Thread by @LawsuitsDevin

Hooray! @FresnoBee journalist @kateirby finally asks question everyone writing about #DevinNunesIsAnIdiot's lawsuits should be:
#WhoFundsDevinsLawsuits? He doesn't have own $, his campaign isn't filing it, he has no legal defend fund. Ethics violation? /1 amp.fresnobee.com/news/local/art…

This article is a good look at what possibilities there are for #WhoFundsDevinsLawsuits, a hashtag I invite everyone to use whenever #DevinNunesIsAnIdiot is mentioned.

1. He's funding them: with what money?
2. He has a benefactor: then he must declare it + he hasn't

/2

3. Contingency suits: possible but defamation rarely taken on contingency. They're expensive + hard to win, even harder for public figure.

Counterargument: Attorney Steven Biss has made a habit of suing on behalf of aggrieved Republicans vs media.

Not mentioned in article:
/3

- PAC money pretending to be arms length from campaign
- Completely illegal donations from foreigners 🇷🇺
- Suits actually on behalf of unnamed party such as 🍊🤡
- First Amendment implications of sitting Congressman suing constituents.

I do think @kateirby was too quick to
/4

dismiss the benefactor theory. Just because Nunes is filing multiple suits against different media doesn't mean there isn't one or more sponsors with an interest in having Nunes continue to sue media and critics. Not everyone acts like Peter Thiel did, revenge against 1 site
/5

Instead consider the strategic benefits of Nunes suing the media. Remember the other guy suing many media sites + critics, #BobMurray. He succeeded in cowing 😁 media criticism. Why couldn't Nunes be suing preventatively instead of reactionary?

Also #eatshitbob
/6

Nunes could be hauled before the House Ethics Committee if he was taking money from anyone to fund these suits, or if the legal help was pro bono.(free). These must be declared + Nunes never declared anything involving Biss.

I'm at a loss why nobody's referred him to Ethics
/7

You'd think citizens watchdog groups would be all over #WhoFundsDevinsLawsuits. And if they aren't, maybe use this hashtag and start asking.

Contingency is a possible arrangement that House Ethics doesn't address. While defamation cases are expensive so few attorneys would
/8

take them on contingency, Steven Biss may be an exception. He seems to specialize in cases from Aggrieved Republicans. He did them on a local scale before.

Link to follow
/9

Here's an example of how successful Nunes' attorney Steven Biss has been with this approach.

Remember, he's not exactly the most ethical lawyer Devin could have chosen.
/10

richmond.com/news/local/han…

Here's @kateirby on #DevinNunesIsAnIdiot attorney Steven Biss. Not the attorney you want when the Ethics Committee finally nails him, both because Biss isn't very ethical and he kept getting caught. He's been suspended twice
/11
amp.fresnobee.com/news/politics-…

So, how about the theory that Nunes is suing all these media sites on behalf of someone else *cough* Trump. Test cases. What if a pol could find a way to gag an incessant critical journalist? Wouldn't Trump love that? So could his buddies abroad 🇷🇺 be underwriting his suits?
/12

No wonder he's so angry about getting accidentally swept up in the Parnas/Giuliani subpoena.

Yes it's a huge violation of all kinds of laws; campaign finance, ethics + then the foreign source aspect. So why sue so publicly? Does he want to get caught? Or does he not care?
/13

Plenty questions but no answers. Thanks @kateirby for putting this out there but more digging is needed. Everyone please keep asking #WhoFundsDevinsLawsuits

It would explain a lot and would lead to many more issues, and, I suspect, crimes.

/End

PS here's my #KashyapPatal lawsuit thread, also by Staffer Biss, and very similar over the top screaming.

Think of #DevinNunesIsAnIdiot and Patel's suits as the legal manifestation of #GymJordan or #MattGaetzDUI screaming for hours.

https://twitter.com/LawsuitsDevin/status/1196628147954806784?s=20