Convicted hacker working for Scientology

[CommunicatorIC]

Did Scientology Hack, Spoof & Spy on Journalists & Whistleblowers After GOINGCLEAR?

[video=youtube;UelEB4ac_OQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UelEB4ac_OQ[/video]

The LipTV

Published on Jun 25, 2015

GOING CLEAR may have triggered Scientology to hack, spoof and spy on journalists and whistleblowers, and journalist Tony Ortega explains how the case against private investigator Eric Saldarriaga could be more than meets the eye in this interview. With Ortega himself the victim of underhanded maneuvers that seem to indicate the involvement of the Church of Scientology, we learn how the negative profile of the Church has been spiralling since GOING CLEAR is reaching new lows in this short discussion of the latest underhanded deeds that continue to raise questions about Miscavige and the church in this Media Mayhem interview, hosted by Allison Hope Weiner.

GUEST BIO:
Tony Ortega is the former executive editor of The Raw Story and The Village Voice. He's written about Scientology since 1995, and is the author of THE UNBREAKABLE MISS LOVELY, detailing the harassment of Paulette Cooper.

 

[WildKat]

I'm expecting more fallout from this story soon. There were 60 or so emails hacked.

Will we find out who the others were?

Will the FBI be contacting them?

Stay tuned.....

 

[Jump]

Above posts are LIES. Not Guilty !

https://otviiisgrrr8.wordpress.com/2015/06/26/we-in-scientology-dont-know-nuthin/​

“Mr. Miscavige was outta town when it happened. He was real busy opening Ideal Orgs see. And with that we, as our twenty-two fancy wog attorneys have advised us Senator, assert our Fifth Amendment rights.”

The only "rights" they need to assert are their First Amendment rights. Apparently criminal harassment and any otherwise illegal activities carried out by the Choich are now recognised as religious sacramental privilege under the constitution.

 

[ILove2Lurk]

. . .
Encouraging conversation . . .
. . .

TonyOrtega • an hour ago
Saldarriaga got three months in prison, probably Fort Dix. But that's not why I was there. I want law enforcement to investigate who paid Saldarriaga, and I think that is going to happen. But the judge told me he couldn't be responsible for that, saying that it isn't his court's job to investigate the Church of Scientology. At which point, let the record show, I said courts in this country have a history of letting us down on that score. I was told that I handled myself well at the witness stand, but we'll see how I come off in the NY Times. Now, it's time for a beverage.

TheHoleDoesNotExist TonyOrtega • an hour ago
I have cigars and champagne below. This sounds like a job for a Dos Equis and pretzels though. Ok, later - would like to know why you think law enforcement will investigate who paid Saldarriage. Take your time. Will check back here in 5 minutes.

TonyOrtega TheHoleDoesNotExist • an hour ago
Can't tell you why. <grin>
​

 

[Jump]

. . .
Encouraging conversation . . .
. . .

......

TonyOrtega TheHoleDoesNotExist • an hour ago
Can't tell you why. <grin>
​

I like the cut of his jib.

 

[Free Being Me]

. . .
Encouraging conversation . . .
. . .

TonyOrtega • an hour ago
Saldarriaga got three months in prison, probably Fort Dix. But that's not why I was there. I want law enforcement to investigate who paid Saldarriaga, and I think that is going to happen. But the judge told me he couldn't be responsible for that, saying that it isn't his court's job to investigate the Church of Scientology. At which point, let the record show, I said courts in this country have a history of letting us down on that score. I was told that I handled myself well at the witness stand, but we'll see how I come off in the NY Times. Now, it's time for a beverage.

TheHoleDoesNotExist TonyOrtega • an hour ago
I have cigars and champagne below. This sounds like a job for a Dos Equis and pretzels though. Ok, later - would like to know why you think law enforcement will investigate who paid Saldarriage. Take your time. Will check back here in 5 minutes.

TonyOrtega TheHoleDoesNotExist • an hour ago
Can't tell you why. <grin>
​

 

[WildKat]

I like the cut of his jib.

Tony thinks the investigation into the cult will happen....and he's making jokes, obviously in good humor. I think this is a good sign!

 

[CommunicatorIC]

ars technica: Private investigator snooped on e-mail of Scientology critics [Updated]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...tor-snooped-on-e-mail-of-scientology-critics/

https://twitter.com/thepacketrat

 

[CommunicatorIC]

Tampa Bay Times: Court records link Scientology to convicted email hacker

http://www.tampabay.com/news/scient...scientology-to-convicted-email-hacker/2235273

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

Thomas C. Tobin, Times Staff Writer

Friday, June 26, 2015 8:25pm

Federal court documents made public this week have linked the Church of Scientology to a private investigator convicted of illegally culling personal information from dozens of email accounts.

The investigator, Eric Saldarriaga, 41, was sentenced Friday to three months in prison for conspiring to engage in computer hacking. He pleaded guilty earlier this year in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The Scientology connection arose somewhat by accident after two men who have been targeted by the church's private investigators figured out they both had been named as victims of Saldarriaga. They are former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder, now a vocal critic of the church, and Tony Ortega, a journalist and blogger who has written about Scientology for two decades.

Both were prominently featured this year in the HBO documentary, Going Clear: Scientology and Prison of Belief, which took a critical look at the church.

* * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *

 

[Free to shine]

New York Times!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...ent-on-private-eye-who-hacked-email.html?_r=1

Victim Statement on Private Eye Who Hacked Email

A journalist who has written about the Church of Scientology said that he believed a New York private investigator was hired by the church to gather information about him. JUNE 26, 2015

 

[CommunicatorIC]

Jonny Jacobsen has an updated story up at Byline:

PI hacked Scientology Critics

https://www.byline.com/column/9/article/121

 

[Albion]

Didn't have time to post earlier, but have updated the story I posted at Byline.com

PI Targeted Scientology critics:

Have added reax from Tony O, the defense attorney and details of the sentence. Contacted CoS but no response.

Comments most welcome!

Jonny Jacobsen

 

[oneonewasaracecar]

Well, let's hope it's got some balls, too!

Add some fishnets and then you got something.

 

[CommunicatorIC]

New York Times: Prisoner Gets 3 Months in Prison in Hacking Case

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/b...-gets-3-months-in-prison-in-hacking-case.html

 

[CommunicatorIC]

As is often the case, the New York Post is a bit more aggressive in its reporting.

Private investigator gets 3 months for hacking -- but won't expose clients.

http://nypost.com/2015/06/26/private-investigator-gets-3-months-for-hacking-but-wont-expose-clients/


* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

A New York private investigator who hacked the e-mails of dozens of people he was investigating got jail time — but a judge stopped short of helping to expose the clients that hired him to do their dirty work.

Manhattan federal judge Richard Sullivan sentenced Eric Saldarriaga to three months in jail for pilfering some 60 e-mail accounts, saying he hoped to send a message about the seriousness of cybercrime.

“Anything less than that would lead people to think … ahh, who cares?” Sullivan told the courtroom on Friday.

Saldarriaga, 41, who lives in Queens, where his firm is based, was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and forfeit $5,000.

But victims who showed up in court to read impact statements wanted more than jail time: They wanted the identities of clients who paid the PI to dig up dirt.

Tony Ortega, a former editor of The Village Voice, told the court that he was sure Scientology had hired Saldarriaga in response to his hard-hitting coverage of the controversial group.

“Why am I not being told what he did to me and who he was working for?” Ortega asked the judge.

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *

 

[Smurf]

"Federal court documents made public this week have linked the Church of Scientology to a private investigator convicted of illegally culling personal information from dozens of email accounts.

The investigator, Eric Saldarriaga, 41, was sentenced Friday to three months in prison for conspiring to engage in computer hacking. He pleaded guilty earlier this year in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/scient...scientology-to-convicted-email-hacker/2235273

 

[WildKat]

Disappointing conclusion. Hope this isn't the end of what should be a much bigger story.

 

[oneonewasaracecar]

 

[Free to shine]

Here's Tony Ortega's full story and comments:

http://tonyortega.org/2015/06/27/di...ot-his-job-to-find-out-judge-said/#more-23673

Did Scientology hire the man sent to prison for hacking us? Not his job to find out, judge said

So what do we do next? Brill told Judge Sullivan that he’s willing to speak further with my attorney, Scott Pilutik. And we’re assuming he’ll also extend that courtesy to Mike Rinder’s attorney, Ray Jeffrey. We’re extremely interested to see if Saldarriaga attempts to explain that his client for the Rinder hack was anyone other than an agent of the Church of Scientology.

And more importantly, we can’t help wondering if the FBI will get its act together and pursue this matter further. The agency has a pitiful record regarding Scientology’s abuses, but this is pretty fresh information. Noble was willing to tell me that my victimization happened just two years ago. We’d be interested to see if Rinder can pin down when a hack was attempted on him.

Paulette Cooper Noble • 13 hours ago

It's upsetting to me that the FBI didn't didn't take this real crime seriously, but when Scientology claimed they were the victims of a crime (by me) they sure "investigated" and went after me.

John P. • 13 hours ago

What's interesting here is the detail of how they caught Saldarriaga. Apparently, it was a broad dragnet to pick up people who were doing generic hacking attacks. The defendant was apparently just serving as the contractor hiring offshore hackers who were doing the dirty work. He wasn't the hacker himself.

I'm thinking that Miscavige figured he had the perfect setup, with even more layers of plausible deniability than usual. It's not through the cult's usual Inspector Clouseau-like bumbling that the scheme got outed -- it's only because Mike Rinder and Tony Ortega managed to find out about each other.

Of course, the "noisy investigations" like sending PI's to harass Tony's mother will get caught, but that's the whole intent of Hubbard's slimy and vulgar playbook. It's the silent investigations that are supposed to yield the useful dirt, and those people aren't supposed to get caught.

The lesson for Miscavige here is that law enforcement is changing. The immense dragnet by which the government surveils whole networks of people so that they can roll up not just lone suspects but entire groups of people who may or may not be involved in a crime, then sorting them out later. This is a big change from the world he understands, where he used to be able to move with impunity in these deep investigations.

And once again, Miscavige has terrible karma -- he would have gotten away with this one had not Tony and Mike Rinder figured out that they were both victims. The result is not only Tony's article but the NYT coverage, which reaches an even broader audience. Yet another embarrassing "flap" for the cult.

http://tonyortega.org/2015/06/27/di...ob-to-find-out-judge-said/#comment-2103253857

 

[Smurf]

Eric Saldarriaga & his 2 sons:

Tony O's summation is correct.. he & the other victims got fucked over by a lazy & incompetent federal judiciary. Perhaps, Tony should consider filing a civil lawsuit against Saldarriaga, then he can use the discovery process via deposition, to pressure Saldarriaga to, possibly, give up the names of his clients.