Trump Wants Church Of Scientology To Lose Tax Exemption Status

President Donald Trump gave his support for the removal of the Church of Scientology's tax-exempt status, a report has said, citing the information given by a longtime Trump family aide and a current top official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Lynne Patton to actress and producer Leah Remini in late May.

In a Twitter post, Patton told Remini about Trump's thoughts on the tax exemption status and said Remini would interface with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) directly so that she can seek more information after which the revocation process can be started.

Remini also sent Huffington Post copies of Patton's messages but has declined to comment on the matter any further.

Remini hosts a show which is an hour-long docuseries, "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath," where she turns an investigative reporter to share the truth about Scientology of which she was a member from 1979 to 2013. The "King of Queens" star separated from the Church of Scientology after being subjected to years of "interrogations" and "thought modification" for questioning leader David Miscavige’s rule, Page Six had reported in 2013 citing a source.

In late May, Patton sent out a tweet to Remini asking her to leave her a direct message to which the actress replied on May 30 saying: "Hi Lynne would love any help you can give."

Patton replied the same day saying: "From The moment I saw your series I told President Trump & his family we needed to revoke their tax exempt status. They couldn’t agree more, but please don’t publicize that yet. I want to do more due diligence on what the IRS has attempted in the past (or maybe you can enlighten me), then I’ll identify who we need to connect with again."

It's uncertain whether Patton actually got in touch with the IRS. However, an expert pointed out that if Trump expressed an opinion on the church and if Patton did contact the IRS about the matter, it would have been an inappropriate level of interference with the IRS by the administration, Huffington Post reported.

"For the White House or any administration official to try and influence who the IRS targets, for whatever reason, is wrong and could result in a violation of the law," said Larry Noble, former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission and who currently works at the Campaign Legal Center as senior director of ethics and general counsel.

"The IRS must make these decisions independently without any influence by the White House or administration officials," Noble added.

Scientology is the only major religion to be founded in the 20th century and has also been able to emerge as one in the 21st century as well, according to the website of the official media resource center for the Church of Scientology.

The Church has been successful in growing more in the "past decade than in its first 50 years combined under the ecclesiastical leadership of Mr. Miscavige."

Scientology is a religion developed by L. Ron Hubbard and it helps people to understand one's true spiritual nature.