Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), a stalwart defender of Donald Trump, will step down from his seat in Congress to become CEO of the ex-president’s Trump Media & Technology Group in 2022.
Nunes, currently a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee who once unsuccessfully sued Twitter alleging defamation over parody accounts purporting to be his cow and his mom, will leave the U.S. House of Representatives and will begin his new role as CEO of TMTG in January 2022, the company announced Monday.
Trump’s company is planning to launch a social network, called “Truth Social,” after the twice-impeached former U.S. president was kicked off or suspended from all major internet platforms over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. TMTG also plans to launch a Netflix-style subscription-streaming service with “non-woke” programming.
For Trump, Nunes lack of running a media and/or technology business of any kind was not a deterrent.
Trump, chairman of TMTG, called Nunes “a fighter and a leader. He will make an excellent CEO of TMTG. Devin understands that we must stop the liberal media and Big Tech from destroying the freedoms that make America great. America is ready for Truth Social and the end to censorship and political discrimination.”
Nunes has served in the House since 2003, currently serving California’s 22nd district. As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, he supported Trump’s conspiracy theory that the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was a “deep state” plot orchestrated by the FBI and Justice Department.
Following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Nunes was among the 147 Republicans in Congress who voted in favor of challenging President Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Nunes, in a statement provided by Trump’s company, added, “The time has come to reopen the internet and allow for the free flow of ideas and expression without censorship. The United States of America made the dream of the internet a reality and it will be an American company that restores the dream. I’m humbled and honored President Trump has asked me to lead the mission and the world class team that will deliver on this promise.”
Nunes will leave Congress as he “faced almost impossible odds in being re-elected to the Central Valley district that his family had farmed for three generations,” the New York Times reported. In addition to his failed suit against Twitter, Nunes filed other lawsuits alleging defamation against CNN, the Washington Post, Hearst Magazines and the Fresno Bee.
Trump Media & Technology Group plans to become a publicly traded entity through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Earlier Monday, Digital World Acquisition disclosed that it was the subject of a “preliminary” SEC investigation seeking documents including those related to the “identities of certain investors.” The company on Dec. 4 announced that it had secured $1 billion from unnamed investors for the merged TMTG-DWAC company.
