Co-author: Sniper did not want to name Ventura

Published 10:14 am Friday, July 18, 2014

ST. PAUL — The co-author of “American Sniper” testified Thursday that former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle did not want to name former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura as the man Kyle allegedly punched in a California bar in 2006.

Jim DeFelice testified as part of Ventura’s defamation lawsuit against the estate of Kyle, who was killed in Texas last year.

One of Ventura’s attorneys asked DeFelice why he did not contact Ventura about the section describing the bar fight when he was researching the book.

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“It was not Jesse’s book,” DeFelice responded.

In his 2012 book, Kyle wrote that he punched a man he called “Scruff Face.” Kyle later identified the man as Ventura, also a former SEAL.