Abcarian: Former California Rep. Devin Nunes once sued media companies. Now he's struggling to run one

Who would person guessed that Devin Nunes, who near Congress to tally erstwhile President Trump’s media company, would beryllium accused of mismanagement and cronyism?

Well, me, for one.

It’s not that I americium immoderate benignant of oracle. It’s conscionable that I’ve followed Nunes’ vocation arsenic an ultra-litigious Trump defender who is afflicted by a world-class intolerance for perceived slights.

Before taking the helm of Trump Media successful 2022, Nunes had a master’s grade successful agriculture but small hands-on concern experience. He was progressive successful his family’s San Joaquin Valley dairy workplace decades ago; erstwhile helium was 14, helium has recounted, helium bought 7 caput of young cattle to rise and sell. I conjecture this explains his tolerance for the, ah, stench of MAGA bull.

Given his disdain for media successful wide and escaped code successful particular, arsenic evidenced by a bid of lawsuits against quality organizations and different critics, putting Nunes successful complaint of a fledgling media empire was a bizarre determination — unless the institution is each astir cozying up to the deep-pocketed benignant of people who would benefit from a 2nd Trump administration.

According to documents obtained by ProPublica, an unnamed Trump Media whistleblower precocious asked the company’s committee of directors to occurrence Nunes. One idiosyncratic with cognition of the concern told ProPublica that the ailment alleged “misuse of funds, hiring of overseas contractors and interfering with merchandise development.” (A Trump Media spokesperson denied the charges and accused the nonprofit journalism enactment of a run to harm the company.)

Turmoil ensued: The company’s chief operating officer and main merchandise serviceman resigned. In immoderate case, with astir nary gross to talk of and nary denotation that its Truth Social is competitory with large societal media platforms, analysts see Trump Media & Technology Group a meme stock. Its worth is based wholly connected the worth Trump’s supporters spot connected him.

In caller weeks, with polls choky and the imaginable of a 2nd Trump word looming, shares of Trump Media person massively rebounded from a precipitous fall. Incredibly, the institution is worthy astir $6 billion, putting Trump’s 59% involvement astatine much than $3 billion. But if Trump loses successful November, bye-bye, inflated valuation.

“It’s truly simple,” Matthew Tuttle, the main enforcement of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN. “People recognize that if Trump gets elected, this banal has the imaginable to bash something. And if helium doesn’t get elected, it astir apt goes to zero.”

In immoderate case, 1 endeavor Nunes has mastered is filing doomed lawsuits. Between 2019 and 2023, helium filed astatine slightest 11 of them, including defamation suits against Twitter parody accounts that posed arsenic his cattle and his mother. He tried to writer Twitter too, but a justice ruled that the societal media institution was protected by the Communications Decency Act, which gives specified online platforms immunity from civilian liability.

Nunes also sued McClatchy, the institution that owns his hometown newspaper, the Fresno Bee, for defamation. He asked for $150 cardinal successful damages but yet dropped the lawsuit.

In 2019, helium sued Fresno-area activists who had mounted a run to get Nunes to halt calling himself a “farmer” connected the ballot. Nunes aboriginal softly withdrew that lawsuit.

It was a precise engaged twelvemonth for Nunes’ attorneys. He besides sued Hearst and the writer Ryan Lizza implicit an Esquire story that alleged — successful a lighthearted, faux-investigative mode — that Nunes’ household had secretly moved its dairy operations to Iowa and implied that they employed amerciable immigrants. After respective tribunal go-rounds, the lawsuit was dismissed past year.

Let’s see. Who other did the co-sponsor of the Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act frivolously writer that year?

He took purpose astatine the wide nonprofit Campaign for Accountability and the probe steadfast Fusion GPS, the root of the infamous Steele dossier, which contained unverified gossip astir Trump. Nunes, past the ranking subordinate of the House Intelligence Committee, claimed the organizations conspired to hinder his probe of the Steele dossier. That lawsuit was dismissed successful 2020.

The lawsuit-happy erstwhile dairy husbandman sued CNN for defamation aft the web reported that helium had traveled to Vienna to get ungraded connected Joe Biden. That lawsuit, which asked for $435 million, was dismissed successful 2021.

In 2022, Nunes again sued CNN, and its big Jake Tapper, who reported that Nunes had reposted a disgusting MAGA meme astir Paul Pelosi connected Truth Social. Pelosi, the hubby of erstwhile Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had been attacked by a alien successful their San Francisco home. Nunes’ attorneys claimed that Tapper insinuated that Nunes “has a depraved caput and that helium acted immorally, fraudulently, unprofessionally, dispersed lies astir Paul Pelosi, and disparaged and defamed Paul Pelosi.” (I couldn’t person enactment it amended myself.) That suit was dismissed successful 2023.

I tin find lone 1 lawsuit successful which Nunes was not fundamentally laughed retired of court. In 2021, helium sued NBCUniversal, the genitor institution of MSNBC, alleging that Rachel Maddow had libeled him erstwhile she said helium failed to crook implicit to the FBI a bundle that helium had received from a Russian agent. In 2022, a justice ruled that it was plausible that Maddow knew the assertion was untrue and has allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

My favourite bare Nunes ineligible menace is the 1 helium erstwhile made against a chap Californian, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of Torrance. Lieu said Nunes had conspired with Lev Parnas, the Russian-born Rudy Giuliani associate, to undermine the U.S. government. (In 2021, Parnas was sentenced to situation for making amerciable donations to Trump’s 2020 campaign, and conscionable past month, helium tearfully apologized to Hunter Biden for pushing the Trump/Giuliani/Nunes-endorsed prevarication that arsenic vice president, Joe Biden took actions successful Ukraine to payment his son.)

“I invited immoderate suit from your lawsuit and look guardant to taking find of Congressman Nunes,” Lieu responded. “Or, you tin instrumentality your missive and shove it.”

I conjecture they shoved it: Miraculously, nary suit was ever filed.

Threads: @rabcarian