Critics Rip Devin Nunes For Threatening To Sue Over Reports He Sought Biden Dirt From Ukraine
Prickly Donald Trump supporter Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) was skewered on Twitter Sunday for threatening to sue media outlets for reporting that he met with a Ukrainian prosecutor over corruption concerns to get dirt on Joe Biden.
The ensuing uproar sent the hashtag “Nunes Resign” trending on Twitter.
CNN reported Saturday that Rudy Giuliani’s indicted crony Lev Parnas is willing to testify to Congress that Nunes met last year with former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin in a hunt for negative information on Biden. Congressional records reveal that Nunes and three aides flew to Europe for a four-day trip at the same time Parnas said the meeting occurred at a cost of $63,000.
Shokin was forced out of office by Ukraine Parliament in 2016 following pressure from the U.S., spearheaded by then-Vice President Biden, and other Western allies over concerns about corruption.
If true, such actions by Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, are “arguably a crime,” former federal prosecutor Elie Honig warned on CNN Saturday. “It’s a federal crime for a person to try to solicit something of value to a political campaign from a foreign national,” Honig noted.
Nunes has flatly blasted the reports as “demonstrably false,” but he hasn’t offered any specifics. Instead, he is threatening to sue CNN and the Daily Beast, which first reported the Parnas information.
Nunes has a reputation for hair-trigger lawsuits. He once sued Twitter over parody accounts mocking him, including the infamous Devin Nunes’ Cow account. He also sued activists who characterized him as a fake farmer following reports that his family farm is located in Iowa, thousands of miles from his California home.
BARTIROMO: Were you in Vienna w/Shokin?
NUNES: Because there is criminal activity here, I'm not going to sit here & try to compete against the media
B: To be clear, you're telling me CNN committed criminal activity?
N: It's very likely, or they're an accessory to it, right? pic.twitter.com/epHJN0V7gK— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 24, 2019
I. Still. Do. Not. Hear. A. Denial.
— WaterBluSky (@MsMariaT) November 24, 2019
— Mindy E. Moak (@MindyEMoak) November 24, 2019
"I know you've sued Twitter in the past"...he also sued a fake cow, so there's that.
— Micha (@kaehvogel) November 24, 2019
How to avoid the truth and your involvement in the whole made up fiasco while still trying to push a narrative that there is nothing wrong with doing it if you were involved. I wonder if he gets dizzy from all his spinning?!?
— PayAttentionPLZ (@Endressa1206) November 24, 2019
Make sure you don’t retweet this. Every time @DevinNunes see the #NunesResign hashtag, it makes him cry a little. https://t.co/FhNkbkC39y
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) November 23, 2019
If @DevinNunes had NOT been in Vienna with #Ukraine’s corrupt, pro-#Russia🇷🇺, former Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, surely Nunes would have simply answered, “No.”
But Nunes didn’t.
Instead, he obliquely claimed that the media engaged in “criminal activity.”🙄#NunesResign https://t.co/SklFfHvHWz— Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) November 24, 2019
@DevinNunes parnas has texts & emails you should be very worried. And that criminal you speak of has some very interesting connections. pic.twitter.com/XXhwpmcKmq
— Jen (@fur2621) November 24, 2019
Nunes of course didn't answer the question. "Were you in Vienna with Shokin? Simple question, yes or no.
— Annie (@Stand4TruthOnly) November 24, 2019
.@atrupar
Mmm. So @DevinNunes could not answer with a simple “No, I did not meet with Shokin in Vienna”... 🤔
... but he’s going to take a news organization to court for reporting on statements from Parnas lawyer.
BTW, Parnas had been subpoenaed to testify at the House.— Hispanic Citizen (@US_Latino) November 24, 2019
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.