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https://www.scribd.com/document/405513426/Complaint-4-8-19-Mcclatchy-2

1 VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE DEVIN G. NUNES ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) Case No. ) )
TRIAL BY JURY
THE MCCLATCHY COMPANY )
IS DEMANDED
ELIZABETH A. “LIZ” MAIR, ) ) -and- ) ) MAIR STRATEGIES, LLC ) ) Defendants. ) )
COMPLAINT

Plaintiff, Devin G. Nunes, by counsel, files the following Complaint against defendants, The McClatchy Company (“McClatchy”), Elizabeth A. “Liz” Mair (“Mair”), and Mair Strategies, LLC (“Mair Strategies”), jointly and severally. Plaintiff seeks (a) compensatory damages and punitive damages in an amount not less than
$150,000,000
, (b) prejudgment interest on the principal sum awarded by the Jury from May 23, 2018 to the date of Judgment at the rate of six percent (6%) per year pursuant to § 8.01-382 of the Virginia Code (1950), as amended (the “Code”), injunctive relief, and (d) court costs – arising out of defendants’ defamation
per se
and common law conspiracy.

2
I. INTRODUCTION
1. This is a case about character assassination and a public company that weaponized its powerful pen and used it as a terrible sword. 2. Throughout 2018, McClatchy and its reporter, MacKenzie Mays, acting in concert with a Virginia political operative and her handlers, schemed to defame Plaintiff and destroy his reputation. The central purpose of the scheme was to interfere with Plaintiff’s Congressional investigation of corruption by the Clinton campaign and alleged “collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
1
Using the enormous power of McClatchy’s nation-wide resources, McClatchy
1
McClatchy is well-known for publishing false stories meant to advance the false narrative that associates of Donald J. Trump colluded with Russia to hack the 2016 presidential election. In April 2018, for instance, McClatchy published an article representing that Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller had evidence that Donald Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, secretly visited Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign. [https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article208870264.html (“Mueller Has Evidence Cohen Was In Prague In 2016, Confirming Part Of Dossier”)]. The McClatchy story was presented as confirmation of an essential claim of the “Steele dossier” (a collection of allegations of collusion between Trump associates and Russia that were manufactured by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, cited in the most prominent accusations against the President’s team). According to the Steele dossier, Cohen was a leading figure in the Trump-Russia collusion/conspiracy. The dossier represents that Cohen went to Prague in 2016 to have a conspiratorial meeting with Russian officials about the Kremlin’s campaign to hack the 2016 U.S. presidential election. McClatchy’s story about Cohen was not confirmed by
any
other media outlet, and Mueller’s indictment of Cohen did not allege Cohen had this meeting in Prague or that he conspired with Russians at all to hack the U.S. election. McClatchy further attempted to defend the dossier’s veracity with a follow-up piece claiming Cohen’s cell phone had sent signals off cell towers in the Prague vicinity. [https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article219016820.html (“Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting”)]. Once again, no other media outlet could confirm the McClatchy story, which, like the previous story, was thoroughly contradicted by both Mueller’s Cohen indictment and Mueller’s final Report. [
see
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5779700/AG-March-24-2019-Letter-to-House-and-Senate.pdf (“
The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
”)].

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