Nunes: CNN, The Daily Beast ‘Are Going to Run for Cover’

Monday on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, vowed to challenge CNN and The Daily Beast in federal court for reportage that tied him to a meeting with the Ukrainians.

Nunes told host Sean Hannity that he predicted those two outlets would “run for cover.” However, he pledged to continue his quest until those outlets were held to account.

“Like we’ve seen so many times over the last three years, every time House Republicans on the Intelligence Committee come up with real information and put it out there, what do they do?” he said. “They smear the messenger. And the problem that CNN has this time and The Daily Beast — look, I understand the last week and a half was a disaster for them. It was a train wreck for them. So what do they have to do? They had to come out and say, ‘Well, look Devin Nunes was the one meeting with this Ukrainians.’ So, sorry, CNN. It’s totally false. So we put out a very clear statement after the story came out on Friday night saying it’s demonstrably false, total fake news.”

“I will tell you, Sean, for all of the last three years, including the Russia hoax to the Ukraine hoax, this is the mother of all fake news stories,” Nunes continued. “There is not one bigger than this. And so, next week we are going to take them to court. They will have an opportunity to come to court so that we can subpoena each other. We get discovery and sit people down for depositions. I have a bet for you, Sean — CNN and The Daily Beast are going to run for cover. They’re going to fight this. They are not going to show up in court. They’re not going to accept service. At the end of the day, I’m going to track them down and I’m going to hold them accountable because this has gone on for too long, and this is the only way we’re going to be able to get retribution and be able to seek fairness and transparency in the media is by holding them accountable.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor