Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s brother and sister-in-law filed suit against CNN in federal court Thursday, alleging that they were defamed by a report last month focused on the QAnon conspiracy group — such as it is.
Jack and Leslie Flynn filed the $75 million lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in New York City, claiming CNN falsely portrayed them as members of QAnon, according to Just the News.
Aired on February 4, the network was pushing the QAnon narrative to tie it to former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, and included footage of a Flynn 4th of July family outing.
But Jack and Leslie Flynn say the footage was selectively edited to paint a false picture.
The segment, titled “CNN goes inside a gathering of QAnon followers,” is seen here:
CNN goes inside a gathering of QAnon followers. https://t.co/u7ZT0pokSo pic.twitter.com/C7fK6SPpWb
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) February 5, 2021
According to the lawsuit, the network edited footage of the family joining with Mike Flynn in reciting the oath to the Constitution taken by members of Congress.
More from Just the News:
At the end of oath, Michael Flynn uttered the phrase “Where we go one, we go all,” and the entire family responded, “God Bless America.” CNN edited out the pledge and the “God Bless America” exclamation and claimed the phrase uttered by President Trump’s national security adviser was an “infamous QAnon slogan,” the suit alleged.
In fact, Michael Flynn’s phrase was drawn from an inscription first “engraved on a bell on one of President John F. Kennedy’s sailboats, acknowledging the unity of mankind,” the suit stated.
The network reported that the phrase “Where we go one, we go all” was common with the handful of extremists who make up the QAnon movement — which is but a fraction of what the media portrays. The abbreviation WWG1WGA is used on QAnon swag.
And given CNN standards, that’s all that’s needed to convict.
“General Flynn intended to encourage people to think about being good citizens, to love country and be good patriots,” the lawsuit stated. “The video had nothing to do with QAnon or recruiting ‘digital soldiers’ for an apocalyptic reckoning.”
“CNN falsely accused Plaintiffs of being ‘followers’ and supporters of the ‘dangerous,’ ‘violent,’ ‘racist,’ ‘extremist,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ ‘domestic terrorism movement – QAnon,” the legal action added.
The lawsuit further stated that the plaintiffs “are not followers or supporters of any extremist or terrorist groups, including QAnon,” and that they “never took” an oath of allegiance to QAnon, as attributed by the network.
CNN aired the report the week Senate Democrats began their politically motivated trial of private citizen Trump, after the House approved one article of impeachment the previous month in a rushed response to the Capitol riot.
The same week of the report, Flynn dismissed a QAnon conspiracy swirling around during a podcast interview with Doug Billings.
Billings asked about a “key part of the ‘QAnon’ conspiracy theory that claims Trump will enact the Insurrection Act and begin ‘mass arrests’ of deep state operatives and Satanic child traffickers.”
“No,” Flynn replied. “Nonsense.”
With the former president being acquitted a second time and all that in the rearview mirror, QAnon is now an afterthought for the corrupt media establishment, rarely, if ever being mentioned.
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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