Devin Nunes Loses Yet Another Of His Frivolous SLAPP Suits Against CNN

At some point, you have to wonder if judges are going to start slapping sanctions on former Representative Devin Nunes and his SLAPP-happy vexatious litigator, Steven Biss. We’ve covered their many escapades in filing highly questionable defamation cases against basically any major media organization that so much as lightly criticizes Nunes (and also… a satirical internet cow). Given its outsized roles in the minds of culture warriors who wish to insist that it is biased against them, it’s perhaps little surprise that the Nunes/Biss superduo has sued CNN numerous times. They also have a history of losing those cases.

The most recent one was late last year, when Nunes sued CNN (again) and its host Jake Tapper, after Tapper called out a bunch of Republicans, including Nunes, for how they responded to the attack on Paul Pelosi in his San Francisco home.

As we highlighted at the time, the complaint listed out five statements that Nunes claimed were defamatory:

1 “He [referring to President Donald Trump], at least, did condemn the attack on Paul Pelosi, as did House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, as did Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell”

2 “But you know what, far too many other Republicans and Conservative leaders are out there instead spreading insane, offensive and false conspiracy theories, such as the complete and utter lie, the deranged smear that Paul Pelosi and the attacker, the man who hit him in the head with a hammer, were in a sexual relationship”

3 “It’s hard to fathom the kind of mind that hears of a tragedy, like what happened to 82 year-old Paul Pelosi, and decides to traffic in this filth. But, sadly, Donald Trump Jr. is hardly alone. Former Republican Congressman and Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, who now runs Trump’s social media company, Truth Social, shared this Halloween image [link to truth] with the words, ‘at least this guy has his clothes on.’ Nunes also reposted this meme [link to retruth], using a poster for the gay romantic comedy Bros, twisting it into a smear of Paul Pelosi. And, again, the man who tried to bash Paul Pelosi’s head in with a hammer. Words fail.”

4 “What is wrong with these people?”

5 “In addition to being an inhuman and inhumane response to a tragedy, it’s a lie … Pelosi did not know the suspect.”

As we noted at the time, many of these statements weren’t even about Nunes in the first place, and things like “what is wrong with these people” is so obviously not defamatory (it’s just a pure statement of opinion) that no good defamation lawyer would ever try to claim that it was. We wondered if this would lead to even more sanctions against Biss.

Last week, the case was thrown out, but not because the the claims are so weak, but for an even more ridiculous reason: Biss filed it in a court that has no jurisdiction over the matter. For unclear reasons, he filed the case in Florida (perhaps because that’s where Truth Social, the flailing social media site started by former President Trump that news reports suggest he’s looking to abandon, is headquartered).

Either way, the judge is not at all impressed. The case against Tapper is dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, given that Tapper is in DC, not Florida:

Florida’s long-arm statute does not reach Tapper, and exercising personal jurisdiction over him in Florida would not satisfy due process; therefore this case is due to be dismissed as to Tapper.

The court notes that only one of the statements could possibly even be implied to be directed at Florida, but even that’s not enough.

Tapper reported the Segment while in CNN’s Washington, D.C. studio, where he generally reports from, and the Segment was produced by employees who work out of CNN’s D.C. or New York City bureaus…. Nothing Tapper discussed in the Segment pertained specifically to Florida, and Tapper never traveled to Florida in relation to the Segment… Nunes merely alleges he suffered harm in Florida because he works there. But Tapper’s commentary was not directed at the business of Truth Social or Nunes’ work with the company… Both Florida law and the U.S. Constitution, therefore, require that the claim against Tapper be dismissed… for lack of personal jurisdiction — both general and specific.

As for CNN, the case against it is dismissed for Florida being the “improper venue.”

Nunes alleges that he “works in Sarasota County”… but, for venue purposes, the fact that he works in Florida is irrelevant. The relevant question is whether all defendants reside in the state of Florida — Nunes’ ties to Florida do not matter.

And thus, yet another of Devin Nunes’ questionable lawsuits against CNN fails. The fact that pretty much all of them seem to end this way again should make people wonder exactly why Nunes keeps filing these SLAPP suits (and who is funding them).