​On August 5, we started a countdown that will give credit -- or blame -- to the people who have contributed most to the sad current state of Scientology. From its greatest expansion in the 1980s, the church is a shell of what it once was and is mired in countless controversies around the world. Some of that was self-inflicted, and some of it has come from outside. Join us now as we continue on our investigation of those people most responsible...

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Update: After the jump, more detail on Rathbun's arrest from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. AND NOW, CHARGES HAVE BEEN DROPPED. SEE BELOW.

This story was originally posted on Saturday, Sept. 17.

Well, it looks like we were premature to say that the siege in South Texas had ended. Apparently, it's just taken a new form.

Yesterday (Friday, Sept. 16) at about 5:30 pm, a San Patricio County deputy sheriff showed up at Marty Rathbun's house and took him into custody for a Class A misdemeanor arrest warrant. Four hours later, he was released. And now, we're trying to put together how Scientology managed to get Rathbun thrown in the slammer for something that happened two weeks ago.

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This TV image couldn't have gone down well at Gold Base

​UPDATE: After the jump, Anonymous provides a poignant reminder that this is the end of an era.

The siege in South Texas is apparently finally over. Marty Rathbun has returned from his trip to Germany, and he tells me that only one member of the Squirrel Busters goon squad that was previously planted outside his house -- a former cop, and not a Scientologist -- has been seen hanging around.

"Everyone else is gone," Rathbun said this afternoon. "Some clumsy private eye cased us out at dinner yesterday. I don't know if that's the new strategy."

Regular readers know that we've been reporting on the Squirrel Busters siege since April. That's when an intimidation squad sent by Scientology arrived at Rathbun's Corpus Christi-area home with cameras strapped to their heads demanding to know if Rathbun was auditing people outside of church authority.

Until 2004 when he defected, Rathbun was the second-highest ranked executive in Scientology. In 2009, he started a blog that is highly critical of Scientology's leader, David Miscavige. In retaliation, Scientology sent the "Squirrel Busters" to harass Rathbun and make his life "a living hell."

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​UPDATE: Andrew Morton provides much more detail about Scientology's attempt to gain tax breaks in the UK with the help of Bill Clinton's influence. Take a look at his informative article at The Morton Report.

After holding a press conference that was covered widely in Germany, former Scientology executive Marty Rathbun appeared last night on a television talk show that we hear is very popular there. Of all the things he talked about, one that seems to be getting the most buzz regards Tom Cruise, Bill Clinton, and Tony Blair.

Quick background for those just catching up: For 27 years, Marty Rathbun was a member of Scientology and reached its highest levels, becoming the second most powerful executive before leaving the organization in 2004. Two years ago, he began criticizing current church leader David Miscavige on a blog. And now, he's on a trip to Germany to meet with Ursula Caberta, a government official who, since 1992, has worked to curb Scientology's influence in that country.

Rathbun and Caberta appeared together on the Markus Lanz show, and that's when Rathbun was asked about Scientology's attempts to influence the U.S. government about Scientology's status in Germany, which he had mentioned at a press conference the day before.

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Scientology watchers around the world are watching keenly for any news out of Germany as today Marty Rathbun made his first public remarks there in the presence of Ursula Caberta.

Quick background: Rathbun was once the second-most powerful executive in Scientology. He left the church in 2004 and has been criticizing Scientology leader David Miscavige on his blog since 2009. Caberta, meanwhile, has been leading an official German government effort to curb Scientology in that country since 1992.

As Rathbun explains in the video above (which he just posted himself), even though he still practices Scientology independently, there's a good reason he's now willing to help Caberta in her efforts.

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"I'm a professional."

​Last night, I had a conversation with Marty Rathbun, who revealed that he's headed to Germany this week, and told me he'd have a series of videos on his blog today breaking that news in an interesting way -- with help from the Squirrel Busters.

Sure enough, these videos don't disappoint. After the jump, watch as Rathbun seems to get the Squirrel Busters off-balance by telling them he's going to Europe to clean up the mess David Miscavige made there. Also, for those unsure what we're talking about, we'll try to explain why the Siege in South Texas should have been national news by now, and how Rathbun's trip to Germany is upping the ante on this story in a big way...

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​After the jump: An ID of the man, "David Statter," who is behind the Squirrel Busters siege.

ADDED: Video of Marty Rathbun speaking with Bert Leahy about his experience as a Squirrel Buster.

A stunning article was posted late last night by Corpus Christi Caller-Times reporter Mark Collette: one of the Squirrel Buster's freelancers is blowing the whistle on the Scientology goon squad's effort to harass former church official Marty Rathbun.

Previously, Collette had got the Squirrel Busters -- a group that surveils Rathbun's Ingleside on the Bay home for hours every day -- to say that it was doing so because the group is working on a "documentary" about the former church executive.

But Rathbun maintains that the group is just there to intimidate him, and has been sent by the church itself to punish him for breaking away and offering independent Scientology counseling services to other people leaving the organization.

Rathbun says he should know: when he was an executive with the church, it was his job to do the intimidating of other former members.

And now, a freelance videographer is telling Collette that Rathbun is right.

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Wise Beard Man makes a wild move

​For Scientology watchers, a stunning development tonight that, not so long ago, we can hardly imagine happening.

Mark Bunker, dean of the old time Scientology critics, has written a guest post on Marty Rathbun's blog this evening -- well, I would be hardly more surprised if a Michael Wolff editorial appeared in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal with a glowing preface by Rupert Murdoch.

Rathbun, who not so many years ago was charged with keeping tabs on critics like Bunker in his role as one of the highest executives in Scientology, is well aware what a surprising turn this is:

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AFTER THE JUMP: The Squirrel Busters respond to the Voice!

Brace yourself, Scientology watchers. This is jaw-dropping territory.

You'll remember that former church executive Marty Rathbun complained to local government in his Corpus Christi-area town of Ingleside on the Bay, Texas, that he was being surveilled and harassed by a goon squad sent to watch him by Scientology, which considers him an arch-nemesis.

The town rallied to Rathbun's defense, and the goons with their cameras fended off criticism by saying they were renting property nearby and even filming him from a paddle boat because they were making a "documentary." Yeah, a "documentary" in the style of an SNL music spoof, complete with high-level Scientologists dancing on boats. (Seriously. Click the video already.)

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Something tells us Ken Burns doesn't work this way.

​We've been covering Marty Rathbun's remarkable experiences in South Texas with rapt attention: there's no question that his ongoing battle with his former employer, Scientology leader David Miscavige, is becoming the biggest thing to happen to L. Ron Hubbard's controversial religion since the 2005 freakout of Tom Cruise.

Rathbun was one of the highest-ranking executives in Scientology when he left the organization in 2004. He then pretty much disappeared, eventually moving to the Corpus Christi area to fish and relax. Then, suddenly, in 2009, Rathbun began speaking out about his former employer in the form of a blog, and by speaking to reporters. Since then, he's been under almost constant surveillance by members of Scientology and others hired by the church.

As we watched Rathbun take on Scientology and pay for it by being filmed and watched, we couldn't help wonder, was it really smart for him to be living in a part of the country without major media?

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