AUG.14.78 ~ Operation: 'Snow White' [news archive]

11 Scientologists Indicted in Theft of Gov't Documents
[reprint from Lewiston Daily Sun image]

AUG.14.78 (Washington) ~ A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted 11 members of the Church of Scientology, including the wife of the church's founder, on charges of stealing government documents and bugging government offices.

Named in the indictment was Mary Sue Hubbard, wife of L. Ron Hubbard, founder and head of the church.

The government's case is based in part on the FBI's raid on July 8, 1977, of the church's offices in Washington and Los Angeles in which hundreds of thousands of documents were seized.

In the indictment Tuesday, the government charged that the Scientologists planted agents in the government to find out about investigations of the church.

For example, the indictment charged that for one month in 1976, Sharon Thomas, an alleged agent of the church, stole documents from the office of Paul Figley, an attorney with the Justice Department's civil division.

The Scientologists have said they made copies of government documents, after being refused the material under the Freedom of Information Act, in order to counteract what they claim has been a government campaign of harassment begun more than 20 years ago.

The indictment charged that another Scientology agent, Gerald Bennett Wolfe, who the indictment says was also known as "Silver" and "Kelly", infiltrated the Internal Revenue Service as a clerk.

The indictment charged that the Scientologists planted an electronic eavesdropping device in an IRS conference room in 1974 and recorded a meeting that dealt with the Scientologists' application for tax-exempt status.

The government's case also relies in part on the cooperation of a former church official, Michael Meisner, who was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the indictment.

The other church members who were charged in the indictment are:
Jane Kember of Sussex, England; Morris Budlong of Sussex; the Rev. Henning Heldt of Los Angeles, who heads an arm of the church known as the Guardian office; Duke Snider of Hollywood, Calif., head of the church's information bureau;

click for more @ LA Times

Also, Richard Weigand of Van Nuys, Calif.; Gregory Willardson of Beverly Hills, Calif.; and Mitchell Hermann of Hollywood, Calif.;, all former members of the church's staff; and Cindy Raymond of Hollywood Calif., a current staff member.

The defendants face up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines on several charges, which include conspiracy, obstruction of justice, lying to a grand jury and illegal bugging.

The indictment came as no surprise, since the Scientologists themselves said last month that they expected formal charges against at least 10 members of the church after courts had ruled that the documents seized in the church raids could be used as evidence.

Lisa McPherson Tragedy, 15 Year Anniversary [archive media]

Today marks the 15th anniversary of Lisa McPherson's death (February 10, 1959 – December 5, 1995). xenutv.com ~ Lisa was a devoted Scientologist for many years. In late 1995, she indicated to family and friends that she would be coming home to Texas. She never made it home. Instead, Lisa spent her last days confined in Scientology’s Fort Harrison Hotel.

During those 17 days, Lisa was undergoing a psychotic breakdown while under constant guard by Scientology staffers who tried to handle her with Hubbard policies. By the time they rushed her to a hospital it was too late. She had lost 40 pounds and was severely dehydrated. Lisa was pronounced dead on arrival.

Lisa's case is a good representation of the many people harmed or even killed by Scientology. Her case is well documented from court proceedings, Scientology documents, and good reporting. It's also a case that DM [David Miscavige] himself had a direct hand in, according to Marty Rathbun.

lisamcpherson.org averages about 250 visitors per day. There are many other sites that tell her story as well, so her life is remembered. Lisa's family wanted her story to be told so her fate would not happen to anyone else. Thanks to the Internet, this will be accomplished. ~ J.Jacobsen

Public Eye, CBS TV, 1/7/98
Since first attracting attention more than 30 years ago the tenets of Scientology have been reviled by critics and revered by supporters. Those same supporters have earned a fierce reputation for relentlessly using the courts to defend Scientology, ultimately gaining it tax exempt status as a recognized religion. In recent years, the church's profile has been enhanced by association with a variety of Hollywood stars, famous folks who have put a shining face on a self-styled church that's often clouded by secrecy and mistrust. All of which brings us to a lawsuit in Florida, a wrongful death suit that has pitted proponents of Scientology against the family of a young woman who died in the prime of her life. Kristin Jeannette-Meyers, herself a lawyer, details the sad end of Lisa McPherson... [complete archived transcript @ lisamcpherson.org]

Dec.11.1985 ~ Operation: 'Snow White' [news archive] [video]

[reprint from Evening Independent Editorial image]
Scientology isn't 'just another church'
Evening Independent Editorial / ISSUE: Scientology's New Claim

DEC.11.1985 (St. Petersburg) ~ Scientology takes the offensive. Its new program to sugar-coat its acidic past maintains that the organization is "just another church". The campaign to revise Scientology's checkered history may as well seek to make Spiro Agnew just another lawyer.

In Clearwater, Scientology operatives say they only want to be neighbors. Residents can be forgiven if they are more than a bit leery of such gratuitous claims. Clearwater residents, who have been remarkably tolerant of Scientology's headquarters, know the organization is anything but just another church. No other Pinellas religious organization has such a record:

• Criminality among leaders. In 1979 and 1980, nine Scientology leaders were found guilty of obstruction of justice in the burglary, bugging and planting of agents in US government offices. The third wife of Scientology founder L.Ron Hubbard, Mary Sue, was among those convicted. Hubbard remains reclusive and has not answered several court summonses. Courts have been asked to declare him dead and have refused.

• Dirty tricks. Scientology has engaged in a series of ruses and schemes in the country and elsewhere. It used nefarious tactics against former mayor, Gabe Cazares. It sought to entrap federal judge Ben Krentzman. It hired private investigators to pose as European investors and lured some Clearwater officials onto a yacht to discuss a phony proposal to invest in the city's downtown.

• Prone to lawsuits. History will surely find Scientology the most litigious group ever to pretend to be a religion. Often it sues its critics promptly, and thereby discourages further criticism.

• Front organizations. Several outfits have been created under various names to promote Scientology services. Recognized churches provide ministries and proudly use their real names in delivering the services. Scientology uses cover names as it misrepresents the fronts' real purpose, the recruitment of new members.

• Secret operations. Its records remain secret, it's leader's [Hubbard] whereabouts secret, it's tactics secret. Scientology deals in stealth.

• Unrecognized religious status [as of date of printing] The US Tax Court in September 1984 ruled that the California Church of Scientology was not tax exempt " because it operated for a substantial commercial purpose and because its net earnings benefit L.Ron Hubbard."

Earlier in 1984, an English justice, Sir John Latey, ruled that Scientology " is corrupt because it is bad on lies and deceit ... It is sinister because it indulges in infamous practices ... dangerous because it is out to capture people (and) for those of us old enough to remember, it is grimly reminiscent of the rantings and bullyings of Hitler and his henchmen."

• Commercial nature. The US Tax Court noted Scientology's "highly commercial nature, it's high annual profits and its substantial, undedicated cash reserves." The same court found that "one of its articulated goals was to make money." The first tenet of the church's "Governing Policy of Finance" formulated in 1972 was: "A. MAKE MONEY."

Only in Scientology are you told you can't enjoy the benefits of its religious exercises until you pay. Pay now, get an E-Meter later. This contrasts sharply with the religious tradition of extending services and rites and the seeking donations. Scientology called its fees for religious services "fixed donations", but they were clearly not donations but payments for services rendered, the tax court said. "Its very own worksheets do not refer to these amounts as donations but have a separate account entitled (true) 'donations' for charitable contributions."

Last month, Scientology pleaded for protections in a court on the basis that its teachings were secret under the US Trade Secrets Act, set up to protect businesses. A federal district court ruled that Scientology's secrets are the same as a private company's secrets.

But the organization is embarked on a new campaign, flush from the overturning of a $39-million fraud judgment against it in another suit. We shall all hear more of the claim that Scientology is just another church. We dare not accept it.

Evening Independent, St. Petersburg, Florida
Neil Skene, Editor / Michael Richardson, A.Editor / John Costa, M.Editor

LMT: Mike McClaughry Ex-GO on Scientology's Fair Game Policy
Mike McClaughry' blog ~ There is a missing segment of my video interviews that I did at the Lisa McPherson Trust (discussing Scientology's intelligence service, the Guardians Office or GO). I retrieved the missing segment from the Internet Archive, and uploaded it to my youtube account. I also discuss the Fair Game practice of the Church of Scientology in this segment I uploaded.

Nov.27.1980 ~ Operation: 'Snow White' [news archive]

Scientology Members Convicted of Burglary

[reprint from Lakeland Ledger image]

Nov.27.1980 (WASHINGTON DC) ~ Two high-ranking members of the Church of Scientology were convicted of burglary charges Wednesday in what the government called a widespread scheme by the church to infiltrate government offices and steal documents.

The two church members, who had been extradited earlier this year from England, were accused of ordering subordinates in Washington DC to infiltrate offices of the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department with aims of copying or stealing documents.

The controversial church has been locked in a long battle with the IRS over its tax status. A church spokesman called the convictions "an obvious vendetta" by the government.

Last December nine other members of the church, including Mary Sue Hubbard, wife of the church's founder, were found guilty of obstruction of justice and sentenced to prison terms in connection with the same alleged scheme.

Jane Kember, who is a British citizen, and Morrison Budlong, an American, stood silently and showed little emotion as the jury foreman pronounced them guilty on all nine counts of aiding and abetting burglary.

Both defendants remain free on bail while awaiting sentencing and pending a probable appeal. The nine other church members are also free on bail pending appeal of their convictions.

US District Judge Aubrey E. Robinson set the sentencing date for Dec. 19.

During the month-long trial in US District Court, Mrs. Kember and Budlong claimed they had nothing to do with the efforts by Washington-based church members to steal IRS and Justice Department documents, saying they were more than 3,000miles away.

The prosecution, however, presented to the jurors church documents and letters between the England headquarters and Washington DC office showing what the government claimed was "a common scheme and plan" showing that the two church leaders knew of, and in fact at times ordered, the thefts. They also produced a former church member, Michael Meisner, who testified that he was certain the two defendants condoned the infiltration schemes.

Dept of Justice Washington DC

Last December, two church members received prison terms after being convicted of stealing documents in federal agencies where they worked.

Sharon Thomas was convicted of taking records from the Justice Department, where she was employed as a secretary, and Gerald B. Wolfe was convicted of stealing documents while employed as a clerk-typist at the IRS. Mrs. Kember and Budlong declined to talk to reporters as they left the courtroom.

A church spokesman, Joseph Burgess, issued a statement accusing the Justice Department of "an obvious vendetta" in its pursuit of the case. "These defendants were prosecuted only because they challenged and sought to expose the Internal Revenue Service's unconstitutional activities ranging from false dossiers and intimidation to secret enemies lists.They were prosecuted because they fought back, " the statement said.

Meanwhile, Judge Robinson ordered three of the nine church members convicted last December to preform 300 hours of community service work as a result of a contempt ruling against them.

Mike McClaughry: Guardian's Office 2/05/2000
[9 videos ~ 40:45 min] Mike McClaughry, former GO agent relates his experience in Scientology's intelligence office, the Guardian Office (GO) [transcript] [playlist 9 videos]

May.20.1979 ~ Operation: 'Snow White' [news archive]

US Charges Scientology Officials With Infiltration-Theft Scheme

[reprint from Lakeland Ledger image]

May.20.1979 (LONDON) ~ The United States, attempting to extradite two Church of Scientology leaders from Great Britain, charges them with ordering US sect members to infiltrate government departments in Washington DC and steal documents, an attorney says.

Attorney David Tudor Price, representing the United States at extradition hearings here, alleged the two sect leaders - 30 year old Tampa native Morrison Budlong and British citizen Mrs. Jane Kember, born in Nairobi, Kenya - set in motion a plan that led to burglaries of the Washington DC offices of the Internal Revenue Service And the Justice Department.

Charges against them include aiding and abetting the theft of US government property, obstruction of justice, making a false declaration before a grand jury and aiding and abetting burglary.

IRS Building Washington DC

Both are wanted in the United States to stand trial along with nine other Church of Scientology members on a total of 28 charges.

Tudor Price said in court last week that the actions against the IRS and Justice Department were ordered after sect members claimed to have discovered Interpol documents about L.Ron Hubbard, who founded the organization in the United States in 1954. Interpol is the Paris-based international police organization.

Aides to Hubbard, who moved his world headquarters to suburban London in the late 1960s, say the cult is the largest mental health organization and describe its goals as the establishment of "better conditions for man and society and to create a civilization without war, criminalization and insanity."

The group claims to have more than 5 million members worldwide, including 3.5 million in the United States and more than 300,000 in Britain.

Tudor Price claims Mrs. Kember was known as "Guardian Worldwide" and controlled an operations center in East Grinstead in southern England.

Tudor Price said Mrs. Kember sent a letter in November, 1973, to "the deputy guardian in the United States telling that her (Mrs. Kember's) office had obtained Interpol documents concerning the affairs of Ron Hubbard," instructing the deputy to get hold of other documents and left it "to him how to do so."

July.09.1977 ~ Operation: 'Snow White' [news archive]

Church Tied to Theft of Federal Documents

[reprint from Daytona Beach Morning Journal image]

July.09.1977 (WASHINGTON) ~ The government accused the Church of Scientology on Friday of carrying out a wide-range and partly successful plot to infiltrate the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service and to steal hundreds of confidential government documents.

The FBI, acting on a search warrant and an affidavit detailing the allegations, raided church offices in Washington DC and Los Angeles to recover the allegedly stolen documents and to obtain any other evidence of the alleged conspiracy.

The US attorney's office in Washington DC is considering whether to bring criminal charges against church officials, a department source said.

A federal magistrate issued a search warrant on the strength of an FBI agent's sworn affidavit describing evidence primarily obtained from Michael Meisner, a former high-ranking church official who allegedly supervised covert operations until he was arrested and decided to cooperate with federal investigators.

The affidavit said Meisner is being held in protective custody at his request because he and federal officials fear for his safety.

Scientology doctrine "requires the church attack and destroy it's enemies ... and those like Meisner who leave the church," the affidavit said.

Church officials in Los Angeles, at one point, held Meisner under "house arrest," gagged and in handcuffs to prevent him from returning to Washington DC after a series of meetings with church officials in Los Angeles, the affidavit said.

On June 20, Meisner called the US attorney's office in Washington DC to say he had escaped from church officials and wished to return to face criminal charges and "cooperate in the on-going investigation," the affidavit continued.

Based on Meisner's statements and other evidence, the government said "there is probable cause to believe that from 1974 through 1976, officials of the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles and Washington DC conspired to steal documents from the government" by burglarizing federal offices.

In addition, the church planted one of its members as a clerk in the Internal Revenue Service and another as a secretary in the office of a Justice Department lawyer, the affidavit said.

Those two alleged undercover agents for the church stole scores of documents from government files, duplicated them, kept the copies in church offices, the affidavit said.

The Church of Scientology, founded in the 1950s by L.Ron Hubbard who continues as its highest officer, has become controversial for its tactics in recruiting members through what some consider hard-sell techniques.

Some former members have said the church goes to extreme lengths to prevent its disciples from renouncing the church.

IRS Building Washington DC

The church has brought a half-dozen lawsuits against the IRS, the FBI and other goverment agencies alleging that church officials were the victims of improper government surveillance and harassment.

Some of the suits concern the church's efforts to obtain government documents dealing with Scientology under the Freedom of Information Act. Thousands of documents have been turned over to the church to comply with the act.

But the affidavit by FBI agent Robert Tittle said the lawsuits were part of a strategy directed first against the IRS and later against the Justice Department.

In early 1974, Jane Kember, a church official known as the "Guardian World Wide," ordered "an all-out attack on the Internal Revenue Service which was to include the filing of lawsuits, a public relations assault as well as the actual infiltration of the IRS by agents of the church," the affidavit said.

As Guardian World Wide, Kember is based in East Grinstead, Sussex, England.