Operation Snow White was the
Church of Scientology's name for a conspiracy during the 1970s to purge unfavorable records about Scientology and its founder
L. Ron Hubbard. This project included a series of infiltrations and thefts from 136 government agencies, foreign embassies and consulates, as well as private organizations critical of Scientology, carried out by Church members, in more than 30 countries;
[1] the single largest infiltration of the United States government in history
[2] with up to 5,000 covert agents.
[3] This was also the operation that exposed '
Operation Freakout', because this was the case that initiated the US government investigation of the Church.
[3]
Under this program,
Scientology operatives committed
infiltration,
wiretapping, and theft of documents in government offices, most notably those of the
U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Eleven highly-placed Church executives, including
Mary Sue Hubbard (wife of founder
L. Ron Hubbard and second-in-command of the organization), pleaded guilty or were convicted in federal court of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. The case was
United States v. Mary Sue Hubbard et al., 493 F.Supp. 209 (
D.D.C. 1979).
[4][5][6][7]
