Trumpians are going to end up hating all the magistrate judges in South Florida: A different magistrate judge than the one who okayed the search of the Mar-a-Lago flop house and supper club has ordered the Trump social media company Truth Social to produce its records regarding the hiring of former California Congressman and bovinophobe Devin Nunes, Reuters reports.
The order supports a motion made by the defendants in the case, Hearst Media and journalist Ryan Lizza, who are being sued by Nunes because he believes a 2018 report by Lizza on Hearst-owned Esquire slandered him and ruined his reputation. Lizza is currently on staff at Politico.
Lizza reported that the Nunes family farm was no longer in California, the state Nunes represented while in Congress and from which his family reportedly moved their dairy farm out of California to Sibley, Iowa in 2007. His brother and sister-in-law operate the family farm there. Devin’s uncle Gerald still owns a dairy back in Tulare, and like many California elites, Nunes bought into a winery in Napa Valley, but neither Devin himself or any direct family does not own any farm or ranchland in California.
Nunes is upset that Lizza exposed his secret–that Nunes abandoned the congressional district he represents–that Nunes and Republicans tried to hide while Nunes was in politics. Frequently, Nunes would do “hits” on cable news–particularly Fox–which included him in front of a scene that looked like a barn. Other times, he’d appear in a field overlooking a dairy operation, with what was his uncle’s business behind him. In print stories, the writer would often refer to Tulare in the dateline, as though Nunes was working a farm there.
Nunes is suing Hearst and Lizza for $75 million, claiming the story ruined his reputation. It’s one of a number of defamation suits the ever-aggrieved Nunes has brought against different entities, but unlike him trying to sue Twitter accounts, this one involved real people.
The defendants in this case are seeking Nunes’ employment records and information regarding his January 2022 hiring as CEO of Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group, even though he has never been in the technology industry nor does he have any corporate executive experience. The defendants will show that Nunes got the job because of his stellar performance–although we cannot be sure if that was defending the reputation of Donald Trump or actual work experience.