WASHINGTON _ Five of the six lawsuits California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes filed last year against media companies and his political adversaries are still unfolding in courts. He's suggested he's considering more cases.
Nunes has sent at least two letters that implied more lawsuits could be forthcoming _ to his 2018 Democratic opponent for his congressional seat, Andrew Janz, and to another California Democratic congressman, Ted Lieu.
Nearly all the defendants in his lawsuits have filed motions to dismiss his suits, but the only case that has concluded was the one Nunes withdrew against a retired Tulare County farmer and other activists who challenged the congressman's description of himself as a farmer.
NUNES VS. TWITTER
Nunes sued Twitter in March 2019, alleging the social media company diminishes the reach of conservative viewpoints. The congressman in the case is also suing the anonymous authors of two Twitter accounts who mock Nunes, and Liz Mair, a Republican strategist who engaged in an opposition research effort against Nunes in 2018.
A judge has rejected motions by Twitter and Mair to dismiss the suit on the grounds that it does not belong in Virginia. Twitter last week filed another motion to dismiss, this time based on Nunes' actual claims, which are that Mair and the parody accounts used Twitter to defame him and Twitter demonstrated neglect in allowing the defamation to continue.
Twitter argued in its second attempt to dismiss that it is already settled federal law that sites such as Twitter will not be held legally responsible for the content published on their platforms by third parties.
NUNES VS. MCCLATCHY
Nunes is suing McClatchy, the parent company of The Fresno Bee, alleging he was defamed by a news story about an employee's lawsuit against a winery in which he holds a financial stake. Nunes filed the case in a Virginia circuit court.
McClatchy is fighting the lawsuit and has filed a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that it does not belong in Virginia. McClatchy's headquarters is in Sacramento. It does not publish a newspaper in Virginia. Nunes' California congressional district includes parts of Fresno and Tulare counties.
A decision on McClatchy's dismissal motion is expected in February in a Charlottesville court.
NUNES VS. FUSION GPS
Nunes alleges Campaign for Accountability and Fusion GPS conspired to derail his investigation into the Steele Dossier and the origins of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
Campaign for Accountability, a progressive watchdog group, filed to dismiss Nunes' suit against them and Fusion GPS, the investigative research firm behind the so-called Steele Dossier.
Their motion to dismiss also states Virginia is the wrong place to try the issue, in addition to arguing Nunes' complaints against them are unfounded.
A dismissal hearing is scheduled before a judge in February.
NUNES VS. LIZZA
Nunes sued journalist Ryan Lizza and Esquire Magazine publisher Hearst over a 2018 article about Nunes' relatives moving a family farm to Iowa. Hearst recently filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in an Iowa court. Hearst attorneys argued Nunes had not accused Lizza of anything that actually amounted to defamation.
"None of the 15 challenged statements are actionable, each for one or more reasons," the motion to dismiss states. "Most are not statements 'of and concerning' Congressman Nunes; most are not defamatory; several are actually or substantially true, as admitted in the Complaint; and the remainder are nonactionable opinions."
A dismissal hearing has not been scheduled yet.
NUNES VS. CNN
Nunes filed a lawsuit against CNN in December, alleging the broadcast network published a "demonstrably false hit piece" when it reported a claim that Nunes had traveled to Vienna to meet with Ukrainian officials digging up political dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. Nunes refused to speak with CNN and released photos when he sued the company showing he was not in Vienna at the time CNN's source said he traveled there.
CNN moved to dismiss Nunes' suit earlier this month. CNN said in its motion to dismiss that California law applied to the case, even though Nunes filed it in Virginia. And under California law, CNN argued Nunes would have had to demand a correction or retraction within 20 days of the story being published, which the company said he did not do.
"Instead of denying the report before it was published, Rep. Nunes waited until it was published and then filed this suit seeking more than $435 million in damages _ labeling CNN 'the mother of fake news' and accusing it of 'eroding the fabric of America,'" CNN wrote. "In his rush to sue, however, Rep. Nunes overlooked the need first to request a retraction. California, the state where Rep. Nunes resides and whose law governs this case, requires a defamation plaintiff to serve 'an unequivocal demand for correction or retraction' in writing within 20 days of learning of allegedly defamatory report."
Nunes has said in interviews on Fox News that he refuses to speak to certain media outlets following their coverage of him and relations to President Donald Trump's White House in 2017.
A dismissal hearing has not been scheduled.
WILL NUNES' LAWSUITS SUCCEED?
To prevail in a defamation lawsuit, public figures such as Nunes would have to prove both that a news organization published untrue information about him and that it published that information with actual malice. That's been the case since a 1964 Supreme Court ruling known as New York Times vs. Sullivan that favored news organizations.
Jerry Denton, a longtime defamation attorney in Virginia, said Nunes' lawsuits strike him as a "shot across the bow," or a warning to others who want to criticize Nunes. After reviewing the five active complaints, he said they seemed more like "very well done high school term papers, or run of the mill politician press releases, than federal court complaints."
"There can be huge costs here," Denton said. "You could be forced to spend a lot of money in these cases. And when you're being sued for millions of dollars that's really intimidating."
Denton also said Biss and Nunes must think there's some chance they could win, as lawyers typically aren't willing to file cases that make them look foolish. But he thinks Nunes could run into some issues if his federal cases are not dismissed.
"If the court does not dismiss these cases, they will all be placed on the court's rocket docket, which means the congressman will be in court and depositions a lot in the next six or seven months at times not necessarily convenient to him," Denton said.
