Happy (almost) new year everyone! In honor of the end of this year, I wanted to give a thread summary of the state of Devin Nunes' lawsuits, both for those who don't know exactly what's going on and those who could use a refresher.
It started in March with Nunes suing @Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt and @LizMair for defamation. Mair is a Republican strategist who was working against Nunes' campaign in 2018, the other two are parody accounts (relatively unknown before the lawsuit) fresnobee.com/news/politics-…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair Twitter et al tried to argue that Virginia, where Nunes had filed the suit with his lawyer, Steven Biss, was the improper venue. They failed, with the Virginia judge saying the suit could go forward in his Richmond court. fresnobee.com/news/local/art…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair Since then, the only significant update was Nunes trying to subpoena @AdamParkhomenko and a Virginia-based lawyer. He seemed to be trying to get the identity of @DevinCow and @NunesAlt, who remain anonymous. Twitter has refused to reveal them. fresnobee.com/news/local/art…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko And the lawyer and @AdamParkhomenko both refused to comply with the subpoenas, for some similar reasons: sacbee.com/news/politics-…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko The next lawsuit Nunes filed was against @McClatchy (my employer) and @LizMair again. That lawsuit was about this story, written by @MackenzieMays in May 2018, saying the article and others had defamed him. fresnobee.com/news/business/…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays McClatchy, like Twitter, also filed to dismiss the lawsuit based on Virginia being the wrong venue. There was a hearing on Dec. 20 and the judge said she would rule on whether to dismiss by February: fresnobee.com/news/local/art…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays Next came Nunes' suit against Democratic groups and a retired farmer within his own district. The farmer and Democratic groups had accused Nunes of being a "fake farmer" in his 2018 election, which Nunes said defamed him: sacbee.com/news/californi…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays The challenge by farmer Paul Buxman et al was unsuccessful, so Nunes could keep calling himself a farmer on the ballot. But interesting detail found by @BriannaCalix: Buxman, who Nunes accused of a dark money conspiracy, doesn't have an email address. fresnobee.com/news/politics-…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix Nunes' campaign soon dropped that lawsuit, the only one of his lawsuits that has been dropped so far: fresnobee.com/news/local/art…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix Next came Nunes' lawsuit against Fusion GPS and @Accountable_Org, filed the same day the lawsuit was dropped against Buxman. Again, Nunes charged the two with conspiring to defame him: mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-wo…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org This was in a federal court in (again) Virginia. The Buxman lawsuit was the only complaint filed in California, which was also the only one dropped. Both Fusion GPS and @Accountable_Org moved to dismiss the complaint, but apparently the original complaint has been amended.
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org That means they have to file another motion to dismiss by mid-January, according to a judge's order. So more legal fees for the defendants, which Nunes' critics have contended is the entire point of his lawsuits.
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org Next came the lawsuit against @RyanLizza and @Hearst at the end of September, for Lizza's story on Nunes' family farm actually being in Iowa and likely using labor from undocumented immigrants: esquire.com/news-politics/…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org @RyanLizza @Hearst There have been no significant developments in that case yet, but here's a summary of Nunes' complaint: fresnobee.com/news/local/art…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org @RyanLizza @Hearst Next came a lawsuit not from Nunes himself, but from his former staffer Kash Patel against Politico. Patel hired Biss, the lawyer Nunes has used in all of his lawsuits, and also filed suit in Virginia. mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-wo…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org @RyanLizza @Hearst Finally, Nunes sued CNN in December, saying this story @CNN attributed to Lev Parnas' lawyer @josephabondy was false and defamed him: cnn.com/2019/11/22/pol…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org @RyanLizza @Hearst @CNN @josephabondy No significant updates in that case either, which was also filed by Biss in federal court in Virginia.
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org @RyanLizza @Hearst @CNN @josephabondy Because of all these defamation lawsuits and Nunes' financial disclosure showing he's not independently wealthy, many wondered how he was paying for all these lawsuits. No public definitive answer for now, but this lays out the possibilities: fresnobee.com/news/local/art…
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org @RyanLizza @Hearst @CNN @josephabondy Meanwhile, Nunes has built up a huge campaign warchest for 2020 and has fundraised off these lawsuits. But so have his opponents, like @PhilArballo2020 @BobbyBliatout and @DaryRezvani. They haven't been as monetarily successful as Nunes at this yet, but it's given boosts.
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org @RyanLizza @Hearst @CNN @josephabondy @PhilArballo2020 @BobbyBliatout @DaryRezvani Nunes is a priority target for @DCCC in 2020, and they haven't hesitated to go after him on this either. While @JanzAndrew came closest to beating Nunes in 2018, he still lost by about five points in the red district. That was before any lawsuits were filed.
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org @RyanLizza @Hearst @CNN @josephabondy @PhilArballo2020 @BobbyBliatout @DaryRezvani @dccc @JanzAndrew Before that, Nunes won his 2016 election by a whopping 35 points. That was (obviously) before he aligned himself closely with Trump and started vociferously criticizing U.S. intelligence agencies, which Janz used against him in 2018 the way others are using the lawsuits now.
@Twitter @DevinCow @NunesAlt @LizMair @AdamParkhomenko @mcclatchy @MackenzieMays @BriannaCalix @Accountable_Org @RyanLizza @Hearst @CNN @josephabondy @PhilArballo2020 @BobbyBliatout @DaryRezvani @dccc @JanzAndrew And that wraps it up for Nunes' lawsuits + background in 2019, I believe. Hope it was helpful, and have a happy new year!
Clarification to this: Mair was doing opposition research on Nunes during the 2018 election.
