Nunes files $150M lawsuit against McClatchy, alleging conspiracy to derail Clinton, Russia probes

House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes filed a $150 million lawsuit in Virginia state court against The McClatchy Company and others on Monday, alleging that one of the news agency's reporters conspired with a political operative to derail Nunes' oversight work into the Hillary Clinton campaign and Russian election interference.
The filing, obtained by Fox News, came a day after Nunes, R-Calif., revealed he would send eight criminal referrals to the Justice Department this week concerning purported surveillance abuses by federal authorities during the Russia probe, false statements to Congress and other matters.
In March, Nunes filed a similar $250 million lawsuit alleging defamation against Twitter and one of its users, Republican consultant Liz Mair. In Monday's complaint, Nunes again named Mair as a co-defendant, charging this time that she conspired with McClatchy reporter MacKenzie Mays to spread a variety of untruthful and misleading smears -- including that Nunes "was involved with cocaine and underage prostitutes" -- online and in print.
Reached for comment late Monday, Mair directed Fox News to a USA Today op-ed she penned earlier this week concerning Nunes' previous lawsuit entitled, "Free speech means I don't have to be nice to Devin Nunes on Twitter. So why's he suing me?"
A spokesperson for McClatchy told Fox News late Monday: "We have no comment and stand behind the strong reporting of The Fresno Bee," the McClatchy-owned publication cited throughout Nunes' lawsuit.

File-This Oct. 24, 2017, file photo shows House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., speaking on Capitol Hill in Washington. Twitter accounts linked to Russian influence operations are pushing a conservative meme related to the investigation of Russian election interference, researchers say. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

In a March story, the McClatchy DC Bureau reported that Nunes' previous lawsuit against Twitter and some of its users had only "amplified" the visibility of his critics and the Internet trolls -- including one named "Devin Nunes' Cow." Fox News is told Mair has not yet received service of process, including an official copy of Nunes' complaint, in either litigation.
Nunes' new complaint acknowledged the sensitivity of filing a defamation and conspiracy lawsuit against journalists but went on to allege that the defendants had "abandoned the role of journalist, and chose to leverage their considerable power to spread falsehoods and to defame" Nunes for "political and financial gain."

"I'm coming to clean up the mess."
— California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes

"They need to retract everything they did against me, but they also need to come clean with the American people," Nunes told Fox News' "Hannity" Monday night. "Retract all of their fake news stories. This is part of the broader clean-up. Remember, a few weeks ago, I filed against Twitter -- they're censoring conservatives. McClatchy is one of the worst offenders of this. But we're coming after the rest of them. I think people are beginning to wake up now, I'm serious -- I'm coming to clean up the mess."
The complaint filed on Monday specifically cited a May 23, 2018 article published by the Fresno Bee and written by Mays, entitled, "A yacht, cocaine, prostitutes: Winery partly owned by Nunes sued after fundraiser event."
The article described a lawsuit's allegations of a 2015 party aboard the yacht involving "25 of the Napa Valley-based [Alpha Omega Winery]'s top investors, all men — [who] were openly using what appeared to be cocaine and 'drawing straws' for which sex worker to hire."
That same day, Mays tweeted the article, mentioning Nunes in the same sentence as "cocaine and underage sex workers."
Nunes' complaint accused Mays of "chos[ing] to emphasize the words 'woman,' 'Devin' and 'cocaine'" in her tweet. But, as Los Angeles Times national correspondent Matt Pearce noted on Twitter shortly after this article was published, those three words appear bolded only in the embedded tweet included in Nunes' complaint -- as they would if a keyword search were performed on Twitter for the words "woman," "Devin," and "cocaine."
In Mays' original tweet, however, the words are not bolded or emphasized.
Nunes asserted in the complaint that the event on the yacht was not a "fundraiser" at all, but rather a cruise resulting from a charitable donation -- and one that McClatchy knew Nunes had nothing to do with.
"The McClatchy headline intentionally omitted the word 'charity' and labeled the event a 'fundraiser' in a clear effort to imply it was a political fundraising event that a politician like Congressman Nunes would naturally attend," the complaint stated.
Nunes said another line in the story was false: "[i]t's unclear … if he [Nunes] was … affiliated with the fundraiser." The congressman said the winery had told McClatchy explicitly that Nunes was not affiliated with the event.
Nunes also countered that those aboard the yacht had no connection to the winery and were not investors.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., being questioned by reporters on Capitol Hill in February 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Additionally, "online versions of the story are punctuated by a prominent picture of Nunes and multiple film clips of him," creating a strong and misleading implication, repeated by Twitter users and other journalists, that Nunes was directly involved in the event on the yacht, the complaint continued.
Defamation law prohibits not only provably false statements but also heavy implications of falsities that harm defendants' reputations. However, public figures like Nunes must meet a high bar to prove defamation and must demonstrate that the defendants recklessly or intentionally spread falsehoods, rather than merely negligently.
Virginia, like many other states, includes robust protections for journalists and other actors accused of defamation in what is called an "anti-SLAPP statute." SLAPP stands for "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation."
In his complaint, Nunes alleged that regardless, defamation law should not shield what he called a knowing and deliberate effort to "destroy" his reputation. "Indeed, the entire purpose of every element of the Yacht/Cocaine/Prostitutes article – the headline, the photo, the film clips, and the text itself – is to link Nunes to an event that McClatchy actually knew before publication he had no involvement with," the complaint stated.
A series of unmentioned "stealth edits" were made to the article post-publication. The original article stated that the winery serviced "Russian clients while the congressman was at the helm of a federal investigation of Russian meddling into the presidential election."
Eventually the sentence was changed to make it clear that the wine sales to Russians came years before the Russia probe began: "Nunes' ties to [the winery] made national headlines last year because it was discovered the winery sold wine to Russian clients in 2013. The discovery came amid Nunes' ongoing involvement in a federal investigation of Russian meddling into the presidential election."
In other articles, McClatchy also referenced Mair, the political operative whose LinkedIn profile included the boast that she "anonymously smears" targets on the Internet. Mair also has said Nunes had "issues" and she was "going after him."
"The fact is, the [Federal Election Commission] is not going to look favorably on a dude who uses his tax-exempt political entity like a personal slush fund, flying himself to Boston to watch them while apparently engaging in no activity relevant to the purpose of the political organization,’ said Liz Mair," read one article published by McClatchy DC Bureau on July 19, 2018. "McClatchy failed to inform readers of Mair’s employment with Mair Strategies, an opposition research company that, in Mair’s own words, 'smears' targets for paying clients," the complaint stated. 

Protesters held signs as Rep. Devin Nunes visited Fresno, Calif., in March 2017. (AP Photo/Scott Smith, File)

On July 11, 2018, Mays authored an article that referred to an "ethics complaint" filed against Nunes by the Swamp Accountability Project. That group is run by Mair, whom the article identified only as "a political commentator who formerly worked for the Republican National Committee."
"Mays concealed the fact that Mair is an opposition research operative who admittedly smears targets, such as Nunes, for pay from as-yet anonymous clients," the complaint said. "This was a crucial omission, since it would have revealed Mair’s motives and cast grave doubt on her credibility and veracity and on the credibility and veracity of her handlers."
Even as the editorial board of the Fresno Bee doubled down on the reporting, Nunes said, other outlets refused to publish similar stories -- in contrast to McClatchy's willful abandonment of journalistic standards, the complaint alleged.
One newspaper, the Visalia Times-Delta, wrote that it "did not pursue the story because editors decided the lawsuit’s ties to Nunes were tenuous. There were no allegations that Nunes was involved in any way with the charity event, aside from being an investor in the winery."
The complaint also read: "The purpose of the concerted defamation campaign was to cause immense pain, intimidate, interfere with and divert Nunes’ attention from his investigation of corruption and alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 Presidential Election. The substance and timing of the publication of McClatchy’s online articles and the tweets, retweets, replies and likes by Mair and McClatchy reporters demonstrates that McClatchy and Mair were engaged in a joint effort, together and with others, to defame Nunes and interfere with his duties, employment and investigations of corruption as a United States Congressman."
It continued: "The attacks on Nunes were pre-planned, calculated, orchestrated and undertaken by multiple individuals acting in concert, over a continuous period of time throughout 2018. The full scope of the conspiracy, including the names of all participants and the level of involvement of any agents or instrumentalities of foreign governments, is unknown at this time and will be the subject of discovery in this action."
Fox News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

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Romney calls House Democrats' maneuvers to try getting Trump tax returns 'moronic'

Sen. Mitt Romney, once a thorn in the side of President Trump, said Sunday that Democrats' maneuvers to try getting their hands on the president's tax returns were “moronic.”
“I’d like the president to follow through and show his tax returns,” Romney, R-Utah, told NBC News' “Meet the Press.” “But, I have to also tell you, I think the Democrats are just playing along his handbook, which is going after his tax returns through a legislative action – it’s moronic. That’s not going to happen.”
“So, he’s going to win this victory,” Romney added. “He wins them time after time.”

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, once a thorn in the side of President Trump, said Democrats' calls for the president to release his tax returns were “moronic.” (Getty/AP, File)

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., asked the IRS last week to provide six years of Trump’s personal tax returns and the returns for some of his businesses.
Neal, one of only three congressional officials authorized to request tax returns, requested Trump’s personal and business returns in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig. He asked for returns covering 2013 through 2018. He also asked for the documents in seven days, setting an April 10 deadline.
Trump’s lawyers have argued the Democratic request “would set a dangerous precedent” if granted.
Trump broke with precedent when he chose not to release any tax returns as a presidential candidate. He said he would not release the information because he is under audit, something he reiterated last Friday while visiting the U.S-Mexico border.
“I’m under audit. When you’re under audit you don’t do it,” Trump said.
IRS officials have said taxpayers under audit are free to release their returns.
White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Sunday reiterated Trump’s point, and accused Democrats of engaging in a “political stunt” and wanting “attention.”
“That is not going to happen and they know it,” Mulvaney told “Fox News Sunday.” Asked whether he believe Democrats would ever view the president’s returns, Mulvaney replied: “Oh no, never. Nor should they.”
Mulvaney tried to cast the issue of the president’s taxes as old news, saying it was “already litigated during the election” and the American people “elected him anyway.”
He also said the law provides for lawmakers to review individual tax returns but “political hit job is not one of those reasons.”
Fox News' Bill Hemmer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Booker raises $5 million, lagging behind multiple Democrats running for White House

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s campaign for president announced Sunday it raised over $5 million in February and March, and it had over $6.1 million cash on hand.
It was among the smallest fundraising figures to be disclosed voluntarily by a Democrat so far, with roughly 10 months left before the start of primary voting.
Six candidates have released totals: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said he raised $18.2 million; California Sen. Kamala Harris raised over $12 million; former Rep. Beto O’Rourke raised $9.4 million; and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., raised $7 million.
Booker outpaced only the political newcomer Andrew Yang, who said he'd raised $1.7 million.
Booker's average online donation was $34, and 82 percent of people had never donated to any of his campaigns before.
The senator announced the figures in an email to supporters.
Booker said Sunday he felt“incredible” about the fundraising haul.
“Money is important, but it is definitely not going to be the barometer with which people make their decisions over who’s going to be the next president of the United States,” Booker said. “And I’m happy that we have the resources we need to be in this race.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kevin McAleenan, new acting DHS boss, has long record in border security

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan speaks in Washington, March 6, 2019. President Donald Trump said in a tweet Sunday that McAleenan will become the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, after the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. (Associated Press)

President Trump revealed in a tweet Sunday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan will become the acting head of Homeland Security, the sprawling department of 240,000 people, following the resignation of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
McAleenan is a longtime border officer, reflecting Trump’s priority for the department initially founded to combat terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks. Fox News is told Trump wanted the “toughest cop” around on border security, and McAleenan fit the bill.
Administration sources tell Fox News that McAleenan needs to be able to handle the politics involved and change minds on Capitol Hill before he could be seen as potentially taking the job of DHS secretary permanently.
Last month, McAleenan, who as head of CBP was the nation’s top border security official, said the border crisis was at its "breaking point" during a visit to Texas. He reiterated that there are not enough agents to respond.

Kevin K. McAleenan was sworn in as commissioner to U.S. Customs and Border Protection by then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen in March 2018. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection photo by Jennifer Gabris, File)

"That breaking point has arrived this week at our border," McAleenan said along the border. "CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our Southwest border, and nowhere has that crisis manifested more acutely than here in El Paso."
Prior to government service, according to his bio, McAleenan practiced law in California. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College.
McAleenan is well-respected by members of Congress and within the administration, and beyond.
“Significant leadership changes today for DHS and CBP. I’m confident Mr. McAleenan’s experience and knowledge will help us better address the current crisis on our southern border. #DHS #BorderCrisis #BorderPatrol #CBP” tweeted U.S. Border Patrol official Matthew Hudak.
Fox News' John Roberts and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan: Trump made the right move picking McAleenan for DHS

The former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thomas Homan, told Fox News on Sunday that President Trump made the right move replacing Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan.
Homan, a Fox News contributor, called McAleenan one of the smartest men with whom he has worked.
“He knows border issues, and he can hit the ground running,” Homan told Jon Scott on “Fox Report.” “He knows the border... he will start day one.”
Nielsen resigned on Sunday amid the administration’s growing frustration over migrants approaching the Mexico border.
Trump thanked her for her work in a tweet and announced McAleenan would be taking over as acting head of the department. McAleenan is a longtime border official who is well-respected by members of Congress and within the administration. The decision to name an immigration officer to the post reflects Trump’s priority for a sprawling department founded to combat terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Homan said he blamed Congress and current U.S. law for the border crisis: “We are enticing people to come.”
However, he noted that McAleenan was the kind of man who could tackle the new wave of migration, which has taxed resources along the border.
“He will think outside the box,” Homan said. “Kevin will put his foot on the gas.”
Fox News' Jon Scott and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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