Rep. Devin Nunes filed a $435 million lawsuit against CNN over a report that he met with former top Ukrainian Prosecutor Viktor Shokin in Vienna.
Shokin was fired after former Vice President Joe Biden pushed for his removal as part of a western consensus that he was not pursuing corruption investigations.
Attorneys for Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani who helped hunt for dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine, told The Daily Beast that Parnas also helped Nunes set up meetings in Europe. They later told CNN that that “Parnas learned from former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin that Nunes had met with Shokin in Vienna last December.”
"Nunes had told Shokin of the urgent need to launch investigations into Burisma, Joe and Hunter Biden, and any purported Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election," Parnas’ lawyer told the network.
Nunes sues:
Nunes filed a $435 million lawsuit accusing CNN of publishing “numerous egregiously false and defamatory” statements about Nunes.
“CNN is the mother of fake news. It is the least trusted name. CNN is eroding the fabric of America, proselytizing, sowing distrust and disharmony. It must be held accountable,” the lawsuit says.
“It was obvious to everyone – including disgraceful CNN – that Parnas was a fraudster and a hustler,” the suit added. “It was obvious that his lies were part of a thinly-veiled attempt to obstruct justice and to trick either the United States Attorney or House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Adam Schiff into offering ‘immunity’ in return for information’ about [Nunes].”
Nunes claims he never met Shokin:
Nunes told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday that CNN “shouldn’t be listening to somebody who’s been indicted.”
"I wasn't in Vienna, and I didn't meet with this guy Shokin,” he said, adding that he has pictures of himself in Malta and Libya during that “time frame.”
