Following a Nov. 22 story that claimed that an associate of Rudolph Giuliani was willing to tell Congress that Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., met with an ex-Ukrainian official for dirt on Joe Biden, Nunes filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking $435 million in damages.
The suit, which was first reported by the Washington Times , claims that CNN's reporting was "fake" despite CNN using an on-the-record source.
According to the Nov. 22 story, the attorney for Lev Parnas, Joseph A. Bondy, claimed that his client was willing to testify to Congress that Nunes was in Vienna last year to discuss "digging up dirt" on Joe Biden with a former Ukranian prosecutor. Parnas, who is an associated with Rudolph Giuliani, has been indicted on conspiracy, false statements and falsification of records.
The news was notable as the story came at the end of two weeks of contentious impeachment hearings by the House Intelligence Committee. Nunes is the Republican's ranking member of the committee, and actively defended President Donald Trump during the hearings with a number of current and former government officials active in the United States' foreign policy with Ukraine.
In the filing, Nunes claims that he did not visit Vienna in 2018. Nunes also said that he did not communicate with Parnas last December.
Bondy also told CNN that Parnas would be willing to testify that Nunes met with former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin. Nunes said that Bondy's claim was false.
CNN attempted to ask Nunes about the allegations raised by Bondy on Nov. 14. Nunes responded, "I don't talk to you in this lifetime or the next lifetime."
On Tuesday, House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, D-Calif., released a report on its findings during several weeks of hearings into President Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry. Contained in the report, phone records indicate communications between Giuliani, Parnas, Nunes and the White House's budget office.
A CNN spokesperson declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @jjboggs or on Facebook .
