Devin Nunes’ banning of reporters a new low in war on news
Rep. Devin Nunes’ war against the free press reached a new low last week when he barred The Fresno Bee from covering a major water forum in Tulare.
The forum covered matters of crucial public interest. The chief executive officer of Friant Water Authority, a public agency, moderated the event. David Bernhardt, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, also attended. Yet despite the fact that the McClatchy reporters had reserved tickets, Nunes’ staff banned them.
“The Fresno Bee learned at 10 a.m. Tuesday (Feb. 18) that its reporters would not be allowed to cover the event, after receiving tickets via email after registering for it on an Eventbrite website,” according to a story by Bee reporters Carmen George and Kate Irby.
“I want to make it clear that it’s invited press only, and you’re not on the list and your ticket will not scan at the door,” a Nunes staffer told the reporters.
Nunes often takes extreme measures to run from the press and hide from the public. “Nunes has routinely concealed his public schedules in California for the past several years and rescheduled fundraising events when logistical details have leaked,” wrote George and Irby. It’s been years since Nunes has had the courage to face his constituents in a town hall.
But the water forum was not a private party or a fundraiser. It was a public interest event featuring public officials. Nunes’ decision to bar the region’s biggest newspaper from attending represents a new strategy in his war against the free press. It also ensured that his constituents would be unable to read about the forum in the region’s largest newspaper, despite its longstanding support of water for farmers.
Nunes has been engulfed in scandal for most of President Donald Trump’s time in office. He has engaged in shady and questionable behavior, acting as Trump’s attack dog and using his position in Congress to undermine investigations into the Trump administration’s misdeeds. At the same time, Nunes and his staff have engaged in the same behaviors that led to Trump’s impeachment.
In January, for instance, the House Intelligence Committee revealed that Nunes’ staff had made secret efforts to press Ukrainian sources for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. Nunes himself took a phone call from Lev Parnas, a Rudy Giuliani associate who has been indicted. Nunes had previously denied any memory of the call, but suddenly remembered after phone records proved it.
A lawyer for Parnas told CNN that Nunes and his staff also traveled to Austria in search of negative information on the Bidens. Congressional records show that Nunes and his staff did indeed spend $63,525 on a trip to Europe during the dates in question.
In response to press coverage of his scandals, Nunes has emulated Trump by attacking the reporters who hold him accountable. He has launched lawsuit after lawsuit, suing reporters and publications for doing their jobs and telling the truth. He is currently suing McClatchy, which publishes The Bee, in a Virginia court.
In barring The Bee from the water forum, Nunes unveiled a new tactic: excluding media outlets from public events as punishment for doing their jobs. He appears to be once again copying the behavior of Trump, who in the past has banned news outlets like Bloomberg News, Buzzfeed News and Politico from covering his events. Trump has also revoked press passes for reporters from CNN and the Washington Post.
Last week, Nunes also succeeded in dragging Secretary Bernhardt and Friant Water Authority CEO Jason Phillips into his mess. Neither leader should have agreed to go forward with the forum after Nunes blocked The Bee, disrespecting the First Amendment and turning the public forum into his own personal political rally.
We expect such behavior from authoritarian countries, but not in the United States — and not here in central California. If Nunes can’t tolerate the basic responsibilities of public life, like allowing reporters to cover his events, he should step aside and find a new job — perhaps as a Fox News commentator.
After all, while he’s invisible in his district, he seems to live on Fox News. Nunes loves it there because, unlike in town halls or newspaper interviews, Fox News doesn’t call out his lies or asks tough questions. Seems like a perfect fit.