Paulette's diary (6) Frame-up: The bomb threat letters
Paulettec
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HARASSMENT DIARY, by Paulette Cooper (1982)
Part 6: The Bomb Threat Letters
My 1997 editorial comments are enclosed in [[double square brackets]].
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The night before the main Grand Jury, which was around April,
I finally saw the two letters for the first time. They were actually
a relief, because they were so foolish and grossly ungrammatical that
it was obviously not my style. The first letter was also a very
unsubtle attempt to look like me, so that it became immediately
obvious that someone was trying to implicate me, either to get me, or
send Scientology bomb threats on their own without any risk to
themselves by trying to make it look like my doing. (1)
The first letter started "these damned books they are closing
in on me" immediately establishing that the person who wrote that was
either someone writing books, or someone with wall-to-wall bookcases
in their apartment, which was also true about me. It also said "I
hurt -- my operation" and this planted the first seeds of suspicion --
later to become an obsession -- about Nibs (L. Ron Hubbard Jr.) And
again there was that wrong reference to me that had appeared in the
smear letter to the building "my tongue is swollen."
The second letter, allegedly received Dec. 13th (although it
mysteriously never went through the mails, and suspiciously the only
fingerprints on the envelope were Meisler's we were later to learn)
planted the first seeds of suspicion about my close friend Bob
Kaufman, who had also written an anti- scientology book My lawyers
were later to become highly suspicious of him, especially because he
had had a nervous breakdown after being in scientology and had been
institutionalized. The letter sounded like him (2) but this one
sounded "more like Meisler, because it said that "Hitler - Hubbard -
Meisler must be destroyed." (I felt that the only person foolish
enough to put 'Meisler in with Hitler, or with his counterpart,
Hubbard, had to be Meisler himself
[[Footnotes:]]
(1) Gordon [[ the U.S. Prosecutor against me on this case]]*
{paid me the dubious compliment of saying he thought I did
it because the letters were so stupid that they must have been written
by an intelligent person, and he didn't think Meisler was too bright.
Gordon also had some other things to say to my lawyers that added to
my sense of frustration and rage over what was going on. When my
lawyers pointed out that I had no motive to send bomb threats since I
was then doing extremely well against Meisler and Sci in my NY suit,
[[line missing which I think said "Gordon said that people who send
bomb threats are crazy so they"]] don't need any motive. When we
pointed out that I would hardly write a letter to a building I had
just moved into to try to get myself kicked out, and because of the
"swollen tongue" the two seemed to be written by the same person
Gordon told my lawyers that people who send bomb threats are disturbed
and therefore might do anything. When we later pointed out that I
would never send anonymous letter to my parents to hurt them,
especially one that said I wasn't a good writer when they were
supporting me, we got the same argument.
The government also thought they were brilliant in concluding that the
writer of the letters was Jewish. But they kept ignoring my lawyers
when they pointed out that so was Meisler -- and if it was a frameup
of me, it would be made to look like a Jewish person.
(2) The letter sounded like Kaufman because it started off "James" and
Bob was the only one to call Jim Meisler "James." It also referred to
"a exploding volcano" which is an important image in Scientology, and
was discussed in Bob Kaufman's book. But I didn't think Bob would say
"a exploding," and anyway, he's very bright and surely knew that
volcanos erupt and not explode.
[[Prosecutors often go after cases they think will bring them publicity,
even if they have evidence that the person is innocent. After the FBI
raided Scientology and found the documents about me, and the story of the
frame-up appeared in the newspapers, a friend of mine, Dr. Stephen Barrett,
who is very active in anti-quack areas--indeed, he has an interesting web
site up in this area now-- sent the prosecutor, John Gordon the newsstories
about the frame-up. and wrote him the following:)
7/5/ 78
Dear Mr. Gordon:
Our records indicate you were the prosecuting ttorney in the criminal case
against Paulette Cooper, one of the few people in America who had the
courage to speak out against Scientology.
We assume you will be hearing more about this matter as it unfolds.
Meanwhile, you should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.
Sincerely,
Stephen Barrett, M.D.]]
Tilman Hausherr
In <19970918213...@ladder02.news.aol.com>, paul...@aol.com
(Paulettec) wrote:
>[[Prosecutors often go after cases they think will bring them publicity,
>even if they have evidence that the person is innocent. After the FBI
Yeah... although they are required to turn over all evidence to the
opposing side, that won't help if the defendant gets only allocated $800
to defend e.g. a murder case. I have also heard that the court appointed
attorney is actually paid by the prosecution.
>frame-up appeared in the newspapers, a friend of mine, Dr. Stephen Barrett,
> who is very active in anti-quack areas--indeed, he has an interesting web
It is a very interesting site indeed. It covers several quack cures
scientologists like to participate in. I recommend a look.
--
Tilman Hausherr [KoX, SP4]
til...@berlin.snafu.de http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/#cos
Resistance is futile. You will be enturbulated. Xenu always prevails.
NEW: Disenturbulate your website with "Xenu's Link Sleuth"!
http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/xenulink.html
William Barwell
In article <342d9d25...@news.snafu.de>,
Tilman Hausherr <til...@berlin.snafu.de> wrote:
>In <19970918213...@ladder02.news.aol.com>, paul...@aol.com
>(Paulettec) wrote:
>
>>[[Prosecutors often go after cases they think will bring them publicity,
>>even if they have evidence that the person is innocent. After the FBI
Part 6?
For some reason, PC's stuff is not reaching Neosoft.
Not with much regularity. I am beginning to suspect
it is something between AOL and Neosoft.
##$!@#!#!!!
Now if Neosoft would only start letting me have all of
Paulette's posts and dropping Bernie and Koos....
Pope Charles
SubGenius Pope Of Houston
Slack!
LsaDerrick
<<http://www.quackwatch.com
It is a very interesting site indeed. It covers several quack cures
scientologists like to participate in. I recommend a look.>>
What are the quask cures and schemes? I know that some chiropractors have
been lured into Scn via Sterling Mgt, but not all chiros are Scns, by a
LONG shot!
Now a little off topic:
I looked through the list of quakery and frankly, some of it is
"alternative" but I would rather take herbs, vitamins and homeopathics
than a Rxs and chemo. Plus those items listed that I have used worked for me.
BACK ON TOPIC--, sorry for the brief detour, Thanks:
Weren't there a number of multi level marketing schemes running thru Scn?
I read one SCn posting about sellin gold jewelry which would make you the
income and give you the time to move rapidly up the bridge..yikes!
Dean Benjamin
Paulette Cooper, in footnote:
> ... a friend of mine, Dr. Stephen Barrett, who is very active in
> anti-quack areas -- indeed, he has an interesting web site up in
> this area now -- sent the prosecutor, John Gordon the newsstories
> about the frame-up.
A recent book of Barrett's briefly touches on Scientology.
--
REFERENCE: Stephen Barrett, MD, and William Jarvis, PhD (editors),
"The Health Robbers", Prometheus Books, Buffalo NY (1993). Chapter
23, "The Gadgeteers", by Wallace Janssen, pp. 321-335.
pp. 330-332
Scientology and Its E-Meter
Twenty years after the Spectrochrome trial, the FDA became involved
with Scientology, another group that used a supposed healing device in
its ntuals The device, a form of galvanometer, is called the Hubbard
Electropsychometer (or "E-Meter"). Its inventor, and the founder of
Scientology, was a science fiction writer named Lafayette Ronald
Hubbard. Hubbard has reportedly said "If a man really wanted to make
a million dollars, the best way would be to stad his own religion."
An article by Hubbard in the May 1950 issue of "Astounding Science
Fiction" was such a hit that he dashed off a book-length version --
"Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Healing." Dianetics quickly
became popular, and a Dianetic Research Foundation was established at
Elizabeth, New Jersey. Practitioners trained by the Foundation set up
offfices in Hollywood, on New York City's Park Avenue, and on
Chicago's "Gold Coast." The practitioners were called "auditors" and
patients were interviewed while they reclined on couches. After a few
years, dianetics declined in popularity, but the invention of the
E-Meter and the incorporation of Scientology as a church, revived it.
Disarmingly simple, the early version of the E-Meter used small soup
cans for its hand-held electrodes.
FDA's involvement with Scientology began in 1958 when it learned that
the Distribution Center of the organization was selling a drug called
"Dianazine." This product was promoted for "radiation sickness," a
condition widely feared at that time as apotential consequence of
"fallout" from atomic weapons testing. Dianazine, a vitamin mixture
in tablet form, was seized and condemned by the court as misbranded.
A follow-up inspection led to an investigation of the E-Meter. Action
against the device began when more than one hundred E-Meters were
seized by U.S. marshals at the headquarters of the "Founding Church of
Scientology" in Washington, D.C. The court papers charged that the
devices were misbranded by false claims that they effectively treated
some 70 percent of all physical and mental illness. It was also
charged that the devices did not bear adequate directions for treating
the conditions for which they were recommended in Scientology
literature.
A jury trial resulted in a verdict that the E-Meter was misbranded by
the Scientology literature -- hence both the device and its "labeling"
were subject to condemnation. The court rejected as irrelevant in
this case the defense that the literature was exempt from legal action
because it was issued by a "religious" organization. The Court of
Appeals, however, reversed the verdict on the basis that the
government had done nothing to rebut Scientology's claim that it was a
religion. A new trial was ordered, at the close of which Judge
Gerhardt A. Gesell issued a fourteen-page opinion. Regarding the
practice of auditing, the judge stated:
Hubbard and his fellow Scientologists developed the notion of
using an E-Meter to aid auditing. Substantial fees were charged
for the meter and for auditing sessions using the meter. They
repeatedly and explicitly represented that such auditing
effectuated cures of many physical and mental illnesses. An
individual processed with the aid of the E-Meter was said to reach
the intended goal of 'clear' and was led to believe that there was
reliable scientific proof that once cleared many, indeed most,
illnesses would successfully be cured. Auditing was guaranteed to
be successful. All this was and is false.
Upholding FDA's charges that the E-Meter was misbranded, Judge Gesell
ordered that use of the E-Meter be confined to "bona fide religious
counseling" and that the device be prominently labeled with the
warning notice:
The E-Meter is not medically or scientifically useful for the
diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease. It is not
medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or
bodily functions of anyone.
After eight years of litigation, with two complete trials and three
rulings of the Court of Appeals, the E-Meters and literature were
returned to the Scientology headquarters. Was anything accomplished?
Most definitely. The courts saw the necessity to uphold the food and
drug law even in a situation that involved the First Amendment. The
court upheld the right of believers to believe even in science fiction
-- provided that they do not violate the laws that protect the public
health.