One of Donald Trump’s favorite Republican henchmen in Congress, California Rep. Devin Nunes, had his phony Russia dossier lawsuit thrown in the trash by a federal judge.
According to Politico, “A federal judge has tossed out a racketeering lawsuit House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes filed last year against the private investigation firm at the heart of the Trump-Russia saga.”
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Alexandria, Virginia-based U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady’s two-page order made short work of Nunes’ suit, which sought $9.9 million in damages from Fusion GPS, its founder Glenn Simpson and a nonprofit watchdog group, Campaign for Accountability.
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The judge also signaled that pressing on with the legal battle could result in sanctions against Nunes and his attorney, Steven Biss.
The California GOP lawmaker claimed that he was a victim of “active, coordinated and ongoing corruption, fraud and obstruction of justice” by the defendants that stemmed from his efforts to investigate the firm’s role in stoking suspicions about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s ties to Russia during the 2016 campaign.
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Nunes’ suit, filed under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, claims that after he challenged the accuracy of the dossier, Fusion GPS, Simpson and CfA morphed that effort into one targeting him with a series of ethics complaints and other adverse publicity.
However, O’Grady said the allegations in the complaint were too vague to meet standards the Supreme Court laid out in 2007 for the amount of detail needed to move forward with a civil case. He also suggested his Virginia courtroom might not be the right place to sue.
For Nunes, this wasn’t about winning a lawsuit
Of course, Rep. Devin Nunes knows that these lawsuits against media outlets and critics are frivolous and he’s unlikely to win any of them.
But this isn’t about winning lawsuits. It’s about riling up the base and keeping Donald Trump – his boss – happy.
As GOP strategist Rick Wilson said on Saturday, “I suspect most of his frivolous lawsuits will end up just this way, but [Devin Nunes] is suing not to get justice but to pump his email fundraising and get booked on Fox.”
Outside of the MAGA bubble in which he and the president live, Devin Nunes is a joke that should be laughed out of every room he enters.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
