Inside Jesse Prince’s book about Scientology: Doing L. Ron Hubbard’s dirty work

 
We told you a couple of weeks ago how much we enjoyed Jesse Prince’s book The Expert Witness: My Life At The Top Of Scientology, and now it’s your turn to get a glimpse of it for yourself. Our thanks to Jesse for allowing us to reproduce this excerpt. It takes place a couple of years after Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard had gone into permanent seclusion in February 1980. After that, as Jesse explains in his book, Scientology was run by Hubbard through “advices” he sent out from his hiding place to his lieutenants Pat Broeker and David Miscavige, who were gaining power because of their control of information.

 

I had been David Miscavige’s Auditor for most of 1982. We established that relationship at the behest of Annie Broeker, presumably by order of L Ron. We had gone out and accomplished a mission together that was an instant financial success. This was accomplished by summoning all Scientology and Dianetics Mission Holders doing business on the US west coast to a meeting at an expensive hotel located in downtown San Francisco. They were told to make sure they traveled with their main business bank account checkbooks. These were people of means and had made a successful career of getting new people into Scientology and extracting their money for Scientology courses and auditing.

Instead of appreciating the work these Mission Holders were doing and the money they were sending to our reserves, we robbed them on sight, and that’s a fact. We even videotaped our gangster activity as proof to show L Ron we did as he instructed. We brought L Ron’s lawyer Larry Heller to scare the crap out of the Mission Holders to make them think they were going to jail for criminal negligence of our trademarks! We robbed the Mission Holders using our E-meters instead of guns.

Each Mission Holder was connected to an E-meter, interrogated, and intimidated with yelling and threats. Then they were ordered to take out their checkbooks and write checks that emptied their bank accounts. We robbed these people using our own police force. We called our police force the International Finance Police, and they acted with authority and efficiency over the Mission Holders’ bank accounts. There was little to no resistance. The Mission Holders acted like this was all predestined, and they had no will to change anything that was happening to them. In a strange way, it seemed like the Mission Holders had expected they’d be robbed. When the taking was done, they quietly and without resistance accepted the fact they had been robbed. On their way out the door, when they were allowed to leave, a representative from the International Finance Police informed the Mission Holders that their organizations could be searched for hidden bank accounts at a later date, and a few were excommunicated from the Church (declared Suppressive Persons) on the spot as an example for the rest.

All of this was new to me, and I followed the safe route and did as I was told. L Ron directed our activities via Annie and Pat Broeker. When we got back to the Gold Base, a video was quickly edited to show in detail what we had done to take all of the money we could find from the West Coast Mission Holders. L Ron was pleased with the level of carnage we were able to accomplish in the Bay Area after the money we were able to bring home was counted and verified.

Right around this time I was tested again. L Ron was made aware of the fact that his oldest daughter Diana had requested to leave the Sea Org to pursue a career outside of Scientology. The problem with this was that she was taking his only granddaughter with her. L Ron wanted to keep his granddaughter within the confines of Scientology. He had devised a personal program for her called the Princess Program. The grandchild’s name was Roanne, and her father is Jon Horwich. Besides being L Ron’s son-in-law, Jon was his personal audiophile person. Jon was very much a committed Sea Org member.

L Ron didn’t seem to mind the fact that his daughter was leaving the Sea Org, but he preferred she turn over custody of her child to her husband, whom she was divorcing. Diana refused this request. Dave Miscavige was told to handle Diana and get her to relinquish custody of her child, but she refused. Both Vicki and Marc Yeager attempted to get Diana to relinquish custody of her child, and they had also failed to accomplish the task. This was something that bothered L Ron, and he ordered through Annie Broeker that another attempt be made to get Diana to turn over custody.

David told Vicki to send me on a mission to the Flag Land Base to confront Diana and persuade her to turn over custody of her only child to a husband she was divorcing. Vicki briefed me on the situation, and the previous attempts to persuade her. Diana was described as being totally unreasonable and uncooperative. Because of my training, it was expected of me to go and do what the others had failed to do. This confused me because it seemed like I was just being sent on a suicide mission. I was already told that if I failed to accomplish the task, there was a very high probability that I would be sent to the Rehabilitation Project Force. Of course, there was no mention of what would happen if I accomplished the mission.

I read previous information collected about the situation in my briefing. I was interrogated to make sure I did not have any other intention concerning getting the project done. Finally, I was given a package of legal documents that I was to have Diana sign to relinquished custody of her only child.

The following day I left California and flew to Florida to the Flag Land Base. When I arrived in Florida, I was met by L Ron’s Messengers and set up with the room to meet Diana. I had no real expectations for what I was there to accomplish.

 
Diana lived at the Fort Harrison hotel at the very top in a penthouse that was on the 11th floor. For some years I ran an internship located on the balcony of a ballroom located on the 10th floor. Only a few times I had seen Diana coming and going. I always thought she was beautiful. She had long red hair and full lips that she kept nice and red. She also had a bit of a British accent, and I always thought she was a nice person.

Anyway, Diana was summoned to the room. I was there as she approached; I stood up shook her hand and smiled. She smiled at me and shook my hand, we began to chat. I told her who I was, and I told her I had worked at Flag for years before. She mentioned that she had seen me working on the balcony, training Scientology auditors. Then we discussed briefly the internship and the people that I had trained at Flag. I told her I had always admired her but never had the courage actually to talk to her, and I told her I thought she was beautiful. It seems like we made small talk for as long as we could, but it was time to get down to business. I briefly explained to her why I was there. She replied that she completely understood, and she asked me to give her the papers and she would just sign.

All of the papers had a big X to mark where her signature was required. She seemed totally familiar with the process, and she signed and dated where her signature was required. As she signed the papers, tears began to roll down her cheeks. She brushed the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hands then wiped her eyes with her fingers. Diana rapidly regained her composure. Now her expression was perfectly stoic as she passed me the signed documents. For some reason, I experienced pain in my chest area as I took the papers from her, and I was unable to speak for a second or two. She looked at me and said “It’s OK, at least this is done now.” The moment passed, and she asked me if there was anything else. I told her no. She stood, I stood, we shook hands, and she left. I don’t think I ever saw her again. The whole incident took less than an hour.

There were one or two Messengers standing by the door in case we needed anything. After Diana had left, I asked one of the messengers to bring me a phone. Before leaving Gold, I’d been given a phone number to call when I finished the meeting with Diana. This number connected to Vicki’s office at Golden Era. I told her that I had completed the mission and all the documents were signed, and I requested to come home. Vicki was shocked that I was calling her to tell her the documents were actually signed. She asked me if I was sure the papers were correctly signed, which meant all the places where there was an X. When she asked me the question, I thought about Diana’s attitude about what had happened, and I was stoic too. As politely as I could, I answered with a simple yes. I didn’t offer any further explanation. The line went silent, and she asked me to hold the line. The next voice I heard was David Miscavige, and he sounded like he might have been slightly out of breath. He asked, “Are you 100 percent sure you have all the signatures you need on all the documents you were given?” I was stoic with him as well, and he got the same simple yes answer. He didn’t threaten me directly, but he said, “you better be fucking sure because if you fuck this up…” Whatever he was saying didn’t matter because I gave him a one-word answer again. I simply said OK.

I was on a plane on my way back to Golden Era from Florida within a couple of hours after that phone conversation. When I arrived at LAX, I was met by a Scientology courier who brought me from the airport directly to the Gold Base. When I arrived at the Base, I was directed to go straight to David’s office where he and Vicki were waiting. I walked in, handed Vicki the papers, smiled and sat down.

David grabbed the papers and carefully went through them, and then he looked at me with the craziest look. He said “Motherfucker, how did you get her to sign this these papers?” I put on my best Clint Eastwood stoic face, and I said “I just did the mission.”

Dave understood what I was doing he just smiled; he said “Jesse, you’re a bad motherfucker. Good job.” He stood up and shook my hand and hugged me, and we had a good laugh. He said “Jesse, that was very well done. That was excellent. Seriously, thank you.”

I just smiled, and we changed the subject. I wanted to know what was going on at the Base since I left. “Don’t worry,” he said, “You’ll find out all about it later. Make sure you get some fluids to deal with the dehydration from flying.”

Maybe a week or so later I received a dispatch from L Ron personally thanking me for handling his daughter to turn over custody. I was also gifted with a gold necklace and a black Members Only jacket. I also received either $500 or $700 as well. This incident was a game changer as far as my recognition among my peers. I had personally done something that pleased L Ron, and he recognized me. Not to mention the fact that no one else had been able to accomplish the task.

 
— Jesse Prince

 
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Scientology’s celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs’ — now with comments!

We’ve started a new project, building landing pages about two of David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, his celebrities and his ‘Ideal Orgs.’ For the next several weeks, we’ll post a couple of pages each day, and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about each of them, in order to build a record and maintain a watch as Scientology continues its inexorable decline — and yes, we finally have comments working on these new pages! Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments about all of your favorite celebrites and failing Ideal Orgs

Previously, we posted pages for celebrities Anne Archer, Beck Hansen, Catherine Bell, Chick Corea, Elisabeth Moss, Erika Christensen, Ethan Suplee, Giovanni Ribisi, Greta Van Susteren, Jenna Elfman, John Travolta, Juliette Lewis, Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, Laura Prepon, Marisol Nichols, and Michael Peña. And for the Ideal Orgs of Portland, Oregon; Sydney, Australia; San Diego, California; Denver, Colorado; Nashville, Tennessee; Perth, Australia; Tokyo, Japan; Sacramento, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Silicon Valley, California; Rome, Italy; Orlando, Florida; Moscow, Russia; and Amsterdam, Netherlands; Seattle, Washington; Dallas, Texas; and Melbourne Ideal Org.

Today it’s Nancy Cartwright and the San Fernando Valley Ideal Org!

 
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MEANWHILE, AT FACEBOOK…

 
Please join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 29, 2018 at 07:00

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Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2017), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

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