Nunes to sue CNN for conspiracy to obstruct justice

FPI / November 24, 2019

Rep. Devin Nunes will sue CNN and the Daily Beast in federal court for stories they have just published which alleged the California Republican had met with Ukranian prosecutor Viktor Shokin in Vienna in 2018 to push for an investigation into Hunter and Joe Biden.

The allegation against Nunes in the CNN and Daily Beast reports originated from indicted Soviet-born Lev Parnas, a one time associate of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani who was charged by federal prosecutors with making illegal campaign donations. He is under house arrest in Florida.

Nunes told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News on Nov. 24 that he and fellow Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee “continue to expose Democrat corruption over and over again. And what always happens is right when we expose them... they go out to kill the messenger."

He continued: "So this week — another fake news story. The problem with this week's fake news story is — we actually caught them. And we caught them badly and it also involves criminal activity... We are going to take both CNN and the Daily Beast likely into federal court, right after Thanksgiving and we hope they cooperate. We are also going to be working with the appropriate law enforcement authorities because it is not OK to work with someone who has been indicted on serious federal crimes to build a media narrative and dirty up a member of Congress.”

Nunes said the reports were “demonstrably false.”

The Daily Beast originally broke the story about Nunes' alleged meeting on Thursday, citing Parnas' lawyer Ed MacMahon as their source. The Beast also cites congressional travel records which it claims shows Nunes traveled to Europe from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, 2018, along with three of his aides. CNN followed up with an article on Saturday, citing Parnas' other lawyer, Joseph A. Bondy, who said Nunes was put in touch with officials who could help him dig up dirt on the Bidens.

“None of this is true,” Nunes told the Sunday Morning Futures show on Fox News.

Nunes said Parnas and his attorney committed obstruction of justice to hamstring him as he leads House Republicans in a defense of Democrats’ drive to impeach President Trump. He called on CNN and the Daily Beast to cooperate in his announced lawsuit.

Bondy has called on Rep. Adam Schiff, California Democrat and House intelligence chairman, to hear Parnas.

On CNN on Sunday, Schiff said the Vienna allegation involves official travel, or CoDel, and would be handled by the Ethics Committee.

Free Press International