is not necessary to preserve connectivity or capacity in the downtown system.

Transit considerations likewise do not alter that conclusion. The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority has confirmed that alternative routing strategies are available.

In short, the roadway does not perform a meaningful public transportation function, while its continued existence directly conflicts with the safe use of the site.

Safety and Security

Professional security analysis confirms that maintaining uncontrolled vehicular access immediately in front of a large religious assembly venue creates a foreseeable and avoidable risk. Dr. Randall Atlas, a recognized expert in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, conclude that vacating the segment is necessary to reduce vulnerability to both accidental and intentional harm and to ensure a safe operating environment for the Hall and the public.

That assessment aligns with federal guidance. The Department of Homeland Security has emphasized that perimeter design, control of vehicle access, and the separation of pedestrian congregation areas from vehicular traffic are central factors in reducing risk at houses of worship and other large assembly venues.

The condition presented here — uncontrolled vehicle movement across the primary frontage of a major gathering space — is precisely the condition those standards are intended to avoid.

Vacating the roadway resolves that condition entirely.

Public Benefit

The segment in question is presently a low-utility roadway. Its conversion into an integrated hall-and-park frontage increases pedestrian activity, improves walkability, adds green space, and contributes to the vitality of downtown Clearwater. The submitted planning materials explain that such integrated civic spaces support local business activity, encourage public use, and enhance the overall character and function of urban districts.

The site plan and renderings illustrate that transformation directly.

Consistency With City Practice

This application is consistent with the City’s established pattern and practice. The record reflects that Clearwater has approved numerous right-of-way vacations for residential, commercial, institutional, and religious development and that no comparable application has been denied.

The governing principle in those approvals has been straightforward: where a segment is not required for public use and its vacation supports adjacent development, the request is granted. This application falls squarely within that framework.

City staff itself has repeatedly recommended approval of this vacation request following multi-departmental review.

Legal Framework

The section of South Garden Avenue at issue was dedicated by plat, establishing a public easement over land owned by the abutting property owners. As confirmed in the Attorney General’s December 1, 2025 opinion, where a roadway is created by common law dedication, title to the underlying land remains with the abutting owner, subject only to the public easement.

Based on that legal framework, the Attorney General concluded that the Church may petition to vacate the roadway without payment of fair market value.

The Attorney General has further made clear that a municipality may not condition approval of a street vacation on payment, development obligations, or other concessions from the abutting property owner, as such conditions exceed municipal authority.

The Attorney General has also cautioned that decisions influenced by religious considerations or animus are unlawful under Florida law.

Accordingly, this application does not seek a discretionary conveyance of City-owned property in exchange for concessions. It seeks the exercise of the City’s legislative authority to vacate a platted right-of-way that is not required for public use and whose vacation enables the safe and appropriate use of the adjoining property.

Economic Facts Of Record

The Church is the largest taxpayer in Clearwater and in Pinellas County. Its total annual property taxes, tourist taxes, and related contributions exceed $9.6 million. Independent analysis has previously attributed approximately $917 million in annual economic activity to Church-related operations in the Clearwater area. The proposed Hall represents an approximately $250 million private construction project — the largest single construction investment in downtown Clearwater, past or present — and will further increase visitor activity and economic contribution to the area.

Conclusion

The governing considerations are not in dispute:

The segment is not required for meaningful public use.

Its vacation does not impair the transportation network.

The adjoining owner has a defined, long-planned project that depends upon the vacation.

The result improves safety, functionality, and public use of the area.

This application satisfies the criteria historically applied by the City in granting right-of-way vacations and is supported by a more substantial record than the vast majority of such requests previously approved.

For these reasons, approval of the vacation is warranted and consistent with the City’s established practice./

Sincerely,

Sarah Heller, Church of Scientology, Flag Service Organization

Bonus items from our tipsters

Puerto Rico has three clears! This planet will be cleared in no time!

Why not send your selectees somewhere they’ll actually want to go? Puerto Rico is one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean — and it also happens to be home to a thriving Scientology Org delivering fantastic results in both English and Spanish.

We have made 3 Clears since opening and have had tremendous success getting people back onto the Bridge. We are reaching out to all FSMs to find out what assistance you need to get your selectees in for service so that they too can avail themselves of the wins that are available.

So here’s the idea: let them enjoy the island, the culture, the food, and the beaches — and go up the Bridge while they’re at it. A trip to Puerto Rico and a major step forward in their spiritual progress? That’s a combination that’s hard to beat.

Reach out to us today. Let’s talk about your selectees and how we can help get them moving on the Bridge — with a little Caribbean sunshine on the side.

Later today, a bonus story gets the Substack treatment

Today at noon, we’re going to post a story here that we originally published at The Underground Bunker in 2014.

It’s a strange tale about Scientology’s wealthiest donors, Bob and Trish Duggan, that no one else but the Bunker has reported.

As part of our Saturday bonus story program, we decided to bring this article over to our Substack so it has an easier-to-read, ad-free archival home. Whether it’s new to you or not, we look forward to your thoughts about it.

Now available, for the discerning Scientology-watcher!

Wow, a new book from Chris Shelton and a new documentary from Geoff Levin, and both out at the same time! Go here to see Chris’s new book that explores what it’s like to cope after leaving a group like Scientology. And go here to see Geoff’s fascinating documentary about two brothers torn apart by this nefarious group.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

We continue to dive into the early history of Scientology’s founder L. Ron Hubbard that the church hides from its members.

Last time, as we watched things unfold 75 years ago in 1951, Ron’s second wife Sara Northrup had begun to exact some revenge after his failed attempt to kidnap her and to get her committed. She still had no idea where Ron had taken their baby girl, Alexis Valorie.

On April 12, she had filed a writ with the court in Los Angeles, making the kidnap attempt public and asking for return of Alexis. It blew up in the press, and the news reached Hubbard.

Ron, with the help of his assistant, Richard B. DeMille, had absconded to Havana, where they put the baby in the care of a couple of Jamaican women so Ron could focus on finishing dictating Science of Survival, his follow-up to the previous year’s bestseller, Dianetics.

On April 15, he penned a letter to Sara in a strange sloping handwriting, finally admitting that he was in Cuba.

Dear Sara,

I have been in the Cuban military hospital and I am being transferred to the States next week as a classified scientist immune from interference of all kinds though I will be hospitalized probably a long time. Alexis is getting excellent care. I see her every day. She is all I have to live for. My wits never gave way under all you did and let them do but my body didn’t stand up. My right side is paralyzed and getting more so. I have trouble moving and I am going blind. I hope my heart lasts. I can stand everything but the way it hurts. I may live a long time and again I may not. But Dianetics will last ten thousand years — for the Army and Navy have it now.

[page two]

But I wanted to be well and strong and I can barely move now.

My will is all changed. Alexis will get a fortune unless she goes to you as she would then get nothing. Get away from bad companions.

Hope to see you once more. Goodbye — I love you.

Ron.

At the time, Ron and de Mille were actually renting an apartment in the Vedado District, which Ron’s biographer Russell Miller says was the Beverly Hills of Havana. Ron wasn’t in a hospital, and de Mille had not noticed any paralysis. In Bare-Faced Messiah, Russell describes what happened after Ron sent his woe-is-me letter…

The next day, Hubbard marched into the US Embassy in Havana, insisted on seeing the military attaché and asked for protection from Communists who, he said, were trying to steal his research material. He appealed, as one officer to another, for help. The attaché, clearly sceptical, murmured something about 'seeing what he could do' and cabled the FBI in Washington for 'any pertinent information' about his wild-eyed visitor. Back came the reply that Hubbard had been interviewed on 7 March last and that 'agent conducting interview considered Hubbard to be mental case.’

Back in LA, Sara made the letter public, and the press reported that Ron was in Cuba. And on April 23, Sara filed for divorce, and even more of her allegations, about how he had tortured her and was a paranoid schizophrenic, became public.

But what finally prompted Ron to act, de Mille told Russell, wasn’t so much the beating he was taking from Sara in newspapers, but instead the feeling that he was losing control of the Dianetics organizations he had left behind. So, at the end of April, Ron reached out to an enthusiastic Dianeticist in Wichita, Kansas, a millionaire oil man named Don Purcell, looking for a bailout. And he got it.

Purcell acted without delay. He sent a private plane to Cuba with a registered nurse on board to collect Ron and Alexis and bring them back to Kansas. (De Mille had been instructed to stay behind and finish transcribing Ron’s plastic recording discs.)

As a follower of Dianetics, Purcell was delighted and honoured to be able to play host to L. Ron Hubbard in Wichita.

Meanwhile, on May 1, 75 years ago today, Ron wrote to the VA, updating his address and saying he was prepared to go through an examination to further a disability claim.

I wish to inform you that I will be in Wichita, Kansas, for a short time and am willing to submit to a physical examination in connection with my claim for disability compensation. I regret that I was unable to report for physical examination when previously scheduled.

It is requested that my address be changed from the Explorers Club, 10 West 72nd Street, New York, N.Y. to The Hubbard Dianetic Foundation, Inc., 211 West Douglas Avenue, Wichita, Kansas. Please notify me, at the address given above, when and where you wish me to report for physical examination.

As Russell indicates, Purcell’s pleasure at being able to help Ron was short-lived. But with his return to the States, Ron was beginning his comeback that would, in another year, see the birth of a movement he would name “Scientology.”

Bonus items from our tipsters

Right now — this moment — you are sitting on the other side of the most important decision you will ever make.

Not a career decision. A decision about who you are and what you are capable of.

At the Church of Scientology Puerto Rico, we have one purpose: to get you moving on the Bridge to Total Freedom. Not someday. Not eventually. Now.

Puerto Rico is LRH’s dearest island — and it will be his Clearest island.

The Bridge to Total Freedom is the only precisely mapped, step-by-step route to your full spiritual potential. Every step is proven. Every step is attainable. Every step takes you higher than you have ever been.

Imagine making decisions with total clarity. Imagine relationships without the invisible walls. Imagine facing any situation in life without the weight of everything that’s happened to you dragging you down.

That is not a dream. It is something you can have today and it is here for you.

People all across Puerto Rico have walked through our doors wondering if this was real — and have walked back out changed forever.

Call us today. Walk in today. The only thing standing between you and the life you were meant to live is the decision to begin.

Don’t wait another day. You’ve waited long enough.

Now available, for the discerning Scientology-watcher!

Wow, a new book from Chris Shelton and a new documentary from Geoff Levin, and both out at the same time! Go here to see Chris’s new book that explores what it’s like to cope after leaving a group like Scientology. And go here to see Geoff’s fascinating documentary about two brothers torn apart by this nefarious group.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

Scientology’s micro-managing current leader, David Miscavige, today marks 66 years on the planet. (And so does his twin sister, Denise.)

Dave’s father Ron Miscavige, who died in 2021, said that he had introduced his kids to Scientology because he was hoping to find a cure for Dave’s asthma. By the time he was 12, Dave was such a prodigy at Scientology processing, the family had moved to Saint Hill Manor in England and Dave was being hailed as the church’s youngest professional auditor. He later joined the Sea Org at 16 and began rising up its ranks.

He soon caught founder L. Ron Hubbard’s eye, who in 1977 was making movies in the Southern California desert. Miscavige became a cameraman on Hubbard’s crew.

After Hubbard went into seclusion in 1980, Miscavige continued to consolidate power, and he muscled others out of the way when Hubbard died in January 1986, replacing Hubbard as Scientology’s ultimate leader.

We pointed out in 2021 that Miscavige has now been leading the Dianetics and Scientology movement longer than Hubbard did.

However, as ruthless and controlling as Miscavige is said to be by those who formerly worked with him, the diminutive leader (his former tailor says Miscavige is 5-foot-1, “max”) knows he can’t replace Hubbard as “Source,” the originator of the “technology” that Scientology is based on.

So even if Scientology isn’t about him, Miscavige finds ways to make it reflect his own personal intensity. His focus on extreme fundraising, for example, has driven away large numbers of longtime members, and there’s simply no question that Scientology is a smaller phenomenon today than when Dave took over.

The people who knew him tell us they believe that Dave doesn’t change, and that he’s just as intense and strange as he always was.

Once again, we turn to the real experts for their thoughts on this occasion, and we asked them for their birthday greetings.

Claire Headley: Birthdays are usually a time to celebrate a life. In this case, it’s hard not to reflect instead on the lives that have been controlled, fractured, destroyed and lost under David Miscavige’s leadership.

More than twenty years without a public sighting of Shelly Miscavige is not just a curiosity, it’s a human rights question that has never been meaningfully answered. How can a human being be cut off from family and all contact with the outside world in this day and age?

The continued focus on real estate “expansion” doesn’t change that reality. Buildings don’t represent growth when the people inside are restricted, pressured, and afraid to leave. Expansion isn’t measured in square footage, it’s measured in freedom, transparency, and the well-being of those involved.

And now, layered on top of all of this, is the ongoing use of internal “religious arbitration”, a system that, in practice, functions as a closed-loop mechanism designed to silence and control. What’s been coming out about these proceedings only reinforces what former members have said for years: there is no meaningful path to fairness when the institution being challenged is also the one acting as judge and jury.

Recent reporting here and firsthand accounts, including Leah Remini’s recent Substack have exposed just how much this system operates in reality, not in theory. The gap between what is claimed and what is experienced is becoming hard to ignore.

So if there’s a birthday message, it’s this: accountability doesn’t expire. The questions don’t go away. And the voices of those who have left, and those still trying to, are only getting louder.

Phil Jones: Ecclesiastical leader David Miscavige, David Miscavige COB, Captain Dave, Davey. Whatever. Your 66th birthday is here. Retire already.

I’d wish you a happy birthday, but it seems that your happiness comes from sadistic punishments and the horrific treatment of others.

I know personally how you’ve broken up many families, including my own. I’ve experienced and witnessed your bleeding cash out of those who have nothing left to give. There are a multitude of reports of so many other abuses you’ve rained down upon Scientology followers, as well as those who have left the cult, and even many who, though they were never in Scientology, expose your abuses.

You likely have no friends and have allies who are only loyal through fear.

So, no “happy” birthday wish from me.

Gerry Armstrong: They say it’s your birthday. We’re gonna have a good time.

I thought to write something limerickal that the readers might find hysterical. You know, like “A dwarfish cult leader named Dave kept his wife all chained up in a cave...” or “A fatuous fuehrer Miscavige had a beingness utterly savage…”

Then I thought that although your myriad critics might be moved to a chuckle or two, for you and your miserable myrmidons, those who would have to read, analyze, and file all your birthday greetings, it would probably not be anything any of you would be willing to experience. I mean, you don’t even care for poesy, do you. Maybe I’ll send you the complete limericks a little later.

But now I figure for your big day (because how many more of these will you have?) I’ll send you something very serious.

The universal purpose for all human beings, whether we know it or not, is to commune with God. It’s a paradox really, because you have to commune with God to commune with Him. This is much the same as the paradox of needing wisdom to seek wisdom.

As you know, however, you are at war with God, and with His children. And you make those of His children you control war on Him, and on His children. You deny this and have your troops deny this, you have them give Him lip service, and even claim you’re totally freeing His children, but all that is just more battle tactics.

As you know, your control of God’s children, which is a goal and an ideal in Scientology, is sadistic. Your prevention of His children from communing with Him, which you do as “doctrinally motivated,” is the height of sadism. And as you also know, I represent Him and His children in your war on us. So I have a particular standing to call on you to let all His children go. In celebration of your sixty-sixth birthday, set all your captives free.

Karen de la Carriere: Happy 66th birthday, David. Another year older, another year in power — though “power” is an odd word for a man who must isolate, intimidate, and silence to maintain it.

While you celebrate with ribbon cuttings and polished speeches, the world quietly keeps count of other milestones:
– More than two decades since your wife vanished from public life.
– Decades of testimonies from those who describe fear, control, and lives fractured under your rule.

Buildings can be opened on cue. Applause can be arranged. But truth has a way of slipping past even the tightest control.

Birthdays are meant for reflection. So perhaps this year offers a rare opportunity—not for expansion, not for image—but for accountability.

History is patient.

And it remembers.

Jon Atack: I hope that David Miscavige will realize the many errors of his ways, beg forgiveness from the many he has harmed and dissolve the despicable organization he controls after returning all the money it has collected. Then I will wish him a happy birthday.

Alex Barnes-Ross: Captain Mickywitz has now been at the helm of Scientology longer than L. Ron Hubbard himself. Under his leadership, he has transformed the organisation into a money-making real estate empire that exerts tremendous pressure on its followers to conform, confess, and donate. Now he’s 66, he has officially reached retirement age — at least here in the UK. But, as is typical with authoritarian leaders, there is no succession plan or clear consensus on who will become the next steward of Scientology’s global empire.

Similar to Hubbard in his final days, Miscavige now lives in relative seclusion. The lawsuits are mounting. His wife has been kept out of the public eye for more than 20 years. The question now is not if, but when will his reign of terror finally come to an end? And what will happen to the institution that is the Church of Scientology in the wake of his demise?

At this age any reasonable person might start thinking about winding down and planning how to spend their golden years of retirement. But for this tiny tyrant, I suspect the thought of stepping down hasn’t even crossed his mind. He must, at all costs, maintain complete control and autonomy — even if that means going down in a blaze of supposed glory. As they say, there ain’t no rest for the wicked.

Whatever results in Miscavige’s inevitable downfall, it’s now only a matter of time. I just hope, for the sake of those he has abused, justice can be served before it’s too late.

So happy birthday, Dave. I’ll see you at this year’s IAS event.. unless of course, you’re already behind bars by then.

Tory Christman: I normally would not wish Miscavige anything. However, since you asked:

My 66th birthday wish for David Miscavige is his choice:

1) Completely close the Church of Scientology, Inc (including all front groups + giving all money back to members).

2) Reconnect every one who has disconnected with loved ones, no questions asked.

3) Cancel all abuses run by C of S, via OSA or any group under C of S, Int

Enjoy your CAEK!

(ps: You owe me a million dollars, not including interest)

Mark Fisher: My Birthday present to you, Dave, is a free ticket to the movie — Brothers Broken, about Geoff and Robbie Levin. It is on Amazon Prime right now, just in time for your birthday! I am sure you will enjoy seeing how your destructive abusive policy of disconnection ruins families and people lives. You should be proud of turning Scientology into a money grubbing real estate scam, bankrupting hard working people. Happy Birthday, Dave. (Not)

Sandy Holeman: I hope DM will fade away with no succession plan. Like the founder did. I don’t want to send him any birthday wishes. He can suck eggs.

Val Ross: You’ve managed to keep your grip on Scientology another year. I’m so glad I managed to escape before your coup.

Scientology has always been a scam, but this is why you have such a tenuous hold:

The man who started it not only wrote his own speeches, he could deliver a speech at the drop of a hat. He didn’t need someone else to put words in his mouth, you do. Because of that, he was able to persuade. He created a cult of personality. And since there was no Internet, he was able to build on it.

You, on the other hand, only create fear, an easier bond to break. And with the help of the Internet, the billions will soon become your enemy, not your friend.

You are already a semi-recluse, and in that way, you are following closely in the footsteps of the person from whom you wrested the reins.

All I hope for you for your birthday this year is that you get exactly what you deserve.

Chris Shelton: Happy Birthday, David Miscavige.

Congratulations on another year of expansion—more buildings lit up, more ribbon cuttings, more empty spaces waiting for the crowds that never quite come.

It takes real dedication to build something that looks so full from the outside and feels so hollow within. Few people could pull off that level of illusion at scale.

Wishing you continued success in keeping up appearances.

Tammy Synovec: Happy Birthday, Dave.

I wish you the same amount of joy that you bring to others:

The joy of being cut off from family.

The joy of not having time off.

The joy of eating food that does not nourish the body.

The joy of not getting proper exercise.

The joy of sleep deprivation because there’s always a Hill 10.

The joy of never having any personal time off.

The joy of always feeling watched, judged and controlled.

The joy of spending countless hours dealing with lawsuits against you and Scientology.

The joy of knowing you are an imposter.

The joy of not having any friends you can trust.

The joy of being alone and in the dark for the rest of your short little life.

I hope you get all you have coming to you for your birthday.

And now it’s your turn. What birthday wishes would you give Chairman of the Board if you had a chance?

Now available, for the discerning Scientology-watcher!

Wow, a new book from Chris Shelton and a new documentary from Geoff Levin, and both out at the same time! Go here to see Chris’s new book that explores what it’s like to cope after leaving a group like Scientology. And go here to see Geoff’s fascinating documentary about two brothers torn apart by this nefarious group.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

Things are heating up on both sides of the Atlantic as Scientology leader David Miscavige tries to arm-wrestle a couple of communities that are very important to Scientology’s fortunes, and that each recently rebuffed Miscavige’s previous proposals.

In England, Miscavige is trying to get local governments to approve a new development plan at Scientology’s UK headquarters, Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, which has been opposed by environmental groups and local political bodies. Now, he’s back with a new proposal, and Alex Barnes-Ross was in attendance yesterday as the East Grinstead Planning Committee ignored apparent conflicts of interest to give a thumb’s up to Scientology’s scheme.

In Clearwater, Florida, meanwhile, home of Scientology’s spiritual mecca, the Flag Land Base, Miscavige has resubmitted a proposal for the city to vacate a local street after an initial plan was on the verge of being rejected by the city council. As in England, Dave is going big with new plans that look designed to overwhelm local opposition. We’ve asked Mark Bunker, who is running again for Clearwater city council, for his reaction to the new proposal.

First, here’s Alex’s report on what went down yesterday in East Grinstead…

Scientology’s plans to build a mega car park at their UK headquarters were once again up for debate at yesterday’s East Grinstead Planning Committee, and the meeting showed the Council for the farce that it is.

Although the final decision on whether the plans will get the green light falls with the higher-tier of the Mid-Sussex District Council, since it falls in their area the town council in East Grinstead also gets a say. And last time this happened, they recommended refusal based on environmental concerns.

The proposal, let’s not forget, seeks to permanently change huge swathes of protected rural landscape into a mega car park, and implement infrastructure that would make it easier to erect several mammoth temporary tents used to host their annual IAS gala. Although a few alterations have been made — for example by removing a section of permanent paving — it would still permanently alter an otherwise agricultural field despite only being used for one event, over three days, once a year.

The meeting began with public participation and I was the first to speak:

“My representation is in relation to planning application DM/25/2223. The Committee may recall they earlier recommended refusal and since then, the Church of Scientology have modified their application to remove the hard-paved element of their mega car park. However, the fact still remains this development will result in permanent alterations to a protected Area Of Natural Beauty, all for an event which is closed to the public for two out of the three days — once a year. The applicant is suggesting this event brings more to the UK economy than the Eurovision Song Contest which is laughable at best, considering the vast majority of hotel and accommodation providers that financially benefit from this event are owned by Scientologists, who in turn donate that money back to the Church. It’s a closed loop that does not bring any benefit to the town and I would ask whether the Council to once again reject this application.”

Next up was a representative from one of the companies Scientology has hired to bring these plans to fruition. He explained that based on the Council’s feedback, they had revised the plans so that it would still look like a field, and that the event brings over £7 million ($9.5 million) into the East Grinstead economy every year.

However, he took issue with the fact I was filming his representation and asked the Clerk to get me to stop. The Clerk, rightfully, reminded him that this was a public meeting and there is nothing to stop members of the public recording it.

With public participation out of the way, it was time for Councillors to declare any interests that may impact their impartiality in voting on the applications listed on the meeting’s agenda. Of the six councillors there, four declared that they had either been to events at Saint Hill or were involved in the leisure centre or sports club next door. Councillor Tony Scott, who we saw pointing and laughing at protestors as he entered Saint Hill at last year’s IAS protest, failed to declare that he may have an interest that would impact his ability to vote in an impartial manner. Our signs we were holding, I’d like to remind everyone, said things like ‘When was the last time you saw your family? They love you and so do we” and “the abuse must stop.”

So when it came to the vote, only three councillors were in the room — one of whom declared he had been to events but elected to stay, and one who had refused to declare he had been to events.

Councillor Lee Gibbs, who was chairing the meeting, recommended refusal based on the permanent alteration to the protected rural landscape. However, Councillor Scott proposed the application is approved. He said that no matter what happens, people will park in the field — and so these alterations will improve the conditions for all. He said the field is muddy and in need of a good tidy up, and for that reason, proposed the Council approve the plans. He was supported by fellow Councillor Ed Goodwin.. and the 2/3 vote meant it carried.

So, East Grinstead Town Council have now officially recommended the Saint Hill application is approved. But whether or not it will get the green light lies in the hands of Mid Sussex District Council’s District Planning Committee - whose Vice Chair is our favourite, Dick Sweatman.

— Alex Barnes-Ross

Meanwhile, in Clearwater, Tampa Bay Times writer Colbi Edmonds reported that Miscavige has resubmitted a request for the vacation of a portion of South Garden Avenue, which Miscavige wants control of because it will be in the middle of a major development he is planning: An event venue called L. Ron Hubbard Hall, and an L. Ron Hubbard Park, which both would sit next to the already existing Flag Building. (We’ve marked out the section of S. Garden Avenue in red here.)

Miscavige pulled back that proposal when it became clear that the city council was going to vote against it. But now he’s back, and as Edmonds reported, he’s asking for a lot more…

Scientology also is asking the city to vacate portions of Grove Street, Laura Street and the alley between North Myrtle Avenue and North East Avenue. This request is for a proposed family entertainment center and also asks for a city-owned parcel.

The complex is being spearheaded by the Scientology-affiliated Cleveland Street Alliance, which said the development would have the largest movie screen in the world. It would also be located downtown on Myrtle Avenue and Cleveland Street.

We told you about the “grand opening” Scientology had for a showroom at Cleveland and Osceola, where visitors can view videos about all of the new shops that Scientology is promising (and has been promising for years).

Mark Bunker in the past has warned that Clearwater should not rush into handing Miscavige streets and property when Scientology has been sitting on parcels downtown for so long.

We asked for his thoughts about Miscavige’s latest proposal to get his hands on South Garden Avenue and the other properties…

The Church of Scientology promises you the moon if you just give them what they want. When they get it, they just moon you. I was amused when I read in the Tampa Bay Times that Councilmember Mike Mannino “expressed frustration that the church is not sharing its plans for downtown in public and proposed having a special meeting to discuss the matter.”

Oh, you just noticed they aren’t forthcoming with information? Do you really think Scientology would come to a “special meeting?” They sent a sacrificial lamb to a council meeting not that long ago over the majestic L. Ron Hubbard Hall and that was a disaster. Giving answers is not on Scientology’s agenda. Just as members need to trust Scientology that auditing out their BT’s will solve all their problems, the city just needs to trust Miscavige that if the city just gives him what he wants, he will transform the downtown into a Hubbard Wonderland that won’t scare off the very public we need to come downtown.

It doesn’t help that Scientology launched their “The Good Life” campaign with deceit and trickery. The so-called Cleveland Street Alliance sent out a video release showing thousands of cheering locals filling the downtown streets to herald the opening of a rather tiny little welcome center. No press was invited to the ribbon cutting, no locals were invited other than the Scientologists who were commanded to appear as though an Ideal Org was opening.

Who does that? Who creates marketing material to give the very false impression that the citizens of Clearwater are thrilled and taking to the streets, excited by what the Cleveland Street Alliance is doing? Why does the promotional materials for the Cleveland Street Alliance mention all the partners in the alliance with the exception of the one giant, wealthy, controversial organization behind it all? The Scientology racket is never mentioned. Scientology knows they are the very problem at the heart of downtown.

How do you expect locals to react when you don’t trust them or don’t want the wogs to mix with the OT’s in the crowd? Why must you lie and concoct fake excitement about your promised development? “The biggest movie screen in the world” may not be enough to draw in locals who have found the downtown creepy for decades. Will you believe it’s no longer creepy if we throw in a bowling alley?

And hey, no one loves going to the movies more than I do, but the movie-going public is now buying a 70” TV screen for their living rooms for less than $500 and theaters are struggling to stay open, routinely booking older popular films from past decades to fill the screens and hopefully fill the seats. I hate to say it but theaters are dying. I get why EVO has to say it will be a complete entertainment complex because a theater itself is not a good bet at this time.

Has EVO filed plans with the city for construction of this center? Not that I’m aware of. We know only that Miscavige is demanding a couple more city streets and a city-owned property for the project. Where the hell is anyone going to park for this theater? I haven’t heard any plans for that. Generally you’re going to need a large parking lot or a parking structure for a movie theater. I haven’t seen that in any of the glossy Scientology produced Cleveland Street Alliance videos.

Hey, one last thing about the theater... I have long wanted a movie theater downtown. I drive a half an hour away to see a film at an AMC theater because I love their screens and their sound systems. They have an Imax theater and a Dolby theater with laser projection on all screens. EVO is building screens with Dolby Atmos and that “WORLD’S BIGGEST SCREEN” but I doubt that I would ever go there because I love the AMC A-List program that allows me to see four movies a week on any screen in any format for the price of a Netflix subscription. I never have to think of the price of a ticket, only what movie I want to see.

Then there’s that other problem. You know... would I even be allowed in the theater? Hear me out. After seeing that “The Good Life” showroom was in a corner ground-floor retail space in the non-Scientology owned Water’s Edge condo building, I thought I would drop by and check it out. The moment I walked through the door, plain-clothed Scientologists told me to leave. I was not allowed in the showroom. “You have an injunction,” they repeatedly said. “Yep, and so do you,” I replied but I didn’t try to kick them out.

So if I go to the EVO theater, are they going to have Scientologists taking tickets or selling popcorn to keep troublesome SP’s off the premises? Is insane Miscavige going to be micromanaging every business in his new downtown? That’s the kind of thing locals are worried about. They already don’t want to put money into Scientology’s pockets. That’s one of the main reasons they cite for not coming downtown.

How does Miscavige get around the Miscavige problem? The downtown will still have a radioactive half-life to deal with no matter how pretty the buildings are. How do we convince Miscavige to once again abandon dry land and take Scientology back to the high seas where it belongs.

— Mark Bunker

Now available, for the discerning Scientology-watcher!

Wow, a new book from Chris Shelton and a new documentary from Geoff Levin, and both out at the same time! Go here to see Chris’s new book that explores what it’s like to cope after leaving a group like Scientology. And go here to see Geoff’s fascinating documentary about two brothers torn apart by this nefarious group.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

It’s been pretty obvious for several years that Scientology leader David Miscavige was dealing with lagging recruitment and a drop in overall membership, and so he focused on convincing wealthy donors to give more, and to spend that money on buildings.

As long as the whales could be convinced that Scientology was still “expanding” — at least in real estate — the money would keep coming in and the lack of interest in Scientology by the public would be papered over.

And this year, Dave seems to have picked up the pace, not only with his “Ideal Org” program, but other projects as well.

The latest Ideal Org opened in San Juan, Puerto Rico in February.

At the L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Event in March, Dave’s presentation seemed to imply that St. Louis, New Haven, and Manchester, England would be coming on line next.

But then observers noticed that the building in Montreal that Scientology had purchased is getting a facelift…

One of our readers went by this week to take a closer look.

The permit is for external work only. I discovered that the interior had been gutted when they bought it in 2007.

It had been a newspaper headquarters with the printing presses in the basement. The Université du Québec à Montréal, the previous owners, intended to make student housing and removed the floors to extract the giant presses. They hit a big financial crisis and sold seven buildings, including this one.

Atwill-Morin do masonry and external renovation. Whether Miscavige goes further than the street facades, we will have to wait and see. Canada’s population of Scientologists, per the last census is a tad over 1,300, down from over 1,700 a decade before.

The Toronto and Winnipeg Ideal Org buildings are as forlorn and abandoned. Who knows what prompts Dave to do Montreal?

But it’s not only Ideal Orgs that Dave is putting money into. It’s become obvious that the “Advanced Orgs” are also getting new properties. Why?

In 2023, the Los Angeles campus acquired a derelict church on Sunset Boulevard. It wasn’t obvious why, or what Dave was going to do with it.

Then, in 2025, Dave paid $26 million to nearly double the size of the advanced org in Copenhagen, Denmark by purchasing the building next door.

And now, the church is boasting about it and looking for people to staff it.

Then, this week, another purchase and another grand opening. In Los Angeles, it was announced that Scientology had paid $16 million for the shuttered Mama Shelter Hotel, which the church had previously owned when it was the Hotel Wilcox.

And in Clearwater, the Flag Land Base got a new place for visiting Scientologists to stay with the grand opening of the Oceanview, a former condo tower at 300 N. Jones Street.

And meanwhile, we told you we had noticed that there’s construction going on at the advanced org in South Africa, with some kind of building going up in the shadow of Castle Kyalami.

We have now heard from a local, who told us this about the project…

I can confirm that the building is indeed the Div 6 wing. While I was at Joburg North, we were briefed on plans for Castle Kyalami to have dedicated spaces for delivering introductory services to opinion leaders. Often, sending them to the understaffed neighboring Class V orgs didn't create the desired effect, so the decision was made to deliver those Div 6 courses directly at the Castle.

“Div 6” refers to the way Scientology facilities are organized, with Division 6 being tasked with interacting with the general public and bringing new people into the fold. That’s not usually the business of an advanced org, which is for only the most dedicated and experienced (and wealthy) Scientologists. But as our tipster explains, the regular orgs in the country weren’t doing a good enough job of that, and they are going to try it at the castle.

Well, that’s interesting. The advanced orgs tack on new buildings, the ribbons drop and the confetti flies, and Dave continues to fascinate the whales so they keep forking over the big bucks.

And what’s to stop him?

IT’S HERE: The ‘Brothers Broken’ general release!

Geoff Levin’s documentary about reuniting with his brother Robbie after Scientology tore them apart is being released today! Go grab your copy right now!

To celebrate, Geoff sent us this song to thank everyone who helped him along the way.

Full disclosure: Your proprietor is in the movie, because Geoff gives us credit for helping him pull himself back from the brink as he was leaving Scientology and nearly lost his life because of it. He became a major part of the Underground Bunker community as he righted his life and finally made a new connection with his brother.

We hope you give this movie a look, and let us know what you think about it.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

We’re fortunate to have appellate attorney TX Lawyer at the Underground Bunker to help us understand Scientology litigation.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with him!

— The Proprietor

Read more

In February, we learned that Nancy Cartwright, the Cardones, and Tom Cummins had made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago and posed for a photo there.

We figured it was the latest attempt by Scientology’s bigwigs to curry favor with the Trump administration, something that founder L. Ron Hubbard referred to as “safe-pointing.”

For more than a year we’ve been pointing out the numerous connections between wealthy Scientologists like Trish Duggan and John P. Coale with the White House. And maybe the best safe-pointing the church had going for it during this presidency was Attorney General Pam Bondi, a longtime friend of Scientology since her days as Florida’s AG. But with her sacking, there’s more incentive than ever to curry favor with the White House.

So we couldn’t help raising an eyebrow when one of our readers passed along some interesting images that showed up on the social media feed of an apparently up-and-coming Scientology public affairs minion who works out of the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida.

Dakota Egloff lists herself as the Social Betterment Director at Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, which is the outfit that runs Flag.

And on April 16, she, along with minor Scientology celebrity Kerri Kasem, got gussied up and went to Mar-a-Lago for the We The People Gala 2026.

Dakota is on the right in this photo, and Kerri is in the middle. We’d appreciate some help identifying the gents.

Here they are at their table at the event, which you can see was quite well attended, with the minimum individual ticket at $1,500 and VIP tickets and sponsorships ranging from $15,000 to $250,000, all of which were sold out.

Again, we’d appreciate some help identifying the others at the table besides Dakota and Kerri.

The event called itself, “America’s Most Exclusive Patriotic Gala of the Decade. An unforgettable black-tie evening at the world-renowned Mar-a-Lago Club, celebrating 250 years of the United States of America and honoring the heroes who defend her.”

It featured numerous speakers, including Florida US Representatives Cory Mills and Brian Mast.

But the real star of the evening was Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran, who leapfrogged to his position of prominence after being among those protecting then candidate Trump during the Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt in July 2024.

And imagine what a thrill it was for Dakota and Kerri to get to meet the man himself.

Dakota’s caption:

It was an honor to meet Mr. Stephen G. Leighton (Deputy Chief of Staff for Congressman Brian Mast) and he was gracious enough to introduce Kerri Kasem and I to Mr. Sean M. Curran (United States Secret Service Director). What these two men are doing for their country is truly inspiring! AND the Director got his own copy of The Way to Happiness!!!

Mission accomplished.

That’s Leighton on the left, Curran in the middle, but we don’t know who the woman is between Curran and Dakota.

We can only wonder what Curran thought of his copy of The Way to Happiness, Scientology’s anodyne “moral code.”

We hear he’s feeling some heat after Saturday night’s White House Correspondents Dinner and the security lapses that were exposed after a gunman charged into the Washington Hilton.

If he’s the latest to get tossed, perhaps he can hit up Dave for a job.

Bonus items from our tipsters

Grant Cardone’s twin brother Gary indulges in some Holocaust denial on social media…

TX Lawyer on Scientology’s response in the trafficking lawsuit!

Today at noon Eastern subscribers will receive a special podcast episode featuring appellate attorney TX Lawyer.

We’re offering this podcast as thanks to our subscribers for helping to support the work we do here at the Underground Bunker.

ONE day to go: The ‘Brothers Broken’ general release!

On April 28, Geoff Levin’s documentary about reuniting with his brother Robbie after Scientology tore them apart is being released to the general public on April 28, and you can order your copy right now!

Full disclosure: Your proprietor is in the movie, because Geoff gives us credit for helping him pull himself back from the brink as he was leaving Scientology and nearly lost his life because of it. He became a major part of the Underground Bunker community as he righted his life and finally made a new connection with his brother.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

Once again we discussed the week’s revelations with our gang of jokers and degraders.

It’s all the enturbulation you could want!

— The Proprietor

Read more

You may have seen some news stories recently about the Church of Scientology buying another Hollywood property, this time paying $16 million for the former Mama Shelter hotel and its well known rooftop bar, which closed down in 2025.

When we saw the photos in those stories, we suddenly remembered: We’ve been on that rooftop with some very prominent ex-Scientologists, and for a very good reason!

What those recent news stories didn’t mention was that this isn’t the first time Scientology has owned this particular building.

It was once known as the Hotel Wilcox, and Scientology owned it in the 1970s and used it as berthing for its most dedicated “Sea Org” employees.

“The fabulous Wilcox Hotel, home of the half-ton cockroach. That’s what I call it,” Spanky Taylor tells us.

It was Spanky who invited us to lunch on the rooftop along with Janis Gillham Grady, Tory Christman, and other former Scientologists on a sunny day in 2019.

They marveled at how the French company, Mama Shelter, had renovated the place after what a dump it had been in the 1970s.

We called Spanky yesterday to remind her of that day, and to tell her that Scientology once again owned the building.

She says that in the 70s, it was used as berthing for the Sea Org workers who staffed the Hollywood Celebrity Centre, which in those days was on La Brea, before it moved to the Manor Hotel that it inhabits today.

Spanky lived at the Wilcox for about four years, and she says it was walking distance from the Celebrity Centre.

Yvonne Gillham, the well-known founder of the Celebrity Centre, also berthed at the Wilcox.

“She lived in the room next to me,” Spanky says.

On the ground floor was the galley, where the Sea Org workers were given pretty dubious meals.

“In the basement, they found some tins of Survival Crackers, and they actually fed them to us when the food allocation was low,” Spanky says.

“They looked like Graham crackers but they were grey and tasted like cement, and they blew up in your stomach,” Spanky says.

Another former Sea Org worker who lived at the Wilcox agreed with Spanky that the food was terrible. And often, Spanky and the others were up all night with “QM” for “quartermaster,” an L. Ron Hubbard dictate that was supposed to simulate standing watch all night on a ship deck. Spanky says at the Wilcox they would not have much to do except to log the people coming and going at all hours of the night.

Little sleep, bad food, big cockroaches. It wasn’t a posh life. But the other former Sea Orger says that Yvonne knew how to siphon off a little of the misery.

“Yvonne had a rule, she knew we were starving and had no money. If she had to deprive us of sleep to stay up all night, we got food. If she had to deprive us of food, we got sleep,” she says.

The hotel’s grittiness did appeal to Hollywood, Spanky says. When local production crews filming a TV series needed a setting in a New York tenement, they’d use the building. One crew even offered to help her “escape.” But escape from what, she thought at the time.

Spanky also remembers that Yvonne had a separate dining room on the ground floor for her Celebrity Centre guests, and on occasion celebrities would come by.

“Chick Corea. Wings Hauser. And some others,” Spanky says “And when they were there we’d get better food.”

On that day in 2019 when we went to the new version of the place, Spanky got a tour, and marveled at how it had been fixed up by Mama Shelter. The rooms were styled on a Star Wars theme. The galley downstairs was now a night club. And the rooftop bar was delightful. It’s a shame that it shut down last year.

What will Scientology do with it now that the place is back in their hands? We can’t wait to find out.

Images from yesterday’s grand opening in Clearwater

The Flag Land Base got a new addition yesterday, and folks were on hand for the ribbon-cutting.

Said one Scientologist: “Went to the grand opening tonight of the Clearview Apartment-Hotel next to the Advanced Org in Clearwater. It is a beautiful option for long term stays where you want to bring the family or just have a full sized accommodation at Flag.”

Phil and Patty join us on Group Therapy!

Today at noon Eastern subscribers will receive Episode 166 of our special podcast series, “Group Therapy.”

We discuss the week’s revelations with our gang of jokers and degraders, including Patty Moher and Phil Jones!

It’s all the enturbulation you could want!

We’re offering this series as thanks to our subscribers for helping to support the work we do here at the Underground Bunker.

TWO days to go: The ‘Brothers Broken’ general release!

On April 28, Geoff Levin’s documentary about reuniting with his brother Robbie after Scientology tore them apart is being released to the general public on April 28, and you can order your copy right now!

Full disclosure: Your proprietor is in the movie, because Geoff gives us credit for helping him pull himself back from the brink as he was leaving Scientology and nearly lost his life because of it. He became a major part of the Underground Bunker community as he righted his life and finally made a new connection with his brother.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

This story was first published at The Underground Bunker on December 14, 2017. We consider it one of our most important stories ever about Scientology, and we decided to find room for it here at our Substack so it will have an ad-free archival home. — T.O.

In 2014, while we were working on our book about Paulette Cooper, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, we got a fascinating break.

A researcher who was helping us said that he had managed to track down Michael Meisner.

For those of us who study Scientology’s history, it’s a name that has always been shrouded in mystery. We have often wondered what happened to the super spy who carried out much of the legendary Snow White Program, the largest domestic infiltration of the U.S. federal government in its history, on behalf of Scientology’s infamous original spy wing, the Guardian’s Office.

Meisner was born in Chicago in 1950, and was a college student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign when he became interested in the Scientology mission there in November 1970. He was later trained for the Guardian’s Office and then was sent to Washington DC in 1973 as L. Ron Hubbard’s Snow White Program was going into effect around the world.

Meisner became responsible for a stunning amount of burglarizing in Washington DC federal agencies, as we explain at some length in our book.

But then, one of the FBI’s first female agents, a woman named Christine Hansen, answered a call about a pair of suspicious characters at a DC law library on June 11, 1976. She questioned the men, Michael Meisner and his partner, Gerald Wolfe, and then let them go, but later realized they had given her false information. By pure luck, on June 30 she ran into Wolfe again at the IRS headquarters and put him under arrest.

Scientology sent Meisner into hiding in Los Angeles as they watched what would happen with Wolfe, and then put Meisner under guard when he became impatient.

A year later, in June 1977, Meisner escaped his Scientology guards and turned himself in to the FBI. Three weeks after that, on July 8, 1977, the FBI served search warrants at three Scientology locations in DC and Los Angeles in what was the largest raid in FBI history.

Meisner then served as a witness as the Justice Department prosecuted and got convictions for eleven top Scientology officials, including Hubbard’s wife, Mary Sue.

And then, Meisner vanished.

Now, our researcher told us where he was living, and showed us how he knew this was the same Michael J. Meisner, born August 8, 1950, who had attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and who had turned witness for the FBI.

We sent a letter to Meisner and called him, asking if he’d be interested in speaking to us for our book, and hoping that he would — one of the things that we were trying to do in Miss Lovely was get multiple perspectives on the operations that had been aimed at Paulette Cooper.

Meisner claimed we had the wrong guy, and told us not to call him again.

We let the matter rest for several years.

But now, we are bringing it up for multiple reasons. First, because we obtained the FBI file on former Clearwater mayor Gabe Cazares, which we made public Tuesday. It was Meisner who told the FBI about the details of Scientology’s plot to ruin Cazares with a bizarre hit-and-run accident in DC in 1976.

And also, in the years since we first contacted Meisner, one of our excellent helpers, researcher Eivol Ekdal, has tracked down photographs of Meisner which helped us learn how he managed to transform himself and his life in almost unbelievable ways.

After he provided testimony in the Snow White case and then obtained a new identity in a witness protection program, Michael Meisner went back to school, got an engineering degree, and then by 1981 found work in, of all places, the nuclear power industry.

He started out as a licensing engineer with the company that became Entergy in New Orleans, then moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1988 at the Grand Gulf nuclear power station. By 1996, he was the director of licensing for five Entergy nuclear power plants, and then he became president of the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company in 1998 and then its chief nuclear officer.

His rise was meteoric, and it was all done under his original name. (He apparently only used the assumed identity for his return to college.) From 1997 to 2005, Meisner oversaw the decommissioning and deconstruction of the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant in Wiscasset, and then retired.

And almost as surprising, we learned that Meisner’s sister, Mary Jo Meisner, became well known as a newspaper reporter and editor — she was city editor of the Washington Post from 1987 to 1991, editor in chief of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel from 1993 to 1997 and a vice president of the prestigious Boston Foundation from 2001 to 2016. Three times, she was a judge for the Pulitzer Prizes. Today, she teaches at Harvard. But she sure sat on one hell of a story during all that time.

Fascinated that Mike Meisner felt so secure that he had gone back to his original name, we hoped he would talk to us about his amazing second life. But he’s not interested.

By 2014, we knew about Meisner’s career, and his job running Maine Yankee. And we even found a video of him being interviewed about the plant. Here’s what he looked like in recent years…

Our helper, Ekdal, kept digging, hoping to find photos of Meisner as a younger man. According to the Justice Department, Meisner had gone to a parochial high school. After some research and some educated guesswork, Ekdal managed to figure out which private Catholic school Meisner had attended in Illinois.

With that information, we located a yearbook on eBay, and purchased it so we could get a copy of Meisner’s junior year 1967 photo…

Ekdal kept digging, and he hit paydirt again. He found Meisner’s 1980 college yearbook after the former Scientologist went back to school for a nuclear engineering degree at the University of Wisconsin. At this point, he was using the name “Jeffrey Nelson.”

We showed the University of Wisconsin photograph, which would have been taken about four years after his work as a Scientology spy, to two former Scientologists who worked with Meisner at the DC Scientology org. One of them said he was “pretty sure” it was the Meisner they knew, the other said she was “almost certain.”

And now, all three photos together, so you can see the progression of Meisner through the years, in 1967 (age 16), 1980 (age 29), and circa 2010 (age 60)…

And just a few weeks ago, Meisner made a presentation, “Minimizing Nuclear Power Plant Long-Term Liability Through Decommissioning” at an international conference in St. Petersburg, Russia. Here was the photo from the program…

It’s amazing to us that Meisner went from spying for Scientology, to state’s witness, to running a nuclear power plant in Maine.

“I think he came to us from Entergy, which took over plant operations around 1994,” says David Flanagan, who was a member of Maine Yankee’s board of directors when Meisner was running the company. “It seemed to me that he was a knowledgeable and conscientious guy. I have a favorable impression.”

We asked Flanagan if he had any idea that the president of Maine Yankee was the FBI’s witness in the largest prosecution of domestic espionage in the country’s history.

He said he didn’t.

“I find that surprising,” he said.

It is an impressive transformation, and we wish that Meisner would talk to us about it.

But for now, we finally have photos of the man who helped put Mary Sue Hubbard in prison, and who was at least partly responsible for L. Ron Hubbard spending his final years in hiding.

What a legacy.

Saturday Bonus Stories: We’ve been posting some of our favorite articles from the past that are becoming hard to find on other platforms. Some of them are about Scientology and some of them are not. We hope you find them interesting.

Phoenix New Times (1995-1999): The cosmic life of Robert Burnham Jr. | The real story of Comet Hale-Bopp’s discovery | Interview with the Viper | Cult Buster: The Rick Ross story | On the road with the Pistoleros

New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002): Battling Babe-Hounds: When two dating gurus took their mutual hate to a courtroom | Sex, Spies, and Videotape: Channel 13 and the CIA ‘sex slave’ | Kevin MacDonald on anti-Semitism and DNA | Double Crossed, the Graham Berry story

The Village Voice (2007-2012): Secrets of the Super Power Building | Scientology and oiliness | The strange death of Flo Barnett | ‘Tom Cruise Worships David Miscavige Like a God’: The Jean Brousseau interview | How Scientology spied on Tom Cruise | Why Annie Broeker had to die in secret | Tommy Davis secretly recorded

The Underground Bunker (2012-2022): Scientology’s Master Spies | L. Ron Hubbard’s 1960 talk supporting apartheid | How Scientology broke up Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers | The full set of 1997 Secret Lives outtakes about L. Ron Hubbard | Rare tape reveals origin of Scientology’s space cooties | Jefferson Hawkins has your roadmap out of Scientology | Scientology’s ultimate prize: The current ‘OT 8’ materials | David Miscavige’s military ribbons decoded! | Marty Rathbun’s curious career as church rebel | Secrets on a Scientology spy’s laptop | L. Ron Hubbard’s darkest war secret

THREE days to go: The ‘Brothers Broken’ general release!

On April 28, Geoff Levin’s documentary about reuniting with his brother Robbie after Scientology tore them apart is being released to the general public on April 28, and you can order your copy right now!

Full disclosure: Your proprietor is in the movie, because Geoff gives us credit for helping him pull himself back from the brink as he was leaving Scientology and nearly lost his life because of it. He became a major part of the Underground Bunker community as he righted his life and finally made a new connection with his brother.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now

How great it was to hear from Going Clear star Hana Whitfield, Scientology’s former “Deputy Commodore” and one of the most interesting former top executives to leave the organization.

She was reacting to a flier we posted with Scientology’s announcement that the newest L. Ron Hubbard shrine is having its grand opening today in Las Palmas, on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.

Scientology leader David Miscavige revealed at the Hubbard birthday event last month that Ron’s Canary Islands villa, where in 1967 he wrote the Xenu hilarity that became “OT 3,” had been purchased and renovated as a shrine, joining other properties that Hubbard lived in during his life.

We thought it was a bit outré for Scientology to restore this property: As Jon Atack explained to us, Ron told his wife Mary Sue in a letter that he was hopped up on various illicit substances while he was there, dreaming up the wild Xenu stuff. We thought Miscavige was taking a bit of a risk turning this place into a shrine, compared to the more staid properties in New Jersey and Phoenix that were associated with Hubbard’s early Dianetics days.

But then we heard from Hana, who had another reason why this is a pretty questionable move by Miscavige.

Namely, that she actually visited Hubbard at the villa in 1967, and it looked nothing like Miscavige’s restoration!

“I saw Hubbard’s villa in Las Palmas in August or September 1967, when the Avon River was undergoing her refit. Jill van Staden, Avon’s Supercargo and my boss, took Hubbard his mail daily and picked up his outgoing mail. She went on a mission and appointed me to do the daily run,” Hana tells us.

“Villa Estrella sat on a cliff south of the city of Las Palmas. One took the coast road, a simple paved two-lane road south out of the city, for a few miles along the cliff. The moon-shaped driveway in and out of the villa was just dirt and small pebbles with some small plant growth on the sides. The building was one story, and looked like a typical Spanish hacienda or home. Outside walls were a light brown-beige color. Roof, I think, was tiled. It wasn’t pretentious, just a normal Spanish home.

“Hubbard was standing in the small portico or covered entrance, leaning on one wall. Smiling. Squinting at the sunlight. From the entrance, I stepped into a wide passage that branched in two directions. To the right was, I think, a dining room with another passage that led off elsewhere. On the left was a large living room, with a sofa, easy chairs, a coffee table in the middle, and other furniture I don’t remember.

“The inside of the house was a sort of cream color, quiet, with no contrasting colors that stood out. Only muted, soft, beiges, creams, and browns. On the north side of the room was a window that stretched clear from one side to the other. The view was breathtaking; nothing, literally, but ocean. The villa sat to the edge of the cliff, because I could not see the beach or even the land just outside the window. All I saw was ocean.

“I remember gasping at the view. And hearing Hubbard chuckle. I walked to the window and looked to the west, thinking I would see Las Palmas. But I could not. I’ll never forget how utterly insignificant I felt when I saw that overwhelming expanse of ocean, so close when I was standing at the window that it was almost in my lap. And almost close enough to touch if I reached just a bit more.”

What a vivid picture Hana paints!

But she reiterated to us that the villa she visited was a simple Spanish-style home, and not really anything like what she can see in the photos that Scientology is promoting.

“This Beverly Hills-style white monstrosity looks nothing like the 1967 Villa Estrella,” she says. “That curved window looking out onto the ocean did not exist in 1967, and neither did the white wall along the cliff edge.”

Is it even the same property? Hana can’t say for certain that this is the same house, but if it is, Miscavige has had it “restored” to a condition that doesn’t even resemble how it looked when Hubbard was actually scribbling the Xenu fantasy.

But she thinks Miscavige may have a reason for giving the villa a new look. It might not be accurate as history, but it does capture the science-fiction feel of what Hubbard was up to at the time, she says.

“Hubbard was deep into researching and putting the finishing touches on OT 3 at the time, and dropping hints of Xenu, the Markab Confederation, and space-age stuff in his issues and talks,” she says. “It makes sense to me that the building has a stark white-space-age feel, even including a telescope for Hubbard to watch the Invaders coming to Earth. All that was in Hubbard’s mind at the time he was getting the Avon River seaworthy to do his whole track recall mission, find his treasure, and release OT 3 on Jan 1, 1968, in (what he was dreaming it would be) his new Mediterranean OT Base in Valencia, Spain.”

And if the new look reflects Hubbard’s celestial obsessions, Miscavige may have his own reasons for re-imagining the past.

“I think that DM is using this space-age, galactic imagery to lure more whales into Scientology. DM appears to be having some success with getting OT 3 completions. It’s clear to me that he’s focusing on getting more OT 3 completions in an effort to counter the overwhelming former Scientologist and public reaction that OT 3 is nothing more than a look into the Old Man’s crazy mind.”

Selling wealthy donors on learning about the space cooties infesting them (which is what they learn on OT 3), could very well be part of the reason Dave is opening up this new shrine.

We suspect, however, that he won’t be present at today’s party. For some reason, Miscavige has not showed up for the previous “historic properties” that the church opened in Arizona, New Jersey, and Zimbabwe.

Is a Canary Islands monument to Xenu exotic enough for Dave to make the scene? We look forward to seeing the subsequent slide show.

And thank you to Hana for giving us that great glimpse of the Great Thetan in 1967!

Another grand opening for Scientology in Clearwater

In 2019, the Tampa Bay Times put together a slide show of all the properties that the Church of Scientology owned in Clearwater, Florida, including a number of places that weren’t being used.

One of them was this empty condo tower at 300 N. Jones Street, photographed by Douglas R. Clifford…

We’re not sure what the church is going to do with it, but this building is now getting its grand opening today, according to a message forwarded to us by one of our readers…

Grand opening of the Ocean View Hotel religious retreat on Osceola on Saturday afternoon!

This Saturday, April 25th is the Grand Opening of the Oceanview Religious Retreat!

Come be part of this celebration of Flag’s newest retreat for all Scientologists.

The Oceanview is located on 300 Jones St — right next to the Flag AO and the Osceola Religious Retreat.

Arrive at 5:00pm for the pre-opening festivities, including an incredible, complimentary spread of food, refreshments, activities and more. The Ribbon cutting will be happening around 7 pm.

There will be activities for the kids too, including a bouncy house, balloon man and much more.

Bring your family and friends!

Hey, if you happen to be in the area, we’d love some photos from the scene!

Later today, a bonus story gets the Substack treatment

Today at noon, we’re going to post a story here that we originally published at The Underground Bunker in 2017.

We had managed to track down one of Scientology’s all-time most famous and elusive spies, and a central figure in the Snow White Program.

As part of our Saturday bonus story program, we decided to bring this article over to our Substack so it has an easier-to-read, ad-free archival home. Whether it’s new to you or not, we look forward to your thoughts about it.

THREE days to go: The ‘Brothers Broken’ general release!

On April 28, Geoff Levin’s documentary about reuniting with his brother Robbie after Scientology tore them apart is being released to the general public on April 28, and you can order your copy right now!

Full disclosure: Your proprietor is in the movie, because Geoff gives us credit for helping him pull himself back from the brink as he was leaving Scientology and nearly lost his life because of it. He became a major part of the Underground Bunker community as he righted his life and finally made a new connection with his brother.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

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Former Scientology Sea Org workers Gawain and Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris, who live in Australia, recently went public in court documents with damning descriptions of what they were put through during 15 days of Scientology “religious arbitration” that began in Clearwater, Florida on January 19 before they refused to continue and walked away, and then asked Tampa federal Judge Thomas Barber to intervene.

It was Judge Barber who forced the labor trafficking lawsuit into Scientology’s brand of arbitration, agreeing (reluctantly) with the church’s argument that contracts signed by the three former workers obliged them to take their grievances about working like slaves aboard the church’s cruise ship, the Freewinds, to Scientology’s internal justice procedures, and not to a court of law.

But after 15 days of what they say was a ludicrous, one-sided and completely unfair proceeding, and with their attorneys prevented from being present with them during the sessions, Valeska and the Baxters submitted a motion to reconsider, asking Judge Barber to change his mind about forcing them into such an abusive process.

Last week, we showed you declarations by Valeska and the Baxters in full, as well as a sworn statement by a New York psychologist who was called as an expert witness by the plaintiffs, and another declaration by Dennis Nolan, a South Carolina law professor and arbitration expert who said, “Over my half-century of research, teaching and practice in this field, I have never encountered a system less worthy of the title of arbitration.”

Now, Scientology has answered these allegations with a broadside of their own, written by attorneys Jeffrey Steinfeld and Charles Harris. Steinfeld has been added to numerous cases of Scientology litigation in recent weeks, and he appears to be the replacement for William Forman, Scientology’s chief litigator who recently was appointed as a judge at Los Angeles Superior Court by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Steinfeld and Harris once again reminded Judge Barber that the US Constitution bars a court from sitting in judgment of how a church runs its own internal affairs. (This was very predictable.) And they also reveal for the first time what Valeska and the Baxters are asking for in damages: $845 million.

It was also predictable that the Scientology’s attorneys would portray the arbitration as thorough and detailed, not one-sided, and that if the plaintiffs had only stuck around, it would have been completed by the end of the fourth week.

Over the course of 15 days of arbitration, the allegations underlying Plaintiffs’ claims were tested by the testimony of 35 witnesses and nearly 400 exhibits. Plaintiffs presented expert testimony, posed hundreds of questions, and had continuous access to as many as four attorneys present in a private conference room. On February 6, the Panel confirmed the arbitration would resume on February 9, with important witnesses still to be heard. Despite knowing this, Plaintiffs unilaterally abandoned the arbitration and filed their Motion, in lieu of a motion to confirm or vacate a final award—the remedy provided by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”).

In other words, Valeska and the Baxters will be free to file a motion for court relief after the arbitration is completed, but that hasn’t happened yet, and so, the Scientology attorneys argue, it’s improper for them to be asking for the court’s help at at this stage.

Also, very predictably, Scientology is relying on the fact that its arbitrators not only won’t allow the claimants to bring their attorneys with them, but also won’t allow recording devices or a transcript to be created. So, without an official record of what took place, they can say that everything Valeska and the Baxters allege happened in the room simply didn’t.

Plaintiffs’ Motion is founded on a false narrative of what occurred during the arbitration, which commenced on January 19, 2026, and remains open. In truth, the arbitration offered the parties a full and fair opportunity to present all claims, witnesses, and evidence.

As for how long the arbitration was taking, Scientology blames the Baxters themselves for at least part of the reason it was taking so long when the Baxters said they wanted to review what was in their “ethics” files, and took two full days to do it.

But, Scientology argues, since the three plaintiffs then walked away after 15 days, the arbitration remains open, and federal law bars judicial review of an ongoing arbitration.

And anyway, they argue, each of the specific complaints that the claimants are making — that the panel is made up only of Scientologists in good standing, that their attorneys weren’t allowed in the room, that a transcript isn’t being kept — are not new, and were all argued previously.

Valeska and the Baxters complained in their motion that when they asked if the panel would be applying concepts from federal law, the panel, led by hardcore Scientology minion Cathy Fraser, said that instead they would be following “Scientology law.”

Steinfeld and Harris dispute this, saying that the claimants were told that it was “Scientology procedure” the panel would be following, which is consistent with what was in Judge Barber’s order forcing the case into the church’s justice system.

Plaintiffs’ prospective waiver argument rests on alleged statements made during an arbitration they chose not to complete. By abandoning the proceedings, Plaintiffs prevented the Panel from issuing findings or applying any law. They cannot now ask this Court to adjudicate an incomplete process, because the Panel speaks through its final award, not through Plaintiffs’ characterization of alleged interim remarks.

Scientology also took a shot at the South Carolina law professor, Dennis Nolan, pointing out that he is an expert in secular arbitration, but that doesn’t make him an expert in religious arbitration.

And again, they reminded the court that it has no business passing judgment on Scientology’s internal justice procedures.

Plaintiffs ask the Court to evaluate the Church’s internal arbitration procedures and determine that they are inadequate when measured against secular norms. That is precisely what the First Amendment forbids... Courts may not second-guess decisions grounded in religious rule, custom, or law.

Once again, in other words, Judge Barber should realize that his hands are tied as long as the arbitration has not been completed.

In sum, Plaintiffs ask this Court to invalidate the arbitration agreements because the chosen forum does not resemble commercial arbitration. That is not a basis for reconsideration. It is the consequence of the parties’ agreements

Of course, as we’ve seen in Valerie Haney’s 15 days of arbitration, and in the 15 days for the Baxters and Valeska, much of that time was spent by arbitrators focusing on Sea Org records that seemed designed to intimidate and harass the plaintiffs, and not on their legal claims. In both lawsuits, the Scientology arbitrators are saying they need a few more days to present more of this kind of “evidence,” to hear more witnesses, etc.

But will they ever reach the end of these proceedings and produce rulings? Especially when Scientology, again in these new documents, recognizes that when the arbitrations are actually finished, Valerie Haney and Valeska Paris will finally have the right to appeal to a higher court.

What incentive does Scientology have to ever conclude these kangaroo courts?

FOUR days to go: The ‘Brothers Broken’ general release!

On April 28, Geoff Levin’s documentary about reuniting with his brother Robbie after Scientology tore them apart is being released to the general public on April 28, and you can order your copy right now!

Full disclosure: Your proprietor is in the movie, because Geoff gives us credit for helping him pull himself back from the brink as he was leaving Scientology and nearly lost his life because of it. He became a major part of the Underground Bunker community as he righted his life and finally made a new connection with his brother.

The HowdyCon agenda!

The first wave of tickets have now officially sold out, but don’t worry, more will be released soon. In the meantime, we are excited to announce the agenda for this year’s event. The full list of talks is on view at the convention website!

HowdyCon will be taking place at multiple venues throughout New London, CT and in order to minimize potential interference from Scientology, the details will be shared exclusively with those who have purchased a ticket.

Want to help?

Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special podcast series…

Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars discussing the week’s news, which drops each Sunday at noon.

Also, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com. Find us at Threads: tony.ortega.1044 and Bluesky: @tonyortega.bsky.social

For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org

And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.

Subscribe now