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Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the ranking Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the CNN and Daily Beast stories were \u201cdemonstrably false.\u201d (Associated Press\/File)<\/p><\/div>\n
By Rowan Scarborough – The Washington Times<\/p>\n
Rep.\u00a0Devin Nunes<\/a>\u00a0filed a defamation lawsuit Tuesday against CNN for its Nov. 22 \u201cdemonstrably false hit piece\u201d that said the California Republican traveled to Vienna in 2018 to dig up dirt on former Vice President\u00a0Joseph R. Biden<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cDevin Nunes<\/a>\u00a0did not go to Vienna or anywhere else in Austria in 2018,\u201d declares the lawsuit seeking $435 million in damages. He said he visited two countries:\u00a0Libya<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Malta<\/a>\u00a0on a congressional delegation, or \u201ccodel.\u201d<\/p>\n The CNN story said Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a> supposedly met with former Ukrainian chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin.<\/p>\n \u201cDevin Nunes<\/a>\u00a0has never met Viktor Shokin,\u201d says the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond. \u201cThis meeting never took place. Viktor Shokin doesn\u2019t know and hasn\u2019t even heard of\u00a0Devin Nunes<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n CNN also reported that Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u00a0began communicating with\u00a0Lev Parnas<\/a>\u00a0around the time. He is a Soviet-born U.S. citizen and Florida businessman who became a source for Rudolph W. Giuliani, President\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u2019s personal attorney. Mr. Giuliani was investigating\u00a0Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s involvement in the 2016 election.<\/p>\n \u201cDevin Nunes<\/a>\u00a0did not communicate with Parnas in December 2018,\u201d the suit states.<\/p>\n \u201cCNN is the mother of fake news,\u201d the lawsuit says. \u201cIt is the least trusted name. CNN is eroding the fabric of America, proselytizing, sowing distrust and disharmony. It must be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit says CNN\u2019s source was Mr.\u00a0Parnas<\/a>. He is now under house arrest after being charged by federal prosecutors with illegally donating foreign money to U.S. political campaigns and committees as a way to gain influence.<\/p>\n Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u00a0said that once Mr.\u00a0Parnas<\/a> made bail, his goal was to concoct stories that might win him immunity from prosecution.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was obvious to everyone \u2014 including disgraceful CNN \u2014 that\u00a0Parnas<\/a>\u00a0was a fraudster and a hustler,\u201d the lawsuit says. \u201cIt was obvious that his lies were part of a thinly-veiled attempt to obstruct justice and to trick either the United States Attorney or House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff into offering \u2018immunity\u2019 in return for \u2018information\u2019 about Plaintiff \u2014 a prominent United States Congressman and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit says Mr.\u00a0Parnas<\/a>\u00a0made up other stories. He told CNN that after Mr. Giuliani introduced him to Mr.\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u00a0at a White House Hanukkah party, he huddled privately with the president to discuss a mission to find dirt on Mr.\u00a0Biden<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Giuliani says Mr.\u00a0Parnas<\/a>\u00a0attended a one-minute photo op and there was no meeting.<\/p>\n For a public figure such as Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>, the bar is high for winning a libel suit. The plaintiff must show that not only a story was false but also that the news organization knew it was wrong or had \u201cactual malice.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u00a0says CNN should have known the Vienna tale was false.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom all the evidence in its possession, CNN was well-aware that\u00a0Parnas<\/a>\u00a0was a renowned liar, a fraudster, a hustler, an opportunist with delusions of grandeur, a man in financial in extremis laboring under the weight of a $500,000 civil judgment, and an indicted criminal defendant with a clear motive to lie,\u201d his lawsuit says.<\/p>\n The complaint says all of Mr.\u00a0Parnas<\/a>\u2018 allegations to CNN came through his New York attorney, Joseph A. Bondy.<\/p>\n The lawsuit says that on his congressional trip from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, 2018, Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u00a0visited two countries:\u00a0Libya<\/a>, and the city of Benghazi; and\u00a0Malta<\/a>, where he met with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to \u201cdiscuss security and intelligence issues related to\u00a0Malta<\/a>.\u201d He also attended a repatriation ceremony for a fallen World War II Army Air Corps member. The court filing includes photographs of Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u00a0meeting officials in both countries.<\/p>\n \u201cAt no time during his visits to\u00a0Libya<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Malta<\/a>\u00a0did Plaintiff or his staff ever meet any Ukrainians or have any discussions with anyone about the Bidens,\u201d the suit says.<\/p>\n According to the Democrats\u2019 impeachment report released Tuesday, Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u00a0and Mr.\u00a0Parnas<\/a>\u00a0did have contact on one day at least \u2014 April 12, 2019. An examination of Mr.\u00a0Parnas<\/a>\u2018 cellphone showed he called Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u00a0in a one-minute call. Later, they spoke for 8:34, phone records indicate.<\/p>\n At the time, Mr.\u00a0Parnas<\/a>\u00a0was working with Mr. Giuiliani in investigating former Vice President\u00a0Joseph R. Biden<\/a>\u00a0and his son Hunter over business dealings in\u00a0Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u00a0announced plans to sue CNN last month, Mr. Bondy told The Washington Times: \u201cI read Rep.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u2018 remarks with close care. I remind him that, in addition to a free press, one of the cornerstones of our democracy is that a person is presumed innocent unless and until \u2014 if ever \u2014 they are proven guilty by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr.\u00a0Parnas<\/a>\u00a0has been charged in New York with Federal Election Act violations, and his indictment is not a conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis evidence and potential testimony is nonpartisan and not intended to be part of a battle between the left and the right, but rather an aid in the determination by our government of what is in the best interests of our nation,\u201d Mr. Bondy said.<\/p>\n Mr.\u00a0Nunes<\/a>\u00a0has portrayed himself as being targeted by the liberal news media ever since he began investigating the role a Democratic Party-funded dossier, sourced to the Kremlin. Democrats used the unverified anti-Trump<\/a>\u00a0charges during and after the campaign. Hillary Clinton agents delivered the dossier to the FBI, which relied on it as a guide in its investigation.<\/p>\n He has sued Twitter and the McClatchy news service for defamation. He also plans to sue The Daily Beast over its Parnas story.<\/p>\n