A federal appeals court has rejected a libel suit brought by former Congressman Devin Nunes against NBCUniversal and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. The suit centered on a March 2021 statement by Maddow that Nunes "refused to hand it over to the FBI" after receiving a package from Russian agent Andrii Derkach. Nunes argued the statement was false, and he submitted testimony from a former HPSCI staffer saying the package was secured and turned over to the FBI about two days after it arrived.
The Second Circuit panel, however, held that Nunes failed to show actual malice. The court noted that Maddow and executive producer Cory Gnazzo relied on a Politico article which reported that Nunes and three others had not turned over the material to the FBI. While the court acknowledged a "natural reading" of that article could support Maddow's paraphrase, it emphasized that reliance on a responsible source negates the recklessness required for actual malice.
Nunes argued that "refuse" implies a request to comply, and no such request existed. But the court said the word also means showing an unwillingness to do something, and the Politico article could fairly be read that way. Since Nunes provided no evidence that Maddow or Gnazzo should have doubted the Politico article's reliability, the court affirmed summary judgment for the defendants.