Devin Nunes files lawsuit to intimidate local press

California Republican Representative Devin Nunes is suing the McClatchy newspaper chain for an article in the Fresno Bee, he claims as “character assassination” for its description of  a lawsuit by a server on a 2015 San Francisco Bay fund-raising cruise paid for a winery partly owned by Nunes. The server said the cruise included drugs and prostitution. Nunes filed the suit without giving an interview to the newspaper as they were reporting the story, challenging the facts in the article or asking for a retraction after publication. (The New York Times, April 9, 2019, by Daniel Victor)

Gabe Rottman for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, April 16, 2019, says it is significant that Nunes filed the lawsuit in Virginia, a state without an anti-SLAPP law. Without anti-SLAPP protection, McCatchy has little chance of getting the lawsuit dismissed early and avoiding considerable legal expenses. “The First Amendment places limits on politicians seeking to bring defamation claims against their perceived critics,” writes Rottman, “precisely because of the temptation to use such lawsuits as a tool of censorship and intimidation. These limits provide ‘breathing room’ for vigorous public debate and ensure that speakers without the means to pay for an expensive lawyer can still speak on matters of public interest without fear of a ruinous lawsuit. Anti-SLAPP laws serve this same purpose.”

Another McClatchy newspaper in California, the Sacramento Bee, published an April 12 editorial pointing out that the Fresno Bee article was legitimate. “…when a company partially owned by a member of Congress gets caught up in a scandal involving illegal drugs and prostitutes, it’s news.” The editorial continues, “Nunes’ attacks on the press won’t affect McClatchy’s mission to report the truth as a champion for local news. In the United States, the First Amendment protects press freedom, including criticism of public officials.”

For a FAC story on Anti-SLAPP, click here.