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Group asks Congress to investigate how Devin Nunes is paying for his lawsuits

BY KATE IRBY FEBRUARY 26, 2020 08:19 AM

WASHINGTON

A nonpartisan watchdog group filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Devin Nunes Wednesday, calling for a congressional investigation into how the California Republican is paying for his lawsuits against media companies and critics.

Nunes, R-Tulare, with Virginia attorney Steven Biss filed six lawsuits and sent two letters implying possible legal action in 2019. He has not disclosed how he is paying for the legal work, and the kind of lawsuits he is filing — alleging defamation and conspiracies against him — can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Nunes filed the first case in March 2019 against Twitter, a Republican political strategist and two anonymous social media accounts that mock him. In his most recent lawsuit, filed in December, Nunes alleges CNN published a “demonstrably false hit piece” when it reported a story based on information from an attorney representing one of Rudy Giuliani’s associates.


McClatchy, the parent company of The Fresno Bee, is among the news organizations Nunes is suing. Nunes alleges he was defamed by a news story describing an employee’s lawsuit against a winery in which he holds a financial stake. McClatchy has called the lawsuit a “baseless attack” on local journalism and is contesting the case.

The complaint says Nunes appears to be in “blatant violation of House rules,” because he would have trouble paying for all these lawsuits solely from his congressional salary of $174,000 per year.

The group argues he’d only be able to pay if he received legal services for free, at a discounted rate, or based on a contingency fee, meaning the lawyer would get compensated from Nunes’ winnings if he prevails in his lawsuits.

In all of those cases, the complaint says, Nunes must disclose the legal help he is receiving by filing a legal expense fund, otherwise it would represent an illegal gift given to Nunes under congressional ethics rules.

Nunes has not filed a legal expense fund with the Office of Congressional Ethics.

“Representative Nunes’s overt involvement with the highly-publicized lawsuits threatens to establish a precedent that the Legal Expense Fund (“LEF”) regulations no longer apply to Members,” the complaint reads. “Although Representative Nunes is entitled to legal representation and he may pursue any legal action to protect and defend his interests, he must comply with House rules. An (Office of Congressional Ethics) investigation will preserve Representative Nunes’s legal right to counsel while upholding well-established House rules and precedent.”

Nunes did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The group also questions whether a contingency fee would explain all of Nunes’ legal costs associated with Biss because of two letters Biss has sent to Nunes’ critics without filing lawsuits. Those letters were sent to Nunes’ 2018 political opponent Andrew Janz and California Rep. Ted Lieu, telling them to apologize for critical statements about Nunes.

“Mr. Biss sent a letter to Representative Lieu threatening to bring an ethics complaint against him,” the complaint reads. “An ethics complaint will not result in a monetary award that could support payment under a contingency fee agreement.”

Campaign Legal Center argues that even if Nunes is paying Biss based on contingency, the Office of Congressional Ethics has an interest in making sure members disclose when they are paying attorneys that way. Otherwise, the arrangement could still violate rules that members not receive gifts.


It pointed to the precedent of former Rep. Jean Schmidt, an Ohio Republican who filed a defamation lawsuit in 2008 and requested approval from the Committee on Ethics to pay for lawyers through contingency. The committee denied her request and she was told to repay an organization $500,000 for the legal services it provided her.

“If such an exception existed, lawyers could easily disguise pro bono legal services as contingency fee agreements,” the complaint reads. “Based on the nature of the extensive legal services that Representative Nunes continues to receive, the (Office of Congressional Ethics) and Committee on Ethics should review any alleged contingency fee agreement.”

The Office of Congressional Ethics reviews ethics complaints but has no obligation to follow through with an investigation.


https://amp.fresnobee.com/news/local/article240651532.html?__twitter_impression=true