Letter from CSI to A+E Networks re Church of Scientology

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October 13, 2016

October 13, 2016

Mr. Paul Buccieri
President
A+E Television Networks
235 E. 45th Street
New York, NY 10017

Via Federal Express and Email

Re: Church of Scientology

Dear Mr. Buccieri:

I am writing you again as I urge you to take the opportunity to meet with me and get the information you do not have as to the credibility of your sources and the factual accuracy of your program material. It is reckless for you to disregard all the facts.

This letter addresses another of the sources Slauson Productions is using for its Leah Remini program on Scientology, Tom DeVocht.

In July, Slauson Productions wrote to the Church requesting interviews with DeVocht’s former wife and sister. Both declined for reasons well explained in this letter and in the attached white paper. Nonetheless, it is important that you know the true history and character of this man Ms. Remini is promoting.

Tom DeVocht is a violent, admitted liar who left the Church in 2005, following an investigation into his extensive waste of Church funds.

Compulsive lying permeates nearly every aspect of DeVocht’s life. To use him as a source is an indication of how tainted your program promises to be.

During his time on Church staff, DeVocht was mainly involved in building construction and renovation. His mismanagement of these projects was catastrophic and, by his own admission, cost the Church more than $10 million in wasted funds, resulting in his removal from his post. Though he disingenuously promised to pay back the money he wasted, he never made good on reimbursing a single penny of the millions he needlessly squandered.

DeVocht is a thoroughly unreliable source who at one time was part of a conspiracy to suborn perjury, as detailed in the attached white paper. Having no reliable source of income, for the last decade he has spread lies about the leader of our Church in exchange for money and perks.

In a sworn affidavit signed under penalty of perjury, DeVocht’s former wife, Jennifer Linson, said his “characterizations are nothing short of scathing lies, which are pure sensationalism and absolutely not true.” Ms. Linson refuted DeVocht’s lies again when she appeared on CNN on March 30, 2010.

As Ms. Linson stated in a recent interview: “He lied so much I don't think he could tell the difference between what was true and what was a lie. He just lived a life of dishonesty.”

It was that dishonesty that imploded his marriage and destroyed his relationship with his family. He sold two of his wife’s cars two different times she was out of town, then spent the money. He squandered more than $100,000 of her inheritance. Shortly before leaving the Church and deserting her, DeVocht admitted to having stolen cash from her grandmother on their wedding day. He constantly leeched off her family and continually attempted to ingratiate himself with them because he smelled money.

While Slauson Productions has not provided any specific allegations made by DeVocht, nor by any of its other sources, it is not hard to figure out from letters sent to the Church that DeVocht is another source inventing tales of “disconnection.” Nothing could be more dishonest. DeVocht for years by his own choice had virtually no meaningful relationships with his own family. Indeed, DeVocht has treated his own sister in such an abusive fashion that he tried to turn his then 30-year-old niece against her own mother, a Scientologist and staff member. After having almost no contact with the girl during the three decades she was growing up, DeVocht in an effort to harm his sister reached out to his niece in a failed attempt to drive a wedge between the two of them.

Interviewed about the incident, DeVocht’s sister stated: “What kind of a person would do that? A family member would never, ever, ever do that. … It is so wrong. And it’s ludicrous because he never even knew my daughter. Never. He met her maybe once in 30 years for a few minutes.”

It is outrageous that you would portray a chronic, admitted liar, a thief and a violent anti-Scientology deprogrammer as a reliable source while letting him lie about the Scientology religion and disconnection. Using Tom DeVocht in your program is scraping the bottom of the barrel, even for the corrupt form of “reality” television Slauson practices.

This letter is being provided so that you and your viewers will have the truth. If you have any integrity, you will not show the phony, sanitized version of Tom DeVocht Leah Remini wants to present.

Once again I fail to understand why you won’t schedule a brief meeting where we can discuss issues that are extremely relevant to your program. I am available at your convenience.

Regards,

Karin Pouw