President Donald Trump thinks the Church of Scientology needs to start coughing up tax money once more, at least according to a new report. As reported in a new Huffington Post article, Trump believes that the Church of Scientology needs to pay taxes like the religious organization used to do.
Leah Remini, a longtime former member of Scientology, has been gaining attention for exposing the experiences of former Scientology members via her A&E series, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. As seen in video excerpts from the series, former members allege all sorts of abuse they claim they have suffered while members of the organization. Remini’s show contains allegations from members who claimed to have been sexually and physically abused. Others have claimed that Scientology forced them to have abortions. One huge monumental moment during the series displayed the day that the Church of Scientology was granted tax-exemption status.
Now comes the news that President Trump and his family agree that Scientology shouldn’t enjoy a tax-exempt status. Lynne Patton, who has worked since 2009 with the Trump family, reportedly expressed to Remini that she would directly speak with the IRS to gain more information about revoking the Scientology tax-exempt status. Leah provided Patton’s direct Twitter messages to the Huffington Post . The exchange reportedly happened in May.
However, it isn’t known if Lynn indeed contacted the IRS and if so, what the status of the Church of Scientology’s tax-exemption revocation might be. In spite of the messages, the White House has not yet commented on the allegations about taking away the tax-exempt status of the Church of Scientology.
Patton reached out to Remini via Twitter and Leah followed up through direct message.
Patton wrote to Remini that the series prompted her to tell President Trump that “we needed to revoke their tax-exempt status” and Trump “couldn’t agree more.” Citing the “blatant misuse of IRS” rules and regulations, the threat to take away the tax-exempt status of Scientology continued as the main focus of the direct messages between the two.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uumuuQm5eQ
The Church of Scientology was first granted its tax-exemption in 1957, which was revoked by the IRS in 1967. It took 26 years for the IRS to once again bless the church with tax-exempt status in a move that was highly-celebrated by the church amid 10,000 Scientologists.
Remini did not hear back from Lynn. According to the popular piece, Patton would later be seen in a photo with a rising Scientologist in the Trump world.
JUST IN: Trump thinks Scientology should lose its tax-exempt status https://t.co/49bONthrlq pic.twitter.com/6wwzvKvRWy
— The Hill (@thehill) November 10, 2017
[Featured Image by Andrew Harnik/AP Images]
