LEGAL MOOVE: Cow-suing former congressman files frivolous lawsuit against CNN
Former California GOP Congressman Devin Nunes is demanding a jury decision in a frivolous lawsuit filed against CNN and State of the Union host Jake Tapper for defamation. Nunes accused the Sunday morning pundit of defamation for being called out on an episode of Tonight with Jake Tapper criticizing the Republican’s response to the October attack on former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi.
Joining in the disgraceful pushing of wild and baseless conspiracy theories that belittled the violent attack on the 82-year-old grandfather, Nunes posted a picture on social media of a serial killer wielding a hammer with the caption “At least this guy has his clothes on,” piggybacking off of vile innuendos about the attack from the right and dismissing the severity of the violence that Paul Pelosi suffered.
Tapper acknowledged the half-hearted sympathies from ex-president Donald Trump and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) but condemned the overall right-wing sentiment and response to the vicious assault – including the fact that Nunes shared posts making fun of the violent attack.
Watch the segment below.
“Republicans and Conservative leaders are out there instead spreading insane, offensive and false conspiracy theories, such as the complete and utter lie, the deranged smear that Paul Pelosi and the attacker, the man who hit him in the head with a hammer, were in a sexual relationship,” Tapper was quoted in the complaint.
“It’s hard to fathom the kind of mind that hears of a tragedy, like what happened to 82 year-old Paul Pelosi, and decides to traffic in this filth. But, sadly, Donald Trump Jr. is hardly alone. Former Republican Congressman and Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, who now runs Trump’s social media company, Truth Social, shared this Halloween image [link to Truth Social post] with the words, ‘at least this guy has his clothes on.’ Nunes also reposted this meme [link to Retruth], using a poster for the gay romantic comedy Bros, twisting it into a smear of Paul Pelosi. And, again, the man who tried to bash Paul Pelosi’s head in with a hammer. Words fail.”
Nunes was none too happy about having his viciously insensitive behavior exposed.
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The self-owning former representative alleges that CNN and Tapper acted maliciously when retweeting the Truth Social executive’s posts commenting on Trump’s failing social media platform.
According to the former politician, Tapper’s statements gave the impression that Nunes “justified the violence and mocked or made of the attack,” and alleged that Nunes added fuel to the conspiracy theory fire by insinuating that Mr. Pelosis was somehow complicit in his own attack.
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“The statements are materially false and defamatory. They lower Plaintiff in the estimation of the community and expose him to hatred, ridicule or contempt and injure his business and reputation,” Nunes claiams in his frivolous suit.
By the juxtaposition and omission of material facts, the statements make him appear odious and ridiculous, the complaint states.
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On that note, it should be reminded that the former California representative once sued an internet cow – and lost.
On October 29th, Nunes texted Tapper, denying the political pundit’s insinuation that the Truth chief executive was perpetuating unsubstantiated defamatory statements and theories surrounding Pelosi’s assault.
“If you were on Truth you would already know that I’ve condemned the attack. Any implication otherwise is knowingly false and defamatory. “
Later the same day, a legal representative for Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) – the parent company of Truth Social – sent an email to CNN.
“Mr. Nunes strongly condemned the attack on Mr. Pelosi yesterday during an interview on Newsmax – you can find his comments in full here. Any implication otherwise is knowingly false and defamatory,” Managing Director Shannon Devine wrote.
Nunes is seeking a jury trial and unspecified punitive damages of no less than 5% of the cable news host’s net worth.
“As a direct result of CNN and Tapper’s defamation, Plaintiff suffered actual injury and damage, including, but not limited to, insult, pain, embarrassment, humiliation, mental suffering, and injury to his reputation, costs, and other out-of-pocket expenses, in a sum to be determined by the Jury,” his legal team wrote.
Being that Tapper used the ex-congressman’s own post – good luck with that. Taking a page out of his boss’s playbook and filing a frivolous lawsuit, perhaps Devin Nunes should have flipped through to see how it ended – not so favorably.
You can read the entire Nunes complaint here.
And you can watch Jake Tapper’s original report on Nunes below.
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