Shades of Dan Rather! The anti-gun, Anti Second Amendment chickens are coming home to roost on Katie Couric and director Stephanie Soechtig’s head.

A Virginia gun-rights group is suing Katie Couric and the producers of the documentary “Under the Gun” for $12 million in defamation over an interview that was revealed to have been deceptively edited.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) and two gun-rights activists featured in the film, Daniel Hawes and Patricia Webb, are suing Ms. Couric, who produced the documentary and led the interview in question, as well as director Stephanie Soechtig, Atlas Films and Epix, the film’s distributor.

Bearing Arms editor Bob Owens broke the story. $12 million dollars isn’t chump change by any means. And, in fact, the VCDL may very well have a case. You can read the entire complaint here.

During the aired footage from the “Under the Gun” documentary Couric asked VCDL a question about background checks.

The video shows 8 seconds of pure silence. Only there’s a BIG problem with that supposed “silence.” Its called selective editing. Reporters from the Washington Free Beacon obtained the original audio. It tells a VERY different story.

Quite a huge difference isn’t it? As a matter of fact, the group is certain that the majority of their interview landed on the cutting room floor. The rest was manipulated and not in a good way.

In the filing, the VCDL, Daniel L. Hawes, Esq., and Patricia Webb allege that the filmmakers knowingly and maliciously manufactured the fictional exchange by splicing in footage that the filmmakers took surreptitiously after telling the interviewees to be silent for ten seconds so that recording equipment could be calibrated. The filing also contains side-by-side screenshots of the film’s footage of the VCDL members and anti-gun advocates, alleging that the filmmakers manipulated lighting to cast shadows on the VCDL members and to make them appear sinister and untrustworthy. “We were 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,” said Mr. Philip Van Cleave, President of the VCDL. “We want to set the record straight and hold them accountable for what they’ve done. You shouldn’t intentionally misrepresent someone’s views just because you disagree with them.”

Katie Couric and Stephanie Soechtig were asked several times last spring to respond to the allegations.

Greg Gutfield even took Katie to the woodshed for her deception.

https://youtu.be/dTxKspifTR0

What did Katie do? Well first, she defended herself.

And statement from Katie Couric of "Under the Gun": "I support Stephanie's statement and am very proud of the film."

— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) May 25, 2016

Then, with this statement, she tried to throw Stephanie under the bus by admitting she KNEW about the fraud, but let it continue anyway. What did Stephanie do? Defended herself of course.

Soechtig: “There are a wide range of views expressed in the film. My intention was to provide a pause for the viewer….2

— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) May 25, 2016

…to have a moment to consider this important question before presenting the facts on Americans' opinions on background checks." 3

— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) May 25, 2016

"I never intended to make anyone look bad and I apologize if anyone felt that way.”

— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) May 25, 2016

Only there’s a BIG problem with Stephanie’s “apology.” She later admitted to Variety magazine that she planned this all along and is ticked she got caught.

“If I wanted to make them [Virginia Citizens Defense League] look bad, I would have focused exclusively on their radical ideology. But I didn’t do that.” Later in the interview, Soechtig added: “It’s interesting that they’re focusing on what’s not in the film instead of what is in the film, because if they focused on what is in the film, it would threaten their livelihood. This is very textbook gun-lobby intimidation tactics, and I won’t be intimidated….There is a small but noisy fringe in this country. They’ve been really loud, and to be honest they’ve been really successful in preventing our legislators from passing any meaningful legislation on this issue.”

Bob Owens was very correct in presuming that these two women would be facing a lawsuit someday. Well, that day has arrived. The subtitle of their fraudulent documentary is “In The Gun Debate, Truth Is The Ultimate Weapon.” Katie and Stephanie should’ve been truthful but they willfully chose not to be, and now they are reaping what they sowed.