The Virginia Supreme Court today, March 3, denied Devin Nunes’ appeal to continue suing Republican strategist Liz Mair. Nunes’ suit claimed that she had conspired with MClatchy to defame him in a story the newspaper published in 2018 concerning an employee’s lawsuit against Alpha Omega Winery, a business in which Nunes holds a financial interest.
Judge Claude V. Worrell Jr. ruled that Nunes’ complaint failed to show he could prove that Mair conspired against him or defamed him.
Nunes has filed ten lawsuits in the last few years claiming defamation and demanding a combined billion dollars plus in damages. Nearly all of the suits have been dropped or dismissed though he continues to appeal.
The following is Liz Mair’s statement given to the Valley Voice.
“I am pleased to announce today that the Virginia Supreme Court has refused former Rep. Nunes’ petition for appeal in his $150 million lawsuit against me (one of two in which he sought a total of $400 million in damages), concluding ‘there is no reversible error in the judgment complained of.’
“I thank the Court for upholding the First Amendment and my– and all Americans’– rights of free speech.
“I hope that this judgment will dissuade other government and political figures from attempting to use litigation as a cudgel to stifle free speech. This lawsuit did not succeed in silencing me, and nor should lawsuits like it be allowed to silence other Americans exercising their God-given rights to free speech especially where they do so in an effort to hold their government accountable.
“While I admit to being less interesting than a fake, anonymous barnyard animal on Twitter, this case should nonetheless be firmly recorded in the history books as an instance of where our democratic republic safeguarded essential civil liberties and stood strong for freedom. I hope that it will always do so, for the benefit of all Americans.”