Scientology Lies

February 28, 1976: The Toronto Scientology defendants allegedly stop committing a breach of trust, according to charges laid against them. (From the charges: "CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF TORONTO, JAQUELINE MATZ and MARILYN LINDA BELAIRE, an official employed by the Metropolitan Toronto Police, STAND CHARGED THAT they, together with JOHN BRADLEY, within the period commencing on or about the 23rd day of July, 1974 and ending on or about the 28th day of February, 1976, at the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, unlawfully did commit a breach of trust in connection with the duties of the office held by MARILYN LINDA BELAIRE, in that the latter disclosed to unauthorized persons information coming to her knowledge or possession by reason of her office, contary to s.111 of the Criminal Code;") All three defendants were found not guilty on this charge.

May 11, 1976: "to halt the CW Sun publication by bypassing up the Org (organization) board to the very top ... meeting with officials there and obtaining their aid in stopping the CW Sun, which they own, from printing a booklet on Scientology." The church team met with Howard Holderness, chairman of the corporation, and later with their associate general counsel, Robert H. Koonts. Steve Heard, director of Branch I public relations for Flag, wrote Fred Rock, assistant guardian for public relations for Flag, that the team gave Koonts a copy of what the Sun had written and told him the church was not anxious to sue. [Editor's note: They had a copy of the story already!] According to Heard's report, the company's attorney "... again brought up such things as handling the 'direction of the Sun' re Scientology and added for us not to worry about the booklet." Heard concluded: "It appears that he will stop the Sun from putting out the booklet."

December 5, 1975: Guardian World Wide Jane Kember issues Guardian Program Order 158 (GPgmO 158) -- Early Warning System. Its purpose is to identify any potential lawsuit against, or subpoena for, "LRH [L. Ron Hubbard] or MSH [Mary Sue Hubbard] from a government agency or individual litigation or from any source whatever" (vital target 3) "before activation" (vital target 2) by planting of agents in dozens of different government offices. Specifically, Guardian Program Order 158 directed GO staff to place an agent into the US Attorney's Office in Washington, DC, place an agent in the IRS Office of International Operations, "6. Obtain their files on LRH/MSH and Scientology and monitor the line continuously of other actions against LRH/MSH. AG I DC", "7. Continue to monitor tightly the DEA DC, IRS DC and LA, the Coast Guard (soon to go to Immigration and Naturalization) DC. Get any present time data on LRH/MSH." Other operating targets under GPgmO 158 include moving existing agents in the District Attorney's Office in Los Angeles and the Attorney General's Office of California "into position to obtain advance warning" (Target 8); "[g]et Intell coming from Paulette Cooper, Robert Kaufman, Bernie Green, and John Sefferrn to obtain intelligence data on intended attack. AG I New York" (Target 14); "[p]lace a separate agent into the IRS Office of International Organizations (OIO) (as this office has a case preparation or investigative action going on LRH personally for income tax evasion or something similar)." and "[p]lace a very secure agent into the AMA Chicago headquarters in the best position possible to obtain data on their intended actions towards us" (Target 16).

January 18, 1976: On a Sunday evening, Scientologists Gerald Wolfe, Michael Meisner, and Don Alverzo, enter the main IRS building in Washington, D.C., between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. Wolfe signs all three into the building using his IRS identification card. From the Stipulation of Evidence (note: the Hubbard mentioned here is an IRS employee): "They proceeded to the third floor area where Mr. Zuravin's file office and Mr. Hubbard's office were located some three to four doors apart. While the defendant Wolfe stood guard at the end of the hallway, Mr. Alverzo attempted to pick the lock on Mr. Hubbard's door, and Mr. Meisner worked on Mr. Zuravin's door. After having been unsuccessful in opening these doors for approximately one to one and one-half hours, Mr. Meisner, in exasperation, hit with his fist the top of Zuravin's door, forcing it to pop open. All three individuals entered and took, without permission, the remaining Scientology-related documents which had been withheld by the IRS in FOIA litigation. They then went to another floor where all three began to photocopy these documents using United States Government equipment and resources. After a while, the defendant Wolfe took over the photocopying, while Messrs. Meisner and Alverzo returned to the third floor in a further attempt to open Mr. Hubbard's office. Finally, Mr. Alverzo, using a piece of cardboard, was able to force that door open. Then, with the assistance of the defendant Wolfe, they reviewed all Scientology-related material in Mr. Hubbard's office, and took those documents which had not been previously stolen. They then photocopied the documents, using the same IRS photocopying equipment and material and returned all documents to their respective locations. At approximately 2:00 a.m., all three men left the IRS building with a one foot high stack of stolen copies of documents. Messrs. Meisner and Alverzo proceeded to the Information Bureau offices at 2125 S Street, N.W., where they placed the documents in a secure location."

January 21, 1976: Richard Weigand writes a "compliance report," in response to a request from Henning Heldt, about Don Alverzo's mission to break into the IRS. Weigand appends a report from Acting Southeast U.S. Secretary Hermann (a/k/a Cooper). Weigand explains that he authorized the Alverzo mission because of the need to get current documents regarding Scientology, and that the District of Columbia Guardian's Office personnel was not trained to pick locks.

February 11, 1975: The Toronto Scientology defendants allegedly begin stealing documents from the law firm of Fasken & Calvin, according to charges laid against them. (From the charges: "CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF TORONTO, JAQUELINE MATZ, PAUL FRANCOIS CHARBONNEAU, JANET ELSIE WILKENS and ANNE MARIE WALSH STAND CHARGED THAT they, within the period commencing on or about the 11th day of February, 1975 and ending on or about the 2nd day of September, 1977, at the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, did steal documents, the property of the law firm of Fasken & Calvin, Barristers and Solicitors, of a value exceeding $200.00, contrary to s.294(a) of the Criminal Code;") There was a directed verdict of not guilty, since a judge ruled that ALL of the documents seized in the raids were "confessional materials" and therefore inadmissable as evidence.

May 1, 1975: Project Horn is devised by Greg Willardson (Deputy Deputy Guardian for Information) and Michael Meisner is directed to implement it. Its aim is to "provide a cover for PR [Public Relations] and legal for the way they obtained IRS docs." This project further implements Guardian Order 1361, Target 6, which already provides for the creation of a "suitable cover" to disguise the true manner in which stolen documents have been obtained from the IRS so that the Public Relations Bureau can use them without fear of being connected to the thefts. Meisner is ordered to steal documents concerning organizations other than Scientology. Thus, whenever any stolen IRS documents are later released, those other organizations will also be perceived as having received them and their publication will not point to the Church of Scientology alone. Additionally, the project orders the theft of IRS stationery so it might be used by the GO to draft false letters from a fictitious IRS employee disgruntled with the organization. Wolfe is tasked with the actual thefts and accomplishes them successfully. [May 1975; exact date unknown]

May 27, 1975: Mary Sue Hubbard writes a letter to her deputy, Jane Kember, on Scientology's "IRS Strategy". It states: Our overall strategy with the IRS shall be as follows: 1. To use any method at our disposal to win the battle and gain our non-profit status. 2. To buy all the time we can in terms of years ... So we work to win, but also to delay as time works on our side, not theirs ...

September 16, 1975: The U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York files a Nolle Prosequi which disposed of the indictment pending against Paulette Cooper.