Judge tosses Devin Nunes’ lawsuit against Trump research firm Fusion GPS, again

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Rep. Devin Nunes’ lawsuit against Fusion GPS, the investigative research firm that in 2016 produced a dossier of intelligence leads related to former President Donald Trump.

It’s the second time a federal judge has thrown out the case, which centers on Nunes’ allegation that the firm sought to damage his reputation and hinder his ability to investigate its work leading up to Trump’s election.

Nunes filed an amended complaint after Judge Liam O’Grady dismissed the case in February 2020, which allowed it to continue.

The new ruling by Judge Rossie Alston of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia bars Nunes from filing another amended complaint. Alston was ruling on the third amended complaint Nunes and attorney Steven S. Biss had filed.

“Plaintiff’s counsel is reminded that litigation ‘asserted in bad faith or for the purpose of harassment’ may be met with sanctions. Here, Plaintiff’s counsel has filed three complaints in this case since September of 2019. The Court has not issued a favorable ruling on any of the claims Plaintiff asserts,” Alston wrote. “Accordingly, the Court’s dismissal of Plaintiff’s ... claims is with prejudice and without leave to amend because in the Court’s view, amendment would be futile.”

“At some point, litigation must end,” Alston concluded, citing language from another ruling in the Virginia court.

Nunes has filed nine lawsuits against media organizations and various critics since 2019. Judges have dismissed his lawsuits against Twitter, Republican strategist Liz Mair, The Washington Post, CNN and Ryan Lizza, a journalist who wrote about Nunes for Esquire Magazine.

Nunes has either re-filed or appealed those cases. Nunes has dropped suits against a retired farmer who contested Nunes’ description of himself on information mailed to voters. He also dropped a lawsuit against McClatchy, the parent company of the largest newspaper in his district, The Fresno Bee.

The other lawsuits are still pending.

This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 6:07 PM.