WEBVTT

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In writing a 365-page book targeting
the Church of Scientology,

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Lawrence Wright sought out a tiny
group of disgruntled ex-members

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led by this man:

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expelled from the Church for
financial misconduct, deception,

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ineptitude and violence.

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Nearly all of Wright's sources

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were dismissed from the Church
for similar offenses,

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including: embezzlement, financial
wrongdoing, sexual misconduct,

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physical abuse and severe violations
of Church doctrine.

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Yet these are the individuals
Lawrence Wright uses to impugn the

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character of the Church
and its leader,

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a man responsible
for a worldwide religion

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and its unprecedented expansion…

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…and under whose stewardship,

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the Church’s social betterment
programs have become

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the largest non-governmental
anti-drug and

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human rights campaigns on Earth.

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But in writing his "so called"
expose on Scientology,

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Lawrence Wright’s sources were
far from credible and Wright knew it.

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Their allegations so far-fetched that
a federal judge and an appeals court

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dismissed them as baseless.

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Lawrence Wright ignored that.

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And when the Church provided
thousands of pages of evidence

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documenting the falsehood
of those claims -–

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Lawrence Wright continued to present
the allegations as fact.

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When asked in a journalist forum,

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“Do you believe that journalism
can lead to truth?”,

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Wright had this to say:

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"Truth is one of those
subjective terms

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that are pointless
to get too tied up about."

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Wright's book was
released in January 2013

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but failed to generate reader interest.

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Still, it found itself immediately
steeped in controversy

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about the veracity of its claims.

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So much so that the book’s publisher
would not release it in Britain,

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Ireland, Canada or Australia because
of their libel laws.

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The chances of losing a lawsuit
were simply too great.

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Now, documentary filmmaker Alex
Gibney has taken Lawrence Wright’s

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book at its word
without question or examination:

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“I utterly trusted Larry. I wasn’t
looking for holes in his story.”

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Over the two years Gibney quietly
worked on his documentary,

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he never once contacted the Church,
visited a Church

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or spoke to any of its members.

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His documentary was in the can before
he even mentioned it to them.

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And to this day, Gibney refuses to
reveal his allegations to the Church.

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Let’s take a closer look at Wright
and Gibney's sources:

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Meet Graham Berry…

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…A small-time California lawyer

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who filed dozens of frivolous
lawsuits and claims against the Church...

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As he told the court,

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“My agenda basically is to
bite Scientology in the butt

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and to cause it as much grief as possible.”

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The declarations Berry submitted
contained so many

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wild and unfounded
conspiracy theories

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that he was repeatedly
reprimanded from the bench.

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Here’s what one judge said:

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“[I] am not going to let you submit
reams and reams of declarations

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with totally
insupportable allegations.”

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Court documents show
Berry’s tactics include

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paying sums totaling $17,000
for a known Church attacker

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to sign an affidavit containing false
allegations against the Church.

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And forging testimony
by writing another eleven pages

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into a witness’ court declaration
without her knowledge…

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...that’s perjury.

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Here’s what she told the court
after she found out,

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“I gave no authorization for
my declaration to be changed

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after I sent the signed copy of it
to Mr. Berry…”

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Becoming more and more unbalanced Berry
left his job and hung out his own shingle

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to fabricate a series of bizarre conspiracy
lawsuits against the Church.

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In one of them suing the Church
and its leader,

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Graham Berry went so far as to name
the Director of the IRS,

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the National Security Advisor, the
Secretaries of State, Treasury and Commerce,

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and the President of the United States
as co-defendants.

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After that suit was thrown out he changed a
few words and refilled an amended suit…

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…Then another…

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…Then another.

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Over the years not only has Berry
suffered defeat after defeat,

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the court ordered him to pay the Church
more than $100,000 in sanctions.

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In 1999 the court finally labeled
Graham Berry a “vexatious litigant”

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for his relentless abuse of the legal system

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and forbade him from ever
filing another lawsuit

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without court approval with these words,

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“If there is such a thing on God’s green
earth as a vexatious litigant,

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you sir, sadly are it.”

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And when the California State bar
suspended his license three years later

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Berry threw himself at the mercy of the court

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citing depression and alcoholism…

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But the plea for leniency backfired and he
was ordered into psychiatric treatment

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at his own expense.

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A further investigation into
Berry’s private life

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goes well beyond the troubles
he reported to the bar.

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It reveals allegations of
pedophilia, perversion

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and predatory sexual behavior.

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One young man stating in court documents,

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“Berry said that in
exchange for representing me

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I would have to have sex with him
four times…”

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Lawrence Wright is fully aware that
Graham Berry’s documented character

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and bizarre court actions make his
credibility virtually worthless.

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That’s why Wright leaves the name
“Graham Berry” out of his book entirely

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and just refers to him as “an attorney”.

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Graham Berry is also the legal counsel and
highly vocal supporter of this man

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and the small group of anti-Scientologists

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Lawrence Wright uses
to malign the Church.

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Even though his name is not mentioned,
Graham Berry and his deceptions

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are spread throughout
Lawrence Wright’s book as fact.

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For instance, Berry represents this
self confessed perjurer

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who tells a fictitious story about
being a Scientologist,

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forced to comply with a bank robbery
in order to get a debt paid to the Church.

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But Gary Scarff not only
never was a Scientologist,

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there was no debt and
there never was such a robbery.

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He later recanted the story under oath
as a complete fabrication.

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But it appears on this page of
Lawrence Wright’s book as a fact.

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Remember those fraudulent allegations
Graham Berry paid $17,000 for?

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They’re right here. Also presented by
Lawrence Wright as fact.

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And that’s just a few of the discredited
claims and accusations

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connected to Graham Berry
throughout Lawrence Wright’s book.

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And Wright, Alex Gibney and
head of HBO documentaries

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and family programming, Sheila Nivens,
know all about it.

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But their audience doesn’t know
and won’t know.

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In future segments,

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we’re going to show you more of
Lawrence Wright’s “sources"...

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Remember this guy – the ringleader of
that tiny group Lawrence Wright

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befriended and used to tell false
stories about his former religion?

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“Shut the fuck up. I’m tellin’ you
something right now…”

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He was dismissed and expelled from
the Church for criminal activities --

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that's criminal, as in felony.

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His résumé also includes episodes of
shoving, kicking,

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punching and extreme violence.

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And a honeymoon night spent in jail.

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But Lawrence Wright
doesn’t reveal any of that,

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or any other sordid
detail about this man.

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You’ll also meet those
this man calls his "posse":

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Such as the guy he nearly killed, who
he now calls his "best good buddy".

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This guy deserted his children and
ruthlessly attacked his estranged wife…

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…the thief who used to ride shotgun with
the ringleader on his punching sprees.

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Admitted accomplices
in a scheme to suborn perjury –

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getting others to lie under oath.

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And another Lawrence Wright source,
the "lady" expelled from the Church

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for having sexual relations with
someone she was ministering to,

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a violation of professional conduct
in any church. You'll meet her, too.

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…the paid tabloid source and his
wife, whose frivolous lawsuits

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were repeatedly thrown
out of Federal Court

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and the couple ordered
to pay the Church $40,000.

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... and the writer who took advantage
of his Scientology connections to

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take $5 million for writing scripts
he never completed.

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Lawrence Wright and Alex Gibney
could have shown you

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the truth about Scientology.

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For this is Scientology today:

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A rapidly expanding religion with new
churches opening, by the month,

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throughout the world...

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But instead of showing you this,

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Wright and Gibney have chosen
to give you this man...

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Shut the fuck up…

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And his tiny group of followers.

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That’s right – this guy is the leader of
all Lawrence Wright's "sources."

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They are interconnected,
each of them corroborating the other’s

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false stories and lies,
some for big bucks.

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All of them handpicked
to populate the story

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Lawrence Wright and
Alex Gibney want to sell.

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Lawrence Wright, Alex Gibney

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and executive producer Sheila Nevins
know full well who these people really are.

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But you won’t see that on HBO.

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Shut the fuck up…