Judge Allows Nunes’ Defamation Case to Proceed Against Washington Post

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A federal judge has ruled that California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes’ lawsuit against the Washington Post can proceed.

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington, D.C., ruled that there is insufficient evidence to show the Washington Post was negligent when it falsely reported Nunes advocated Donald Trump’s claim that Trump Tower was wiretapped.

Nichols held that there was enough malice from the liberal outlet to warrant the lawsuit.

Nunes is seeking $250,350,000 in damages for defamation, The Daily Beast reported.

“Taken as a whole, the article says (or at least a reasonable juror could understand the article to say) that Nunes had made baseless claims about spying on Trump Tower and then visited the White House to inspect documents that might support those baseless claims,” the judge wrote.

“And a reasonable juror could conclude that an elected official is ridiculous or unfit for office if he searched for evidence to support baseless claims,” he added.

Federal Judge Rules Devin Nunes Lawsuit Against Washington Post Can Continue https://t.co/O5rUrhoFmj via @lawcrimenews

— Ω Paladin (@omega_paladin) August 15, 2021

In 2017, the Post published an article that accurately reported that Nunes had rejected the Trump Tower wiretapping claim.

Three years later, the Post published a report that falsely claimed Nunes supported the Trump Tower wiretapping claim.

“In the article at issue here, the Post reported that Nunes made that baseless claim himself. A newspaper’s own prior (and correct) reporting that is inconsistent with its later (and incorrect) reporting could certainly give the paper reason to seriously doubt the truth of its later publication,” the judge wrote.

He said that error was enough to meet the definition of actual malice, which is the defamation standard for public figures like Nunes.

“For now, he has sufficiently pleaded that, in November 2020, the Post published its article with at least reckless disregard of the truth that it had previously reported,” the court added.

“The Court thus concludes that Nunes’s injuries—at least as alleged in the Complaint—are primarily suffered in the District of Columbia,” Nichols wrote.

“That is where he alleges he meets and interacts with other public officials, was considered for appointed positions, received numerous threats, and performs the majority of his duties as ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee. It also happens to be where much of the Post’s readership resides, where the Post is headquartered, and where the events underlying the article occurred,” the judge added.

“The Washington Post, like the rest of the fake news outlets, has to be held accountable for deliberately spreading false stories and smearing people for political purposes,” Nunes said after the ruling.

Nunes added: “Now they’ll have an opportunity to show in court how they compiled this article and what journalistic ethics they violated in doing so.”

The post Judge Allows Nunes’ Defamation Case to Proceed Against Washington Post appeared first on Conservative Brief.

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