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Devin Nunes files suit alleging MSNBC host Rachel Maddow defamed him
Rep. Devin Nunes sued NBCUniversal Media on Tuesday, claiming MSNBC host Rachel Maddow defamed him in a series of statements suggesting the California Republican was in cahoots with a Russian agent implicated in that nation's interference in the 2016 election.
The congressman is seeking monetary damages from the company, alleging Maddow falsely accused him of criminality and exposed him to "public ridicule, scorn, contempt, censure, and prejudice," according to a complaint filed in federal court in Texas.
The lawsuit stems from a March 18 broadcast of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC when Maddow said Nunes, top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, accepted a package from Andrii Derkach, a member of Ukraine’s legislature who is deemed a Russian agent by the United States, and withheld its contents from intelligence authorities.
"He has refused to hand it over to the FBI, which is what you should do if you get something from somebody who is sanctioned by the U.S. as a Russian agent,” Maddow said in the segment, according to the suit.
Nunes denied personally accepting a package from Derkach in the complaint, which provided a letter addressed to former Attorney General William Barr requesting a meeting.
Nunes's complaint also pointed to subsequent tweets and other incidents of Maddow's claim being repeated, saying they falsely accuse him of "serious breaches of the Code of Conduct and violations of protocols concerning the handling of information that comes to the House Intelligence Committee from foreign sources."
"In spite of their express knowledge, MSNBC and Maddow falsely accused Plaintiff of refusing to turn over the package to the FBI, an intentional breach of intelligence community protocol, a breach that clearly impugns Plaintiff’s character and prejudices him in the performance of his Congressional oversight duties," the complaint said.
Nunes's suit follows numerous similar legal actions he has brought against media outlets, including CNN and the Washington Post, and seeks a trial and compensatory costs to be determined by a jury.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/devin-nunes-lawsuit-msnbc-rachel-maddow-defamation