California Republican and ranking House Intelligence Committee member Devin Nunes is threatening to file yet another lawsuit after Thanksgiving. As he prepares to face a potential ethics review for his alleged meeting with an Ukrainian official to get dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, the embattled Congressman has set his sights on CNN and The Daily Beast for reporting the story.

A lawmaker who once ironically co-sponsored the Discouragement of Frivolous Lawsuits Act, Nunes has had a busy year taking organizations and individuals to court. Just some of the defendants who have felt his legal wrath this year include research firm Fusion GPS, Twitter, McClatchy Media, Esquire Magazine and a fruit farmer in Dinuba.

Nunes appeared on the Fox News program Sunday Morning Futures to accuse the media outlets of “slanderous” reporting and “criminal” activity. CNN and the Daily Beast published the articles based on statements they received from attorneys representing Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, who said their client helped arranged the meetings for Nunes.

While Nunes has not denied the substance of the reporting, he claims that potential issues of criminality prevent him from doing so, and that he will “win in court.”

devin nunes
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) attends a House Ways and Means Committee markup of the Republicans tax reform plan titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act., on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Nov. 9, 2017. Getty Images

He told Sunday Futures host Maria Bartiromo: “I really want to answer all of these questions ... but because there is criminal activity here, we’re working with the appropriate law enforcement agencies, we’re gonna’ file all this — everyone is gonna’ know the truth, everyone is gonna’ know all the facts — but I think you can understand that I can’t compete by trying to debate this out with the public media, when 90 percent of the media are totally corrupt.”

The Daily Beast and CNN stories simply convey information provided by lawyers representing Parnas, and do not categorically state that Nunes held the meetings.

Haven’t We Been Here Before?

Not only is this not the first time Nunes has engaged in what many describe as frivolous lawsuits, if the reporting is true, it’s another incident of his involvement in the Presidents’ scandals. In 2017, he found himself at the center of a controversy involving an intelligence memo during the infamous Russia probe that had resulted in his recusal from the investigation.

RELATED STORIES
Russia Joe biden