A look at Donald Trump ally Devin Nunes’ time in Valley office, as he prepares to retire
Central San Joaquin Valley Rep. Devin Nunes will not be seeking re-election and will retire from office before the end of his term following almost two decades in office, he said Monday.
The Tulare Republican first won elected office in 1996 and quickly turned his sights on federal office.
Here’s a look back at his time in office:
Early political life
Nunes is a Tulare County native whose family farmed, and who served on the College of Sequoias Board of Trustees after winning election at 22 in 1996.
His first run at the House in 1998 was unsuccessful.
He was appointed California State director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development in 2001 by President George W. Bush.
First years in Congress
The following year, Nunes won a congressional seat in the 21st District, which had been redrawn following the 2000 U.S. Census. He went on to routinely win lopsided victories through 2016
Following the 2010 U.S. Census, the newly drawn districts put Nunes in the 22nd District seat.
Close ties with Trump
After President Donald Trump’s election in 2016, Nunes came to be widely known and scrutinized for his close ties to Trump.
Nunes, who was chairperson of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, in 2017 issued a memo Nunes memo saying the FBI abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in its use of the opposition research dossier in investigating potential connections between Trump and Russia.
His races in 2018 and 2020 grew more contested with Nunes winning by single digit points compared to years around the 20-point mark.
Nunes has filed 10 lawsuits since 2019 against media companies and people he regards as critics, claiming defamation or conspiracies to harm him. The cases target coverage of him by The Washington Post, CNN, Hearst, NBC and McClatchy, the parent company of The Fresno Bee.
A statement Monday from the Trump Media & Technology group said Nunes would serve as chief executive officer, beginning in January 2022.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
