Nunes sues newspaper company, alleging ‘character assassination’
Less than a month after suing Twitter for allowing its users to insult him, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., is suing the McClatchy Co., a newspaper chain, over what he calls “character assassination.”
The defamation lawsuit seeks $150 million and the deletion of an article in the Fresno Bee, a McClatchy newspaper, about Alpha Omega Winery, a company that Nunes partially owns. The article, published in May, described a lawsuit by a server who was aboard a San Francisco Bay cruise in 2015 attended by some of the winery’s top investors, which she said included drugs and prostitution.
The article said it was “unclear” whether Nunes “was aware of the lawsuit or was affiliated with the fundraiser” at which the cruise was auctioned.
The lawsuit filed by Nunes, a loyal ally of President Donald Trump and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says he was not involved in the incident on the yacht and that he considers the article part of a politically motivated scheme to “destroy his reputation” and derail the committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Nunes has long sought to discredit the Bee, which covers his congressional district.
His campaign against the paper has included television ads and a 40-page mailer sent to voters last year.
“This is a case about character assassination and a public company that weaponized its powerful pen and used it as a terrible sword,” his lawsuit says.
Nunes did not respond to the Bee’s questions during the reporting of its article, and the newspaper wrote Monday that he had never asked for a correction.
“With the limited opportunity we have had to review this claim, it is wholly without merit and we stand behind the strong reporting of the Fresno Bee,” said Jeanne Segal, a McClatchy spokeswoman.
McClatchy is one of the nation’s largest newspaper chains, owning dozens of publications, including the Miami Herald, the Kansas City Star, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Charlotte Observer.