New Yorker Magazine Article Reveals FBI Probe of Scientology

This week's issue of the New Yorker magazine features a major exposé of the Church of Scientology as seen through the departure of film director Paul Haggis, a 36 year member and other significant events. Lawrence Wright provides first-hand interviews along with some interesting information on an FBI probe of the group.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - I'm sure the Church of Scientology's PR department was just placed on high alert. Lawrence Wright, author, playwrite and staff writer for the "New Yorker" magazine just profiled Paul Haggis and his exit from Scientology in this week's issue.

Catholic Online covered Haggis' departure in August of 2009, which sent a shockwave across Scientology. A noted film director and screenwriter, he was a member of the organization for 36 years. In fact, Wright documents a conversation he had about the director's future with Scientology.

"I once asked Haggis about the future of his relationship with Scientology. 'These people have long memories,' he told me. 'My bet is that, within two years, you're going to read something about me in a scandal that looks like it has nothing to do with the church.' He thought for a moment, then said, 'I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don't know why I couldn't.'"

Wright's piece, "The Apostate," is not a general summary but 24 thousand-plus words detailing more than just Haggis' research and subsequent decision to leave Scientology. The profile goes far beyond the incident with Haggis and develops a comprehensive view of Scientology, particularly in recent years. He spotlights inconsistencies in attitudes and actions of some of the key players, including Scientology's head, David Miscavige and the world's most famous Scientologist, Tom Cruise.

Scientology spokesman, Tommy Davis, is also prominent throughout the article. As the sentinel for anyone from outside who wants to enter the gates, Davis' own story is equally as intriguing.

Many of the people interviewed have been included in COL's coverage of the group so a lot of the same information is included.

There was, however, some new information that Wright brings out. We had heard rumors and unofficial reports of federal interest concerning Scientology's dealings, particularly regarding the area of human trafficking. "The Apostate" brings this investigation to greater light.

Wright's article states, "At the time Haggis was doing his research, the F.B.I. was conducting its own investigation. In December, 2009, Tricia Whitehill, a special agent from the Los Angeles office, flew to Florida to interview former members of the church in the F.B.I.'s office in downtown Clearwater, which happens to be directly across the street from Scientology's spiritual headquarters. Tom De Vocht, who spoke with Whitehill, told me, 'I understood that the investigation had been going on for quite a while.' He says Whitehill confided that she hadn't told the local agents what the investigation was about, in case the office had been infiltrated. Amy Scobee spoke to the F.B.I. for two days. 'They wanted a full download about the abuse,' she told me.

"Whitehill and Valerie Venegas, the lead agent on the case, also interviewed former Sea Org members in California. One of them was Gary Morehead, who had been the head of security at the Gold Base; he left the church in 1996. In February, 2010, he spoke to Whitehill and told her that he had developed a 'blow drill' to track down Sea Org members who left Gold Base. 'We got wickedly good at it,' he says. In thirteen years, he estimates, he and his security team brought more than a hundred Sea Org members back to the base. When emotional, spiritual, or psychological pressure failed to work, Morehead says, physical force was sometimes used to bring escapees back. (The church says that blow drills do not exist.)

"Whitehill and Venegas worked on a special task force devoted to human trafficking. The laws regarding trafficking were built largely around forced prostitution, but they also pertain to slave labor. Under federal law, slavery is defined, in part, by the use of coercion, torture, starvation, imprisonment, threats, and psychological abuse. The California penal code lists several indicators that someone may be a victim of human trafficking: signs of trauma or fatigue; being afraid or unable to talk, because of censorship by others or security measures that prevent communication with others; working in one place without the freedom to move about; owing a debt to one's employer; and not having control over identification documents. Those conditions echo the testimony of many former Sea Org members who lived at the Gold Base.

"Sea Org members who have 'failed to fulfill their ecclesiastical responsibilities' may be sent to one of the church's several Rehabilitation Project Force locations. Defectors describe them as punitive reeducation camps. In California, there is one in Los Angeles; until 2005, there was one near the Gold Base, at a place called Happy Valley. Bruce Hines, the defector turned research physicist, says that he was confined to R.P.F. for six years, first in L.A., then in Happy Valley. He recalls that the properties were heavily guarded and that anyone who tried to flee would be tracked down and subjected to further punishment. 'In 1995, when I was put in R.P.F., there were twelve of us,' Hines said. 'At the high point, in 2000, there were about a hundred and twenty of us.' Some members have been in R.P.F. for more than a decade, doing manual labor and extensive spiritual work. (Davis says that Sea Org members enter R.P.F. by their own choosing and can leave at any time; the manual labor maintains church facilities and instills 'pride of accomplishment.')"

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The entire New Yorker article can be found here.

The New Yorker magazine has joined a long list of media outlets and organizations who have spoken out concerning abuse within the Church of Scientology. Books have been written by numerous former members who have been discounted and condemned in comments by the group's leadership.

Just looking back over the postings from one outlet - Catholic Online -you will find stories where Scientology has been in trouble organizationally, morally and legally in many nations. We also covered their battle with the Daughters of St. Paul as well as a Los Angeles press conference where numerous former members of their elite squad, Sea Org, testified to mental and physical abuse. One Australian senator. Nick Xenophon, has even publicly branded the Church of Scientology as a "criminal organization" and called for a formal inquiry by the government.

The recent furor really began in June of 2009. The St. Petersburg Times blew the whistle on Scientology when they printed a three-part series called "The Truth Rundown." It was that series that caused many journalists to take another hard look at this group.

In addition, a BBC investigative reporter, John Sweeney produced a wide-ranging exposé of the Scientology for English television that went viral across the Internet. His confrontations with Davis made for interesting footage.

Lest we forget, Anonymous has served as the ever-present conscience, constantly reminding the virtual world and the real world that this group is dangerous. While many of us in journalism move from story to story and issue to issue, they keep calling us back.

Given the weight of testimony from so many of former members, the reports that have been filed in so many nations, and the evidence of abuse that keeps mounting, perhaps "The Apostate" is the tipping point for action by the United States and other governments. Those who have left and the voiceless victims still trapped inside are calling for action. 

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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