Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) told Breitbart News Saturday that the Eighth Circuit appeals court will create a “monumental ruling” for “truth and transparency” against establishment media figures and outlets.
The Eighth Circuit revived a defamation lawsuit Nunes filed against now-Politico reporter Ryan Lizza.
Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle noted in his article detailing Lizza’s story for Esquire:
This particular suit against Lizza and Hearst Magazines—the publisher of Esquire—was originally filed in federal court in Iowa’s Northern District in September 2019, about a September 2018 Esquire magazine article from Lizza about Nunes. A district court judge in Iowa dismissed the Nunes case against Lizza and Hearst Magazines in August 2020, but Nunes appealed the dismissal and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned it–at least in part—allowing the lawsuit to proceed to discovery and potentially a trial by jury unless it is resolved before it gets to that point.
The 2018 article from Lizza, published in Esquire, made admittedly explosive claims and insinuations against Nunes. “Devin Nunes’s Family Farm Is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret,” was the headline, followed by this subheading: “Rep. Devin Nunes is head of the House Intelligence Committee and one of President Trump’s biggest defenders. For years, he’s spun himself as a straight talker whose no-BS values are rooted in his family’s California dairy farm. So why did his parents and brother cover their tracks after quietly moving the farm to Iowa? Are they hiding something politically explosive? On the ground in Iowa, Esquire searched for the truth—and discovered a lot of paranoia and hypocrisy.”
Throughout the Esquire article, Lizza repeatedly claims that Nunes, his family, and now former Rep. Steve King (R-IA) were keeping a “secret” that some members of his family had moved from California to Iowa to farm.
In his interview with Boyle, Nunes said that although the latest development has “largely ignored by the fake news media,” the court cause is a “major, major victory for people that want to get to the truth and end this horrible era that we have of fake news and people developing narratives to use as propaganda to support one political party.”
Nunes said the court case “will produce a monumental ruling for truth and transparency.”
Nunes slammed the Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan, which he said created a legal standard that gave the establishment media a “license to lie and defame public figures.” He noted that many establishment outlets and reporters have been running with narratives that Democrats and socialists have made up and accused them of taking orders from the Democrat Party.
Nunes said 95 percent of the content and media organizations that exist in the county “are either being paid for or planted by billionaire leftists that own organizations or the Democrat Party or left-leaning activist groups.”
Nunes credited Breitbart News as doing a “great job” telling the truth.
The California conservative called out the leftist double standard on defamation cases in the courts, suggesting that if Breitbart News were to report a similar story as Lizza’s, Breitbart News would be “hammered in court” and likely be put “out of business” because leftists have more sway in the courts.
The case is Nunes v. Lizza, No. 20-2710 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Eastern.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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