Chevron Ecuador Challenge: Steven Donziger Joe Berlinger, Show All Crude Movie Outtakes!

Steven Donziger and Joe Berlinger 

Recently, a judge ordered Crude film director Joe Berlinger to turn over outtakes from his film about alleged pollution by Texaco (now owned by Chevron) in the Amazon of Ecuador.

Chevron reportedly reviewed the outtakes and found a series of conversations by the attorney behind the lawsuit, Steven Donziger, admitting that the case is "nothing more than smoke and mirrors and bulls__t" as well as other statements that ruin the credibility of the case against the American oil company.

But not so fast, says Berlinger and Donziger.

They wildly claim the outtakes submitted to the 2nd Circuit Court in New York City by Chevron, which is seeking more outtakes from the movie Crude are taken "out of context" and distorting their words.

Berlinger wrote in an e-mail statement to Fortune magazine "The footage citations are being taken out of context and not being presented to the court in its entirety, creating numerous false impressions, precisely what we feared when we were first issued the original subpoena,"

Now, my friends Amazon Watch and Steven Donziger publicist Karen Hinton (who would make a great dinner partner) are pissed that I wrote that the Crude outtakes destroy their case.

I stand by my previous blog on this. I believe that the evidence produced from the movie Crude not only wipes out their case, but probably makes them liable in both the U.S. and Ecuador of fraudulent and misleading legal actions against Chevron.

And, what legal issues could Amazon Watch, Rainforest Action Network, and everyone else face if all their rants against Chevron are knowingly false? Right?

Here's my challenge: Prove me, Zennie Abraham, wrong.

Produce all the footage from the movie so that the public can make up their own mind whether the case against Chevron is a sham created by Donziger and Amazon Watch or whether Chevron is taking their words out of context.

And when I write all the footage, I mean all of the outtakes from the movie Crude.

What do Berlinger, Donziger, Hinton, Amazon Watch, Luis Yanza, Pablo Fajardo and their team have to fear? Apparently a great deal because they are continue to prevent the footage from being seen - and letting all of us make up our minds whether they're telling the truth or not.

It's time for Berlinger, Donziger, and Amazon Watch to put up or shut up.

And for Karen Hinton to buy dinner.

(And a side note: I want it known I support the right of filmmakers to protect their film and videos from unnecessary inspection, but only in the case of real politically important, difference-making work, not in the instance of a trial lawyer in the middle of a lawsuit, trying to make billions under the color of helping the poor of a third world country, when he's clearly partnered with its government.  Crude was made during the Chevron Ecuador legal battle, so it looks like what is it: propaganda. My challenge will reveal that...if they take it.)