A Democratic strategist is refusing to disclose communications that could reveal the identity of anonymous Twitter users who criticize Rep. Devin Nunes, arguing in a new court filing that the accounts are clearly satirical expressions of political speech.
Nunes, a Republican, has sued Twitter and anonymous social media users who run accounts known as Devin Nunes' Cow and Devin Nunes' Mom. Nunes' attorney last month issued a subpoena demanding records about them from former Democratic National Committee employee Adam Parkhomenko.
In a new filing to quash the subpoena, Parkhomenko's attorney argues that the Twitter accounts' language "does not constitute defamation" and that courts are tasked with protecting anonymous communications in the interest of freedom of speech.
"No reasonable person would believe that Devin Nunes' cow actually has a Twitter account, or that the hyperbole, satire and cow-related jokes it posts are serious facts," reads the filing in Virginia's Henrico County Circuit Court. "It is self-evident that cows are domesticated livestock animals and do not have the intelligence, language, or opposable digits needed to operate a Twitter account. Defendant 'Devin Nunes' Mom' likewise posts satirical patronizing, nagging, mothering comments which ostensibly treat Mr. Nunes as a misbehaving child."
Nunes in the Twitter lawsuit is also suing Republican political strategist Liz Mair, alleging that all of them worked together to harm his reputation during his successful 2018 reelection campaign.
In the subpoena for the communications, Nunes' attorney Steven Biss asked for emails, text messages and direct messages on Twitter between Parkhomenko and the anonymous social media users.
It was the first subpoena Nunes' has issued in the five lawsuits he's filed this year against news media organizations, Democratic activists, Twitter and the political research company Fusion GPS.
Parkhomenko worked for the Democratic National Committee in 2016 and also for the TRR Group, a public relations company that advised Nunes' Democratic opponent Andrew Janz in 2018.
Janz has been raising money to support legal defense funds for the Twitter accounts Devin Nunes' Cow and Devin Nunes' Mom.
Nunes has demanded that Janz force the accounts to delete messages and issue an apology to him. Janz, through attorneys, declined to take any of the demanded actions and said he had no power over the cow account.
Parkhomenko has mocked the Republican congressman on Twitter since Nunes filed defamation lawsuit in March. Although it's unclear how Parkhomenko is related to the case, Biss' motion to compel the communications demonstrates a belief that he could be useful in identifying the anonymous users.
Twitter also has refused to identify the authors of Devin Nunes' Cow and Devin Nunes' Mom.
Biss did not immediately respond to McClatchy's emailed request for a statement. Parkhomenko declined to comment, but confirmed the accuracy of the filings to McClatchy.
