Lawyers representing Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann said on Monday that they are doubling down on going after The Washington Post in court for lying about their client after the left-wing newspaper issued an editor’s note on Friday night that they say was “too little and too late.”
“The note, posted Friday evening, does not apologize for the role the Post’s biased ‘journalism’” played in smearing Covington Catholic teenagers and getting them death threats, but does say subsequent reporting contradicted or failed ‘to confirm accounts provided’ in the initial story,” The Daily Wire reported on Saturday. “There was no apology to the students who were smeared as racist bullies, when, in fact, these students were the victims of racist bullying by Black Hebrew Israelites and intimidation from Phillips and his activist friends who walked into the group of teenagers and began banging a drum just inches from Sandmann’s face as he politely smiled.”
Lin Wood, a high profile lawyer who is representing Sandmann, released a statement on Monday slamming the Post.
The full letter states:
In a span of 3 days beginning on January 19, The Washington Post rushed to claim leadership of a mainstream and social media mob of bullies who falsely attacked, vilified and threatened Nicholas Sandmann, an innocent 16-year old boy. Late last Friday evening, 41 days after it launched its false attacks on a minor, the Post published an Editor’s Note and delivered to Nicholas’ lawyers a letter from its General Counsel, Jay Kennedy. With its unlimited financial resources, the Post likely spent tens of thousands of dollars on media defense lawyers to publicly parse and spin its false coverage in an effort to avoid accountability and limit its legal responsibility for its wrongdoing. The Post’s efforts were too little and too late.
The Friday night efforts by the Post to whitewash its wrongdoing were untimely, grossly insufficient and did little more than perpetuate the lies it published – lies that will haunt and adversely impact Nicholas for the rest of his life.
The Post ignored its own culpability and wrongdoing. Mr. Kennedy’s letter stated that the Post “provided accurate coverage.” It did not and its belated public relations efforts change nothing and fool no one.
The Post made no effort to retract and correct the lies it published.
The Post did not have the integrity to unequivocally admit its negligent and reckless violations of fundamental journalistic standards documented by its complete failure to investigate the incident at the National
Mall before publishing lies about a child. One need only review the Post’s published list of its own Policies and Standards at https://www.washingtonpost.com/policies-and-standards/?utm_term=.ec515ec8b6aa to find violation after violation after violation.
The Post did not have the character to apologize to Nicholas and seek his forgiveness. Highlighting its arrogance and lack of contrition, the Post announced its “deletion” of one of its false and defamatory tweets about the incident and Nicholas by re-posting the tweet so that its lies will also forever remain available on the Internet and in social media.
False accusations against an adult destroy a lifetime of accomplishments. False accusations against children forever rob them of their inherent right to define their lives for themselves and force them to suffer a life tainted and damaged by the permanent shadow of the lies.
Last Friday night the Post made clear that it has learned no lesson and remains willing in the future to falsely attack others to further its political agenda, including false attacks on children.
The Post has now doubled down on its lies. As Nicholas’s lawyers, we will now double down on truth and aggressively continue our legal efforts to hold the Post accountable and obtain justice for Nicholas in a court of law.
Sandmann’s lawyers filed a $250 million lawsuit against the Post in February and are expected to file lawsuits against 50 other entities which includes other media organizations, celebrities, and politicians.