We have told Bruce Hines how much we were impressed by the interview he did with Mark Bunker 11 years ago about Scientology’s bizarre and sadistic “Truth Rundown,” which is designed to convince people not to believe their own eyes and ears. Bruce told us that he has wanted to spell out more about how the rundown actually goes, and we are grateful that he sent us this piece.
The Truth Rundown is Scientology’s most extreme form of gaslighting. I know, because I was subjected to it, and I subjected others.
Please bear with me as I try to describe some of the technical details. A “rundown” is a series of auditing actions in Scientology. There are many of them. The one called the Truth Rundown is aimed at getting a person to “realize” that what they saw or experienced didn’t really happen.
Generally it begins with the (so-called) church’s Knowledge Report (KR) system. This is how Scientologists snitch on each other. All Scientologists (staff, Sea Org and public alike) are supposed to file written reports about others’ bad actions, complete with carbon copies, to the “ethics” authorities in that sprawling organization. Included in the myriad of transgressions that require reporting is criticism of Scientology, L Ron Hubbard, David Miscavige, the “Technology,” “Policy,” management, organizations, and many other things.
So, for example, if someone heard me say, “David Miscavige is a bully,” they should write a KR on me. This report would go into my ethics file, where it would be kept for the foreseeable future, along with other KRs on various subjects.
The first step of the Truth Rundown is to cull out of ethics files all reports indicating that the person in question said something negative about Scientology or its principals.
This search includes the files of all the organizations where that individual had been active in the past. The statements being looked for are referred to as “Black PR,” for “Black Propaganda,” also known as “enemy lines” in the Scientology lingo.
Once all such reports have been gathered together, the next step is called “Rollback.” Technically, this action is not auditing. It is an “ethics interview.” The idea is to find out where the person got or heard the enemy line. Hubbard’s belief was that there were people actively trying to infiltrate organizations in order to disrupt or sabotage or undermine their noble activities. The Black Propaganda spread by these suppressive persons (maybe government agents or moles fed in somehow by psychiatry or someone with evil intentions) was an effort to cause staff to lose faith or to damage morale or to hurt business.
In the example above, the interviewer would want to find out who said to me or in my presence that David Miscavige is a bully. If I named somebody, that person would in turn be interviewed. A card file is kept on each piece of Black PR. By continuing these interviews the source of the enemy line should be revealed. Hubbard said that sometimes a staff member would “blow” (depart without authorization) while these interviews were being done, because they realized that they would be identified as the culprit. He called this activity “rolling back the enemy network.” It was very cloak-and-dagger.
Once the person had completed their Rollback, the actual auditing on the Truth Rundown would commence. Just before starting the session, the auditor would say, “I am not auditing you.” I know that sounds contradictory. It just meant that whatever comes up in the session could be used against the person in future ethics or justice actions. Otherwise, the auditing procedures are the same.
The auditor takes one of the enemy lines, orients the person to the report, and then asks when the person first observed the Black PR to be the case. So, for example, “When did you actually observe that David Miscavige is a bully?” Then the auditor would ask various questions to get the details of the observation. Next, the auditor would ask for an earlier time it was observed, and so on until the earliest time had been nailed down in as much detail as possible, including when it occurred.
Then comes the million-dollar question: “Just before that, what overt did you commit?”
In brief, an “overt” is a harmful act. This question is asked while watching the E-Meter looking for a “read” on the question. There are a lot of auditing details, but the auditor would persist until a read was gotten. That particular read would then be used to “steer” the person to the bad thing they had done. The auditor would keep at it until and acceptable answer was gotten. The overt that got uncovered is supposed to be a major offense, not a small thing. It generally was not easy for the person to come up with such a crime that they committed in such a narrow time frame.
OK, so think about this for a minute. The person must have done something very wrong prior to the observation that Scientology or one of its organizations or principals was in any way at fault. The implication is that the person was deluded. In fact, as the Truth Rundown progresses, the person has to state that they were deluded. If they fail to see their delusion, that means that the Truth Rundown is incomplete and must be continued.
The auditor proceeds to dig out the specifics of the overt. At this point the auditor follows the usual procedure of “security checking” or “confessional auditing” (which are synonymous). As needed, the auditor would ask for and urge the person to find an “earlier similar overt” and so on until the “End Phenomena” for that chain of overts appeared.
Next comes the two million-dollar question: “Was there an evil purpose or destructive intention that prompted you to commit that overt?” Another little gem, right? Not only was the person, who believed they had observed something negative, guilty of harmful acts, these acts were motivated by evilness. They weren’t the result of a mistake or poor judgement or something.
There is a procedure for dealing with the evil purpose that the person comes up with, which I won’t go into here. The person is supposed to experience great relief as a result.
After all that, the next Black PR line is taken up and processed in the same way. Then the next one and so on until all of them have been addressed. At that point, however, the Truth Rundown is far from over. What follows is a long list of questions that the person gets asked, sec check style, to find other times they “spread Black PR.” One might have been openly critical of some aspect of Scientology, even though no-one reported it. An example might be, “Have you ever spread Black PR about LRH?” Each question that reads on the E-Meter is followed up on and “handled” with the entire procedure given above. There are many, many such questions.
Imagine, hour after hour, day after day, being pressured and hounded to come up with the bad things you did and the destructive intentions behind them that resulted in you believing you saw something bad in what must be inherently good. Even if the observation is demonstrably true, if you mention it to another person then you are guilty of “forwarding an enemy line.” A silly example might be, “LRH came up with the miracle of Scientology, but he sure had bad teeth!”
During the course of the Truth Rundown, the person has to admit that they were deluded and they must express great remorse for spreading lies about Scientology and all its good institutions and people. One is also required to write letters to all the people to whom one spread the Black PR, apologizing and attempting to set the record straight. Those things are part of the End Phenomena of that course of auditing, which means the rundown will keep going until the person has those “realizations.”
In theory, anyone could be given the Truth Rundown. But its most common use is on Sea Org members who have been assigned to the Rehabilitation Project Force, their thought-reform internment camp. It is the first major step of the RPF program. It generally goes on for weeks or months, hours per day, seven days per week. If one doesn’t experience the things one is supposed to, they have to continue their incarceration on the RPF. That means they have to admit that they had been wrong, that they really hadn’t observed the things they did, feel very sorry about it, and profess how great Scientology and management is. I saw people thank David Miscavige for making them do the RPF program, as it enabled them to see the truth. It is called the Truth Rundown for a reason.
Surely this is gaslighting in its most extreme.
I had my own devastating experiences with the Truth Rundown. During my six years on the RPF, I had to endure that auditing three separate times. Each time for weeks. I know that when my ethics folders were first culled, there were no reports on me for having spread Black PR. In retrospect I probably should have been vocal about all the bullshit that was going on, as I likely would have been kicked out for refusing to toe the line. That would have saved me a lot of grief. But that unfortunately wasn’t my way. For one thing, I had learned (through repetitive indoctrination) that if I was negatively critical, it meant that I had done bad things and was hiding that fact. But even before that, I tended to be pretty reserved.
Because my ethics history didn’t provide material for use in the Truth Rundown, I then had to receive hours upon hours of sec checking to uncover times I had forwarded enemy lines. The viewpoint was that someone in my position surely must be guilty of trying to demean others who were working hard to save the planet. I honestly couldn’t come up with answers to the questions. At the time the judgment was that I was just trying to avoid consequences or that I was so low that I couldn’t confront my misdeeds. And the belief had been inculcated over a period of many years that it is way better to confess to transgressions than to assert one’s innocence.
At this stage of my life, having been out of Scientology for 22 years, I still don’t think I had spread Black Propaganda. There is nothing to gain now by me claiming that. But back then, the only way out seemed to be to make some stuff up. I remember thinking that even if I hadn’t uttered any words, a look on my face or a gesture or an attitude could express criticism of the “good hats” in Scientology. So I came up with times that must have happened, even though I didn’t really know for sure. Then those times were treated with the full Truth Rundown procedure. It went on and on and on.
While I was on the RPF, the so-called Golden Age of Tech, a brainchild of David Miscavige, was introduced into the Scientology world. I did have definite disagreements with aspects of this new approach to the “technology.” I did express my displeasure. I’m sure this was taken as evidence of my disaffection, indicating that I still had evil in me that had not been handled. Implying that Miscavige was mistaken in his new ways to audit was considered to be definite Black Propaganda. I believe this extended my time on the RPF.
These days, the subject of how a person comes to hold certain beliefs intrigues me.
These could be religious beliefs or political beliefs or social beliefs or whatever. The scary part is that in my desire to get free from the extreme duress of the RPF, and to prove my worth, and to see my wife and son again, and to get back in the good graces of the powers that be, and to feel again that I was a good person after years of having been told that I wasn’t, the gaslighting worked. I came to believe that I really had been deluded. I sincerely felt remorse. I saw the Sea Org, its management, Hubbard, David Miscavige, the technology, etc., only in a positive light. I wrote my apology letters and my “success story” from having done the Truth Rundown.
It is amazing to me how thoroughly thoughts and feelings can be repressed out of consciousness. I’m sure that many people would find that hard to accept. It is even hard for me now. But not only did I experience it myself, I saw many others change drastically under the same re-education techniques.
Thank goodness I was able to escape all that. I am lucky to have found peace of mind and to have attained a saner outlook. I am also grateful that so many people I know and so many that I have never met have also escaped. Some of them still suffer real mental consequences. I am beyond glad that I, with the help of friends and family, survived it all relatively unscathed. My aim now is to try to bring about greater awareness of the reality of cult gaslighting and thought reform.
— Bruce Hines
Continuing our year in review: The stories of August 2024
Judge Thomas Barber disagreed with Valeska Paris and the Baxters that a new US Supreme Court opinion had bearing on their trafficking lawsuit, and upheld his decision to force their case into Scientology’s “religious arbitration.”
New York Scientology donor David Gentile was convicted on federal fraud charges after the government accused him of running a “Ponzi-like” investment scheme.
With news of Tom Cruise’s Olympics stunt leaking, it dawned on us that LA Mayor Karen Bass was going to find herself in another awkward spot helping to promote Scientology. When the time came, she found herself on the world’s biggest stage with Top Gun.
The tabloids continue to say John Travolta is leaving Scientology by ignoring solid evidence that he isn’t.
At the Daily Beast, a story we’d been working on for months, about how Scientology has targeted two small electronics firms with litigation in order to deprive millions of people around the world with a lifesaving medical procedure.
The chihuahua changed the channel: Scientology’s best ever success story?
Alex Barnes-Ross keeps winning, this time with a records request victory.
Notorious UK Scientology school Greenfields lost its ability to host foreign students after an inspection,
Klaus Büchele was in the thick of things for Scientology’s battles in Europe, and we were stunned that he decided to come forward. What a fascinating new voice among defectors. And like others, he paid a serious price for leaving.
Geoff Levin began giving us amazing new musical tracks for our subscribers, and kicks it off with the tribute to a certain major Scientology celebrity, “Deadbeat Dad.”
Leah Remini announced her divorce from Angelo Pagan in the most Leah Remini way possible.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2023: We made public that we’d be going under the knife. Leah Remini filed her lawsuit for being subjected to “Fair Game.” Sinéad O'Connor’s death elicited a fascinating remembrance from one of our readers. The Daily Mail had the dumbest speculation about Tom Cruise leaving Scientology ever. Mitch Brisker told us about David Miscavige and his communicator on an overnight flight. And Leah Remini added to her lawsuit new allegations of the church’s PIs stalking Mike Rinder.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2022: Valeska Paris files an amended complaint in her labor trafficking lawsuit. Shawn Holley wanted a delay in Danny Masterson’s case, it turned out because she was involved with secret proceedings regarding former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer. We kicked off a special podcast series on a Scientology TV series that never aired, and started it off by interviewing Phil Jones. Bruce Hines on visiting the super-secret Scientology compound where, years later, Shelly Miscavige would be stashed away. Valerie Haney nominated Tom Cruise and, if he was busy, Shelly Miscavige. Andreas Heldal-Lund learned that he has an aggressive cancer.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2021: We count down Tom Cruise’s Scientology superpowers. Our attorneys got a subpoena quashed that had tried to haul us into Danny Masterson’s case. Laura Prepon told People she’d been out of Scientology for five years. The apologist journal CESNUR slimes Gerry Armstrong.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2020: We started a new list, Top 25 People Enabling Scientology. Judge Burdge denied Valerie Haney’s motion for reconsideration. New Clearwater city councilman Mark Bunker suggested making Scientology a tourist attraction. And episode one or Bryan Seymour’s spiked ‘Black Ops’ series leaks here at the Bunker.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2019: Chris Owen detailed Scientology’s 1970s attempt to take over the UK’s National Association of Mental Health. Rod Keller looked at Scientology attempts to make inroads with the Trump administration. Victoria Locke describes her abuse in Scientology. Danny Masterson’s accusers sue him and the Church of Scientology. Leah Remini and Mike Rinder finished their A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath’ with a powerful final episode.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2018: David Miscavige’s “transparency medal” blew up into a major press story in Colombia as senators there call for an investigation. R.M. Seibert delivered again with a government document showing the US was fully aware of Scientology’s essential scam 50 years ago. Scientology scrambled to throw money at Efrem Logreira after realizing how much trouble it was in. The mid-year Maiden Voyage whales surfaced. Sea Org was now expected to salute donors. Scientology had to remove a kiosk from an LAPD station.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2017: Carol Nyburg told us about her part in an unaired TV series. Leah’s second season started off with a bombshell about child molestation. Michael Peña’s wife Brie Shaffer backed her former employer, Danny Masterson. Pastor Willy Rice got the Scientology smear treatment. We made the full 2009-2010 FBI file about Scientology trafficking public (and on the same day we took in the solar eclipse with Jefferson Hawkins). We attended a San Antonio court hearing about Marty Rathbun.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2016: Scientology didn’t make us feel very welcome at its Harlem grand opening. Life in retirement looks pretty good for Scientology’s notorious dirty trickster, Eugene Ingram. In the presidential campaign, a lot of comparisons between Donald Trump and L. Ron Hubbard were being made, but we pointed out that it was the Clinton White House that had serious Scientology baggage.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2015: Steve Fishman, of the famous Fishman Papers, is doing serious time for a bizarre crime. Tom Cruise gave a speech in Spanish, and turned up at a Scientology org in Colombia. And Paulette Cooper had an amazing encounter in Europe.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2014: We remembered Denise Brennan on the occasion of her passing. Mary Sue Hubbard’s house finally went up for sale, as we had predicted. And Kim Poff and Michael DeLong filed lawsuits over the troubling behavior of Oklahoma state officials who were too afraid to take on Scientology.
A LOOK BACK AT AUGUST 2013: Leah Remini filed a missing-person report on Shelly Miscavige, PZ Myers read A History of Man with us, Gerry Armstrong helped us tell his tale, and Monique Rathbun filed her harassment lawsuit.
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Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
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Thank you Bruce. You are one of my heroes. Revisiting your experiences in $cientology must be painful.
The sentence, "The auditor would keep at it until and acceptable answer was gotten." Is the basis for everything that follows. The EP of all of that thought reform is very much like a line from 1984, 'at last he loved Big Brother'. Or something like that. Toe the line or be kicked out. And if you have a spouse and children still in, you don't even get to kiss them goodbye. No wonder so many submit to the RPF and reform their own mental state.
Thankyou Bruce.
Older lower down the totem pole and even now decease critics, advised having some web sites that could contain all the important writings of ex's.
If you don't do a book, then all your writings absolutely need go into a web site.
There's just not been anyone like you, thankyou so much Bruce.
Your story ought even been supported by a major publisher or major editor who ought advise some appropriate writer to do a book on you.
I always wished to see a major writer take on the life of some willing top ex's lives and full scope.
I wish to heck someone picked up Jon Horwich's life.
But you Bruce, you can freely detail a lot of weeds which make up the deeper study of the Scientology saga, it's satisfying to read your material.
In some books, too much is left on the editing floor.
The chat sites and stories of actual incidents, naming names, getting into the moments in detail, all angles, all tiny bits of the Hubbard rules behind the scenes, the trends, the scapegoats recently scapegoated, there are so many ongoing details and intricacies that are satisfying for us somewhat better informed underlings to finally know about.
Always excellent history, thankyou so much Bruce.