Representative Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is suing a lot of different parties in court right now — lawsuits that he will likely lose. And now the Fresno Bee, which is also being sued by Nunes, is wondering where he is getting all the money to pay his legal bills.
After all, it must be costing Nunes a fortune to have so many ongoing lawsuits on the docket.
Nunes is suing various news outlets and social media accounts for reporting on him or mocking him, both of which are protected by the First Amendment. Despite that fact, he is apparently hoping to exact revenge on them. He knows he is going to lose, but he wants to hurt his targets financially by dragging things out as long as possible.
The Fresno Bee noted:
“Nunes, R-Tulare, has filed lawsuits against Twitter, anonymous social media users known as Devin Nunes’ Cow and Devin Nunes’ Mom, a Republican political strategist, media companies, journalists, progressive watchdog groups, a political research firm that worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and a retired farmer in Nunes’ own district.”
With so many lawsuits, which were filed in Virginia because the state apparently allows frivolous lawsuits to clog the justice system there, one has to wonder how he is paying for them, which the Fresno Bee also wondered:
“That means Nunes is either paying for the lawsuits out of his own pocket, promising to pay his lawyer a portion of any money they’re awarded in court at a later date, or flouting House Ethics rules that would require him to publicly disclose who is funding the legal work.”
Even if Nunes were getting free legal services or is receiving donations for his cause, he would have to create a paper trail to so do.
“Nunes would have to set up a legal defense fund to accept free legal services or to receive money from a benefactor. Members of Congress have strict rules against receiving generous gifts, with some exceptions for family.”
But Nunes has set up no such fund. And if his legal bills were backed by a right-wing billionaire, he would have to disclose the source because he is legally obligated to do so.
The most likely scenario is that Nunes has a stupid attorney who is either working pro bono or on contingency, which means the lawyer only gets paid if they win the case.
Again, all of the lawsuits he has filed are likely going to be losers because the First Amendment is very clear, and he has no real case.
Nunes has already been reported to the House Ethics Committee for hiding his contact with Ukraine officials seeking dirt on former Vice-President Joe Biden on behalf of President Donald Trump. It wouldn’t be a leap to think that he is hiding how he is covering what has to be a fortune in legal expenses. Perhaps he should be investigated for this as well.
Featured Image: ae Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons CC-by-2.0
