‘Take your letter and shove it.’ LA congressman responds to Devin Nunes’ attorney
A California congressman said in a letter Friday that he welcomes a lawsuit from Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare.
Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat, posted a photo on Twitter showing the first page of a December letter he received from Steven Biss, the Virginia attorney who is representing Nunes in lawsuits against news media companies, an investigative research firm that worked for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Twitter, anonymous social media users and political strategists.
Lieu on Twitter wrote that Biss demanded that Lieu apologize for a remark linking Nunes to Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Lieu on Twitter said Biss threatened a lawsuit. The page Lieu posted online references a Supreme Court case regarding libel, and asserts that a citizen has a right to defend his reputation.
Lieu disclosed the interaction after Parnas spoke this week on MSNBC and said he met with Nunes “several times.” Parnas, who was indicted in October for alleged campaign finance violations, also disclosed text messages and other documents to the House Intelligence Committee that show him communicating with one of Nunes’ aides.
Lieu posted his response to Biss on Twitter, saying he welcomed any lawsuit from Nunes.
“It is true that I stated Congressman Nunes worked with Lev Parnas and conspired to undermine our own government. As you know, truth is a defense. So go read the documents and text messages provided by Lev Parnas to the House of Representatives, and watch his interview with (MSNBC host) Rachel Maddow ... that directly implicates Rep. Nunes,” Lieu wrote.
“I welcome any lawsuit from your client and look forward to taking discovery of Congressman Nunes. Or, you can take your letter and shove it,” Lieu wrote.
Lieu’s initial remark followed the release by the House Intelligence Committee in early December of phone records showing Nunes had phone calls Parnas and with Giuliuani.
Nunes on Wednesday publicly acknowledged for the first time that he spoke with Parnas, six weeks after House Democrats released the call records.
Giuliani and Parnas reportedly helped Trump carry out a campaign to pressure the Ukrainian government to announce investigations in Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. Nunes as the ranking Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee participated in impeachment hearings that centered on Trump’s effort to influence Ukraine.
Lieu has been a vocal critic of Trump, spoke in support of impeachment days after having heart surgery and voted yes on both articles of impeachment.
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 5:54 PM.