.Operation Freakout
From Clearwater Florida
alternate name: Operation PC Freakout
Summary: The attempt to have Paulette Cooper, a journalist imprisoned or committed to a mental institution.
Paulette Cooper wrote a book called "The Scandal of Scientology." Due to this and an earlier article printed in a magazine that was critical of CoS, Paulette became a target for the church. In documents uncovered during the Operation Snow White investigation, FBI agents received memos detailing the plans against Paulette. Church operatives were ordered to: "attack her in as many ways as possible" and undertake "wide-scale exposure of PC's sex life." While these attempts may have succeeded, they were dwarfed by other events.
Documents indicate that her voice would be impersonated and that calls to issue threats to Arab Consulates, her appearance would be impersonated and would issue death threats to the then President and Secretary of State, her stationery would be stolen, preferably with her finger prints, to send out bomb threats.
The CoS was never brought to justice regarding Operation Freakout. However, thanks to the documents being released as part of Operation Snow White, many people learned of the sort of tactics used by the CoS.
