U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes sues Esquire magazine, journalist over story about Iowa farm, demanding $75 million in damages

A U.S. representative from California is suing a political journalist and magazine publisher over an Esquire article about his family farm in Iowa.

Rep. Devin Nunes, a California Republican, filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court in the Northern District of Iowa, alleging that journalist Ryan Lizza and Hearst, the publisher of Esquire, defamed and conspired against him by publishing a news story that Lizza wrote called "Devin Nunes' family farm is hiding a politically explosive secret."

Nunes is demanding $75 million in damages. In the lawsuit, he accuses Lizza and Esquire of having "an axe to grind" against him.

The article, published in September 2018, describes how Nunes' family moved its dairy farm from Tulare, California, to Sibley, Iowa, in 2007. According to the piece, Nunes had not publicly acknowledged that the farm had moved out of state. The piece also alleges that the northwest Iowa farm hired undocumented immigrants.

In the lawsuit, Nunes describes Lizza's article as false for claiming it was a secret that Nunes' family farm had moved to Iowa and that he had tried to cover up the move. Nunes has no financial stake in the farm, he says in the lawsuit.

"Lizza and Esquire knowingly and recklessly injured (Nunes') reputation with a scandalous hit piece that intentionally disparaged (Nunes) and his family, accused (Nunes) of dishonesty, deceit, conspiracy and unethical practices and impugned his integrity and skills as a United States Congressman," the lawsuit alleges.

One of the lawsuit's allegations accuses Esquire, Lizza and other members of the media, including CNN, of engaging in a conspiracy to damage Nunes' personal and professional reputation by sharing the story on-air and on social media.

Lizza, now Politico's chief Washington correspondent, said he couldn't comment on the lawsuit.

Nunes is filing the lawsuit in Iowa because much of Lizza's reporting occurred in Iowa's Osceola County, where the farm is located.

Nunes has filed other lawsuits over unflattering portrayals.

He sued the newspaper company McClatchy for allegedly defaming him during the 2018 election and demanded the company pay him $150 million. In a legal filing last month, McClatchy argued the case should be dismissed and was a "maneuver to score cheap political points."

Nunes also filed a $250 million lawsuit against Twitter and a political strategist this year over a pair of parody accounts called "Devin Nunes' Cow" and "Devin Nunes' Mom." Attorneys for Twitter have asked for the case to be dismissed.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

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