Twitter and Liz Mair, a political strategist, who have been sued by Rep. Devin Nunes, have asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed because the California Republican filed the lawsuit in Virginia instead of California.
They argue since Nunes has a Twitter account, he consented to the user agreement that states lawsuits can only be filed against them in San Francisco. They said because of the Virginia lawsuit, he has violated the agreement.
“Plaintiff’s claims against Twitter must also be dismissed at the outset because Plaintiff agreed to, and is now violating, a mandatory forum selection clause that requires disputes concerning Twitter’s Terms or services (such as this one) to ‘be brought solely in the federal or state courts located in San Francisco, California,'” the motion states, according to the Fresno Bee.
“Presumably because he does not like the law of his home state of California and mistakenly believes he can avoid its application here, Mr. Nunes has given that strategy a strange new twist, seeking to force the trial at a most inconvenient place for everyone involved,” Mair’s motion to dismiss states. “Ultimately, there is no good reason to try this case in Virginia, despite Mr. Nunes’s apparent efforts to use Ms. Mair as a jurisdictional anchor.”
[Also read: Devin Nunes lawsuit against Twitter faces long odds]
Nunes sued Mair and two parody Twitter accounts for defamation and claiming their meddling resulted in his narrow election win in 2018.
California and Virginia lawyers told the Bee Nunes has more advantages with a Virginia-based lawsuit because California has stricter anti-frivolous lawsuits provisions.
@DevinCow, a parody account that gained hundreds of thousands of followers after the lawsuit was first filed, tweeted, “As usual, Devin didn’t follow the rules.”
I was waiting to share this with you all. Thank you for asking about progress in the lawsuit. As usual, Devin didn’t follow the rules. We will see what the judge says ?? https://t.co/pLBzkNdvty
— Devin Nunes’ cow ? (@DevinCow) May 14, 2019
