It was May when Stephen Gutowski of the Washington Free Beacon busted Katie Couric for a bit of deceptive editing in her anti-gun documentary, “Under the Gun.” Raw audio proved that the filmmakers had edited in footage of members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League sitting silently, apparently stumped by Couric’s question about background checks.
The filmmakers’ (initial) excuse? They had inserted the footage out of sequence in order to provide a meaningful pause so that the viewing audience could ponder Couric’s very important question.
On Tuesday, the Virginia Citizens Defense League filed a $12 million defamation lawsuit against the filmmakers.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League sues Katie Couric and director of film "Under the Gun" alleging manipulated footage to serve an agenda.
— Andrew Cain (@AndrewCainRTD) September 13, 2016
Bad news for @katiecouric: Virginia Gun Rights Group Files $12 Million Suit Against Under The Gun Producers, Epix https://t.co/O94fmtA2tx
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) September 13, 2016
#Virginia Citizen's Defense League @VCDL_ORG files defamation suit against @katiecouric & @UnderTheGunDoc filmakers pic.twitter.com/fllCZ9sSVE
— Saraya Wintersmith (@SWINTERSMITH) September 13, 2016
Gutowski reports that the suit names Couric along with director Stephanie Soechtig, Atlas Films, and the cable channel Epix, which aired the documentary.
“They manipulated the footage to manufacture a fictional exchange that never happened,” said lawyer Libby Locke. “And, worst of all, they manipulated their own audience into believing that the VCDL members had been stumped by this Katie Couric question.”
"We want to set the record straight and hold them accountable for what they’ve done" https://t.co/O94fmtA2tx
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) September 13, 2016
VCDL president Philip Van Cleave said he was “horrified to see how Couric and her team manipulated us and the video footage to make us look like fools who didn’t stand up for the Second Amendment.” If only Couric and her colleagues were caught and held accountable for every time they’d manipulated video and audio to push their agenda.
And so it begins. https://t.co/fZxw2jp1Pm
— Phil Van Cleave VCDL (@VCDL_ORG) September 13, 2016
