Devin Nunes’ lawyer files another defamation lawsuit, this time for White House official
Rep. Devin Nunes’ attorney is representing one of the congressman’s former aides in a new defamation lawsuit against the news organization Politico.
Kashyap “Kash” Patel, a lawyer who worked for Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee when Nunes was the committee’s chairman, is suing Politico over an Oct. 23 story with the headline “Nunes Protege Fed Ukraine Info to Trump.” Fox was the first news organization to report on Patel’s lawsuit.
Patel is represented by Virginia attorney Steven Biss, who has filed five lawsuits on behalf of Nunes this year alleging that news organizations, Twitter, anonymous social media users and political consultants conspired against the California congressman. Four of the cases are active.
The news story at the center of Patel’s lawsuit reported that Patel tried to involve himself in the Trump administration’s Ukraine policy. Patel now works for the Trump administration in the National Security Council.
The story by Politico reporter Natasha Bertrand was based on sources who described diplomats’ testimony at closed-door House Intelligence Committee hearings in its impeachment inquiry. Bertrand is also named as a defendant in Patel’s lawsuit.
“Trump believed at the time that Kashyap Patel, a longtime Nunes staffer who joined the White House in February and had no discernible Ukraine experience or expertise, was actually the NSC’s top Ukraine expert,” Bertrand wrote.
Patel’s lawsuit in a Virginia court says he is seeking $25 million from Politico and Bertrand, alleging the two defamed him by writing the story and in tweets by Bertrand.
Patel in the complaint says he “never supplied any Ukraine ‘materials’ to the president. Kash is proud of his record as a dedicated national security professional who is entrusted to handle our nation’s most sensitive matters.”
The New York Times in February 2018 reported that Patel was a primary author of the memo the House Intelligence Committee released alleging the intelligence community acted improperly in obtaining warrants to conduct surveillance on members of President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. It became known as the “Nunes memo” because Nunes was the committee’s chairman and advocate for the release of the document.
Democrats characterized the document as a partisan attack and released a different memo that supported the FBI and Justice Department’s surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser.
One of Nunes’ lawsuits – filed against Twitter, two anonymous social media accounts and a Republican strategist – is unfolding in the same county circuit court where Patel is suing Politico.
In that suit, Nunes contends the four worked to defame him on Twitter, hindering his successful re-election campaign and his ability to lead the House Intelligence Committee.
Nunes has filed two other lawsuits in Virginia. He is suing McClatchy, the parent company of The Fresno Bee, alleging that a newspaper article – about an employee’s lawsuit against a company in which Nunes has a limited partnership – defamed him. Sacramento-based McClatchy is fighting the lawsuit, arguing the case is “cynical maneuver to score cheap political points.”
Nunes is suing political research company Fusion GPS and progressive group Campaign for Accountability. Fusion GPS is the firm that in 2016 created what is known as a “dossier” of information alleging Trump had questionable ties to Russia. Neither Fusion GPS nor the advocacy group is based in Virginia.
In his most recent lawsuit, Nunes alleges in an Iowa court that journalist Ryan Lizza and Esquire magazine defamed Nunes in a 2018 story about Nunes’ family relocating its dairy operations to Iowa.
Nunes’ campaign filed and dropped one other lawsuit in California in which he charged that a retired Tulare County farmer and Democratic activists conspired with “dark money” groups to harm Nunes’ re-election. The farmer and activists had challenged Nunes’ description of himself as a farmer on ballots that went to voters.
