Devin Nunes drops Twitter from second lawsuit over critical social media posts
Rep. Devin Nunes last week dropped Twitter from the second lawsuit he filed against the company, ending the social media giant’s role in a case over what the California Republican regarded as online harassment.
Court records show the congressman through the same lawsuit is still attempting to sue Washington state resident Benjamin Meredith, alleging that Meredith had harassed and stalked Nunes online and had released his personal information with thousands of tweets and multiple anonymous Twitter accounts.
Nunes in court records has not identified specific examples of harassing conduct.
The lawsuit, filed in October in Tulare County Superior Court, initially named Twitter as a defendant. Nunes alleged the company “aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced or procured the substantive acts of stalking by Meredith.”
Nunes on Jan. 14 without explanation withdrew Twitter as a defendant. A local attorney for Nunes, Derek Wisehart, did not return a request for comment.
Twitter in court documents said it agreed with the dismissal and reserved the right to seek its legal fees related to the lawsuit.
The case was then transferred to federal court, the Eastern District Court of California, this week.
Without San Francisco-based Twitter, it’s a case between Nunes of California and Meredith of Washington. Meredith had previously filed to dismiss the case in the state court, before it was moved.
Nunes, R-Tulare, has filed nine lawsuits against various media companies, critics and political adversaries since 2019, generally alleging conspiracies to defame him. He has not yet been successful in court.
Nunes previously sued Twitter in a Virginia state court, alleging in March 2019 that the company negligently allowed the anonymous Twitter users known as Devin Nunes’ Cow and Devin Nunes’ Mom to mock him online.
A judge dismissed Twitter as a defendant in that case last summer, citing a federal law that holds social media companies are not liable for what people post on their platforms. Nunes is appealing that decision in the Supreme Court of Virginia.
This story was originally published January 21, 2021 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Devin Nunes drops Twitter from second lawsuit over critical social media posts."
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said Rep. Devin Nunes has filed 10 lawsuits against journalists and his critics. He has filed nine.
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