Exposing the Exposé

When “Defamers” was published in February, I anticipated some sort of salvo from CalCoastNews. First they lose the defamation lawsuit filed against them. Then they lose their appeal. Then they lose the lawsuits they filed against anyone and everyone they feel wronged them. When my book was published, there was silence. That’s unusual, I thought. Recently, I figured out what they were up to all this time.

On July 18, CalCoastNews revealed a trailer for “Lying in Trash,” a documentary produced by an unnamed production company out of Southern California. The documentary, which anonymous users on CalCoastNews have occasionally alluded to the past few months, features several associates involved with the website that question the legitimacy of the $1.1 million defamation suit they lost and attempts to “shutter” the website. Naturally, the anonymous filmmaker(s) point the finger at District 3 Supervisor Adam Hill as being the ringleader.

In 2014, CalCoastNews essentially accused Hill of playing a substantial role of co-founder Karen Velie’s grandchildren allegedly being “kidnapped” by Child Welfare Services. At the time, the website created so much of an uproar that a rally was organized outside the SLO County Board of Supervisors chambers. The rally ultimately poured inside one of the BOS…