Is Bud White being truthful when he says that Dick Stensland is pretending?

Question

On Christmas night, Bud White met Lynn, Buzz Meeks, and Susan Lefferts, took bullets from Buzz’s firearm, and asked Dick Stensland about Buzz:

Bud White: You know him?

Dick Stensland: Yeah, I've seen him around. He used to be a cop.

Later in the movie, Bud White recalls the above conversation in the records room with Exley.:

Bud White: I knew Stensland lied to me. Lefferts' mother ID'd Stensland as Lefferts' boyfriend. Stensland pretended he didn't know Meeks or her the night that I met......Lynn.

Here it seems to me that Bud White is falsely claiming that Dick Stensland was pretending, when in fact he was not.

Is Bud White being truthful when he says that Dick Stensland is pretending?

Answer 1

Here it seems to me that Bud White is falsely claiming that Dick Stensland was pretending, when in fact he was not.

Stensland WAS lying....

He not only knew Lefferts, he was her boyfriend.

It's also established that Stensland and Meeks not only knew each other but were partners at some point. Perhaps Bud did not know they knew each other but Exley has just told him that they did.

The original quote in the script was slightly different, perhaps putting more emphasis on the Lefferts connection..

I knew Stensland lied to me. Lefferts' mother IDed Stensland as Lefferts' boyfriend, but Stens pretended he didn't know her or Meeks the night I met Lynn.

So White is not "falsely claiming", he's stating an established fact.