The Largest Infiltration of the US Government in History —- Operation Snow WhiteSpies have had their

The Largest Infiltration of the US Government in History —- Operation Snow WhiteSpies have had their place in history ever since the beginning of city states, kingdoms, and empires, providing important intelligence about an adversary and enemy.  Perhaps the golden age of spying occurred during the Cold War, where American and Soviet spies seemed to be behind every corner, listening in to every conversation and collecting every scrap of data that could be found.  So it would be no surprise to learn that the largest infiltration of the United States Government occurred in the 1970’s.  However, the source of the infiltration was not from the Soviet Union or any of the other communist bloc countries of the Cold War.  Rather, the infiltration came from a most unexpected and unusual source; The Church of Scientology.Formed in 1954 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, the Church of Scientology had been under the suspicion of governments throughout the 1960’s and 70’s.  The church was especially under close scrutiny by the US Government, who suspected the church was a cult which brainwashed and manipulated it members, and suspected the organization of tax fraud.  In the late 1960’s a plan called “Operation Snow White” was drawn up by L. Ron’s wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, 2nd in command and head of the Guardian Office.  The Guardian Office was a section of the church devoted to protecting the interests of the Scientology, especially against journalists, critics, and anyone who spoke out against the religion.  Organized and planned by the Guardian Office, Operation Snow White called for the infiltration of various agencies in the US Government.  Scientology members were to get jobs within these agencies, then use their positions to steal any government documents which portrayed the Church of Scientology in a negative light and to plant false information.  Between 1973 and 1977, covert agents managed to infiltrate 136 government agencies, among them; the FBI, CIA, IRS, FDA, DEA, Coast Guard Intelligence, the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, dozens of US Embassies, the American Medical Association, and the National Institute of Mental Health.  In addition, they infiltrated foreign governments such as Canada and the UK, infiltrated numerous private agencies, and infiltrated other law enforcement agencies such as the LAPD, NYPD, Washington D.C. Police Department, and INTERPOL.By 1977, the Church of Scientology had one of the largest spy networks across the globe, with around 5,000 secret agents infiltrating organizations across 30 countries.  It was in that year that everything fell apart.   It started when two agents, Gerald Wolfe and Michael Meisner were arrested in Justice Department offices with fake ID’s.  The two tried cover story after cover story, but eventually spilled everything and turned state’s evidence for a plea bargain.  On July 8th, 1977 the FBI raided Scientology centers in LA, Hollywood, and New York City.  The Los Angeles raid alone lasted 21 hours and resulted in the filling of a 16 ton truck with documents and other evidence.  The investigation revealed that the Church of Scientology had stolen 90,000 confidential documents, had wiretapped government officials on a number of occasions, and exposed almost all of the 5,000 agents that made up Scientology’s spy network.  The investigation also revealed another program called “Operation Freakout”, a plan to frame journalist Paulette Cooper, who was critical of the church, with making false bomb threats in the hope of having her imprisoned or committed to a mental institution.  By 1978, the Scientology spy network had been completely dismantled.  Mary Sue Hubbard and 11 other high ranking members of the Church of Scientology were indicted on charges of obstruction of justice, burglary, theft of documents, and theft of government property.  All either were found guilty or pleaded guilty, and were charged with a 5 to 6 year prison sentence and $10,000 fine.  L. Ron Hubbard was named as a co-conspirator, but was never charged as he spent the rest of his life in hiding ( a time when he wrote Battlefield Earth) avoiding various charges by the US government, French government, and numerous private lawsuits.   -- source link

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