The Office of Special Affairs (OSA), formerly the Guardian's Office, is a department of the Church of Scientology International. According to the Church, the OSA is responsible for directing legal affairs, public relations, pursuing investigations, publicizing the Church's "social betterment works," and "oversee[ing its] social reform programs". Some observers outside the Church have characterized the department as an intelligence agency, comparing it variously to the CIA or the KGB.[1][2][3] The department has targeted critics of the Church with dead agent operations and character assassination.[4][5]
OSA is the successor to the now-defunct Guardian's Office,[6] which was responsible for Operation Snow White and Operation Freakout. OSA is in Department 20 (Department of Special Affairs) in the Scientology organizational chart, same as the Guardian's Office was. The most recently known Commanding Officer for OSA International is Linda Hamel,[7] succeeding Mike Rinder, who has since departed from the Church of Scientology and become a fierce critic of the organization, appearing as a co-host on Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.[8]
^"Understanding Scientology / Chapter 12: OSA (Office of Special Affairs) -- The Secret CIA of Scientology". www.cs.cmu.edu. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
^"Scientology's Intelligence Service". lermanet.org. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
^"Scientology's KGB: Inside the Office of Special Affairs - UK Indymedia". www.indymedia.org.uk. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
^"Scientologists pay for libel". the Guardian. June 9, 1999. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
^Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 29, 1990). "On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes". Los Angeles Times. p. A1:1. Archived from the original on May 8, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2006. Additional convenience link at "?".
^Davis, Derek; Barry Hankins (2003). New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America. Baylor University Press. pp. 44, 48, 49, 189. ISBN 0-918954-92-4.
^Ortega, Tony. "How Scientology's 1970s infiltration scandal led to the creation of its IAS slush fund". The Underground Bunker. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
^Cook, John (March 17, 2008). "Scientology - Cult Friction: After an embarrassing string of high-profile defection and leaked videos, Scientology is under attack from a faceless cabal of online activists. Has America's most controversial religion finally met its match?". Radar Online. Radar Magazine. Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
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