Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump's media group, sues Herald-Tribune columnist for defamation

The CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group is suing Sarasota Herald-Tribune columnist Chris Anderson for defamation and defamation by implication related to a column published in March, according to court records.

Devin Nunes, who is also the president and director of the media company, filed the lawsuit in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court on Monday against The Guardian, Penske Media Corp., owner of Variety magazine, Anderson and Will Wilkerson. The lawsuit says Wilkerson has been "ousted" from Trump Media.

Nunes is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, prejudgment interest on the principal sum awarded by a jury from March 15 to the date of the judgment at a rate of 6.58% per year, and costs arising from the lawsuit, according to the complaint. A cover sheet notes the claims in the lawsuit exceed $100,000.

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The lawsuit stems from a March 15 article published by The Guardian, which included information from an interview with Wilkerson, and alleges there were several false statements and defamatory implications concerning Nunes, including the article's headline, subheading, and information throughout the story.

The Guardian article reported that federal prosecutors in New York were investigating Trump Media for possible money laundering and the company's acceptance of $8 million with suspected Russian ties. Nunes's complaint states in the claim that the information is false and that additional false and defamatory statements were made in a second article by The Guardian published two days after the first.

"The express meaning and defamatory gist of the Guardian Statements is that Nunes — “Trump Media chief executive Devin Nunes” — committed or aided and abetted serious Federal crimes, including violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1956 (laundering of monetary instruments)," the complaint states.

Nunes's lawsuit claims that the "entire story is fabricated," that there wasn't a federal investigation into Trump Media and Technolgy Group for possible money laundering or a criminal inquiry, and federal prosecutors never examined the two loans totaling $8 million wired to the media company. Further, the lawsuit claims that Wilkerson and his agents "worked in concert with Guardian to craft the language used in the article" as a way to defame and interfere with Nunes's business.

The complaint adds that PMC's magazine, Variety, republished the statements from The Guardian article in stories on March 15 and March 22. Anderson's column in the Herald-Tribune referred to The Guardian article and how the issue might impact Trump's reelection campaign. The Trump Media company, which owns the social media platform Truth Social, is based in Sarasota.

"The Herald-Tribune stands behind the work of Chris Anderson, who has been an award-winning investigative journalist and columnist for the newspaper for decades in this community," said Wendy Fullerton, interim USA TODAY Network-Florida regional editor. "His work and opinions are protected under the free speech provision of the First Amendment, and we support the great work and accurate watchdog reporting that he has done and continues to produce."

Legal counsel for Nunes declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

The lawsuit states that since the defendants published their stories online and those stories were republished over and over by third parties, including individuals on Twitter retweeting the Guardian story, it led to Nunes' detriment and injury.

Nunes's lawsuit also claims that by using the alleged false statements, as well as carefully chosen words and misrepresented facts, the defendants falsely implied in their articles that Nunes "orchestrated, engaged in, participated in, or aided and abetted money laundering" through the company.

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The complaint claims that the publication of the alleged false and defamatory statements in the stories has "caused Nunes to suffer public shame, ridicule, insult, humiliation, embarrassment, emotional distress and mental anguish (past and future), anxiety, insecurity, anger," as well as fear of safety since the remarks reached his friends, family and other members of the public.

Nunes represented California's 22nd Congressional District and was a congressman since 2003 before he retired at the end of 2021 to lead former President Donald Trump's media company. He was a ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Ways and Means Committee.

This is not the first defamation lawsuit Nunes has filed against a media company. A year ago, a U.S. appeals court rejected the former congressman's appeal of a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post, according to U.S. News and World Report. Another federal appeals court rejected another defamation lawsuit by Nunes last April against CNN in connection to articles about Nunes being "involved in efforts to uncover damaging Ukraine-related information" about President Joe Biden, Reuters reported.

Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes files defamation lawsuit in Sarasota