Rep. Devin Nunes (D-CA) filed a defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post and journalist Shane Harris—a former Daily Beast correspondent—on Monday over an article reporting the congressman told President Trump about an intelligence briefing given to lawmakers regarding Russia and the 2020 election.
In the February article, the Post reported the president learned about remarks an intelligence official made to lawmakers through Nunes. The newspaper also reported that Trump was angry at former Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire over the fact that he had to find out what the official said through Nunes and not from his aides.
In the lawsuit, Nunes claims he didn't meet or speak with Trump the day of the briefing or the day after the briefing. While the Post reported that Trump “erroneously believed” that the intelligence official also gave their “assessment exclusively” to House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), Nunes' filing claims he “never told the President or anyone else” that the official gave an “exclusive briefing to Schiff.” It's worth noting that the Post did not report that Nunes gave Trump that specific detail.
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In the filing, Nunes also denied having anything to do with Trump's anger towards Maguire.
“Acting in concert with House Democrats, WaPo and Harris republished false statements in order to impugn Plaintiff’s reputation and undermine his relationship with the President,” the lawsuit states.
The House Republican was seeking $250,350,000 in damages for defamation per se and common law conspiracy. Nunes has sued CNN and threatened to sue The Daily Beast.
