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Rep. Devin Nunes Files $250M Defamation Lawsuit Against Twitter, Two Anonymous Twitter Accounts

Lawmaker claims Twitter had a “political agenda” by allowing users to defame and demean him.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) sued Twitter, two anonymous Twitter accounts, and political consultant Liz Mair for more than $250 million, alleging that the defendants engaged in “negligence, defamation per se, insulting words, and civil conspiracy.” In the suit, Nunes accuses Twitter of having a “political agenda” by allowing two anonymous accounts—“Devin Nunes’ Mom” (@DevinNunesMom) and “Devin Nunes’ Cow” (@DevinCow)—and Mair to attack, defame, and demean him. The suit alleges the two Twitter accounts “engaged in a vicious defamation campaign against Nunes that lasted over a year,” and claims Mair “relentlessly smeared and defamed” the lawmaker by “filming stunts” at his D.C. office, accusing him of “multiple crimes,” and “filing fraudulent ethics complaints” against him. The lawsuit also claims Twitter shadow-banned Nunes, which “restrict[ed] his free speech” and “amplif[ied] the abusive and hateful content” the Twitter accounts and Mair were posting. In addition, Nunes requested the court to order Twitter to reveal the identities of the anonymous accounts and to suspend @DevinNunesMom, @DevinCow, and Liz Mair. Mair, who has contributed as an opinion writer at The Daily Beast, wrote on Twitter Tuesday that she had a “very different view” on the First Amendment than Nunes.