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Column: Former California Rep. Devin Nunes once sued media companies. Now he's struggling to run one

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Column: Former California Rep. Devin Nunes once sued media companies. Now he's struggling to run one

Who would have guessed that Devin Nunes, who left Congress to run former President Trump’s media company, would be accused of mismanagement and cronyism?

Well, me, for one.

It’s not that I am any kind of oracle. It’s just that I’ve followed Nunes’ career as an ultra-litigious Trump defender who is afflicted by a world-class intolerance for perceived slights.

Before taking the helm of Trump Media in 2022, Nunes had a master’s degree in agriculture but little hands-on business experience. He was involved in his family’s San Joaquin Valley dairy farm decades ago; when he was 14, he has recounted, he bought seven head of young cattle to raise and sell. I guess this explains his tolerance for the, ah, stench of MAGA bull.

Given his disdain for media in general and free speech in particular, as evidenced by a series of lawsuits against news organizations and other critics, putting Nunes in charge of a fledgling media empire was a bizarre move — unless the company is all about cozying up to the deep-pocketed sort of people who would benefit from a second Trump administration.

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According to documents obtained by ProPublica, an unnamed Trump Media whistleblower recently asked the company’s board of directors to fire Nunes. One person with knowledge of the situation told ProPublica that the complaint alleged “misuse of funds, hiring of foreign contractors and interfering with product development.” (A Trump Media spokesperson denied the charges and accused the nonprofit journalism organization of a campaign to damage the company.)

Turmoil ensued: The company’s chief operating officer and chief product officer resigned. In any case, with almost no revenue to speak of and no indication that its Truth Social is competitive with major social media platforms, analysts consider Trump Media & Technology Group a meme stock. Its value is based entirely on the value Trump’s supporters place on him.

In recent weeks, with polls tight and the prospect of a second Trump term looming, shares of Trump Media have massively rebounded from a precipitous fall. Incredibly, the company is worth around $6 billion, putting Trump’s 59% stake at more than $3 billion. But if Trump loses in November, bye-bye, inflated valuation.

“It’s really simple,” Matthew Tuttle, the chief executive of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN. “People realize that if Trump gets elected, this stock has the potential to do something. And if he doesn’t get elected, it probably goes to zero.”

In any case, one enterprise Nunes has mastered is filing doomed lawsuits. Between 2019 and 2023, he filed at least 11 of them, including defamation suits against Twitter parody accounts that posed as his cow and his mother. He tried to sue Twitter too, but a judge ruled that the social media company was protected by the Communications Decency Act, which gives such online platforms immunity from civil liability.

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Nunes also sued McClatchy, the company that owns his hometown newspaper, the Fresno Bee, for defamation. He asked for $150 million in damages but ultimately dropped the lawsuit.

In 2019, he sued Fresno-area activists who had mounted a campaign to get Nunes to stop calling himself a “farmer” on the ballot. Nunes later quietly withdrew that lawsuit.

It was a very busy year for Nunes’ attorneys. He also sued Hearst and the journalist Ryan Lizza over an Esquire story that alleged — in a lighthearted, faux-investigative manner — that Nunes’ family had secretly moved its dairy operations to Iowa and implied that they employed illegal immigrants. After several court go-rounds, the case was dismissed last year.

Let’s see. Who else did the co-sponsor of the Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act frivolously sue that year?

He took aim at the liberal nonprofit Campaign for Accountability and the research firm Fusion GPS, the source of the infamous Steele dossier, which contained unverified gossip about Trump. Nunes, then the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, claimed the organizations conspired to hinder his investigation of the Steele dossier. That lawsuit was dismissed in 2020.

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The lawsuit-happy former dairy farmer sued CNN for defamation after the network reported that he had traveled to Vienna to get dirt on Joe Biden. That lawsuit, which asked for $435 million, was dismissed in 2021.

In 2022, Nunes again sued CNN, and its host Jake Tapper, who reported that Nunes had reposted a disgusting MAGA meme about Paul Pelosi on Truth Social. Pelosi, the husband of former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had been attacked by a stranger in their San Francisco home. Nunes’ attorneys claimed that Tapper insinuated that Nunes “has a depraved mind and that he acted immorally, fraudulently, unprofessionally, spread lies about Paul Pelosi, and disparaged and defamed Paul Pelosi.” (I couldn’t have put it better myself.) That lawsuit was dismissed in 2023.

I can find only one instance in which Nunes was not essentially laughed out of court. In 2021, he sued NBCUniversal, the parent company of MSNBC, alleging that Rachel Maddow had libeled him when she said he failed to turn over to the FBI a package that he had received from a Russian agent. In 2022, a judge ruled that it was plausible that Maddow knew the claim was untrue and has allowed the case to proceed.

My favorite empty Nunes legal threat is the one he once made against a fellow Californian, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of Torrance. Lieu said Nunes had conspired with Lev Parnas, the Russian-born Rudy Giuliani associate, to undermine the U.S. government. (In 2021, Parnas was sentenced to prison for making illegal donations to Trump’s 2020 campaign, and just last month, he tearfully apologized to Hunter Biden for pushing the Trump/Giuliani/Nunes-endorsed lie that as vice president, Joe Biden took actions in Ukraine to benefit his son.)

“I welcome any lawsuit from your client and look forward to taking discovery of Congressman Nunes,” Lieu responded. “Or, you can take your letter and shove it.”

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I guess they shoved it: Miraculously, no lawsuit was ever filed.

Threads: @rabcarian

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The Container Store files for bankruptcy amid stiff competition

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The Container Store files for bankruptcy amid stiff competition

The Container Store has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid steep losses, slumping sales and increased competition.

Business in its stores and online will continue as usual while it restructures, the Texas-based home goods, storage and custom closets chain said late Sunday. Customer deposits for in-home services will be honored, and merchandise orders will be delivered as normal.

“The Container Store is here to stay,” Chief Executive Satish Malhotra said in a statement. “Our strategy is sound, and we believe the steps we are taking today will allow us to continue to advance our business.”

The Container Store peaked in its 2021 fiscal year, when the company exceeded $1 billion in sales for the first time and posted record earnings as consumers spent heavily on home remodeling and redecorating projects during months of pandemic quarantine. A national de-cluttering craze, set off by organization expert Marie Kondo, also benefited the chain.

But since then, the Container Store has struggled.

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Part of the company’s struggles are due to competition from rivals including Target, Walmart and Amazon, which often sell storage items that are similarly stylish at a lower price point. And with housing prices and mortgage rates remaining stubbornly high, many prospective home buyers have been forced to wait on the sidelines, dampening demand for a wide range of products and services that come with outfitting a new property.

For the three months ended Sept. 28, the Container Store reported a loss of $16.1 million. Sales totaled $196.6 million, down 10.5% compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Same-store sales fell 12.5%.

Founded in 1978, the Container Store operates more than 100 stores around the country. In Los Angeles County, it has locations in Century City, El Segundo, Pasadena and Woodland Hills.

It filed for bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of Texas, two weeks after the New York Stock Exchange notified the company that its shares would be suspended for failing to maintain an average global market capitalization of at least $15 million over 30 consecutive trading days.

The Container Store said it expected to confirm a plan of reorganization within 35 days and emerge from bankruptcy soon after as a private company. The company said at least 90% of its term loan lenders had pledged $40 million in new money financing.

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The Chapter 11 process does not include Elfa, a separate customized closet business based in Sweden, which is owned by the Container Store.

In an email to customers Monday, Malhotra said the company had felt “the impact of the challenging macro-economic environment” but reassured them that “our obligations to you will be fulfilled as expected.”

“You can feel confident that any orders, deposits or business you have with us are safe,” he said.

It has been a tough month for large-format retail chains. Last week Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said it would close all of its roughly 700 stores nationwide, and Big Lots said it would begin going-out-of-business sales at about 870 stores after a deal to sell the company fell through.

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Judge enters default judgment in suit against Kanye West's private school

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Judge enters default judgment in suit against Kanye West's private school

A judge entered a default judgment against Kanye West’s Christian private school in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday in connection with a lawsuit filed by a former employee.

Isaiah Meadows, Yeezy Christian Academy’s former assistant principal, sought a default judgment in his wrongful termination and unpaid wages lawsuit against the school — later rebranded Donda Academy — and other defendants for failure to appear through licensed attorneys.

The judge, Christopher K. Lui, ruled in favor of Meadows’ motion. He also ruled that the answers given by defendants — Yeezy Christian Academy, Donda Services LLC and Strokes Canyon LLC — in response to Meadows’ complaint be stricken.

Last year, a lawyer representing West, and the three other defendants denied “each and every allegation of Meadows complaint,” in a filing with the court.

In August, Brian Blumfield, West’s most recent attorney who was representing the music mogul and other business entities in the matter, sought his removal from the case on the grounds that the defendants had terminated their relationship in June and that they had refused to speak to or pay Blumfield, according to court filings. The judge granted the request.

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Meadows had alleged that he brought many of the school’s health and safety issues to the attention of West and the school’s director. But they were left unaddressed and Meadows was later fired.

According to the complaint, a skylight in one of the classrooms didn’t have glass, allowing rain to fall in the building. West reportedly did not like glass.

“Water would soak into the floor, which would lead to a moldy smell for the next few days.”

Further, electrical and telephone wires were also allegedly left exposed and on one occasion an electrical fire started near a student dining area.

In 2020, Meadows was offered $165,000 salary to work, according to the suit. However, he claimed that West later reneged on his promise to pay for his rent after doing so for three months — Meadows had relocated with his family from North Hollywood to Calabasas to work at the school.

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The rent payments ended in February 2021, Meadows claimed after he “was suspended after calling for meetings and raising concerns regarding operations of the school.”

Meadows alleged that his salary was then cut and he was later demoted and worked as a teacher’s assistant and physical education teacher. That April, he sent an email outlining his concerns about his pay and that of other staff members.

Nearly two weeks before the new school year was to start in 2022, Meadows was told that he was being terminated “with no explanation as to why.”

The suit is one of at least five filed against West and Donda Academy since 2023 that allege a hostile workplace as a result of West’s conduct, which includes claims of discrimination and antisemitism, and retaliation, as well as various health and safety issues at the school’s property that was located first in Calabasas, then Simi Valley and finally in Chatsworth.

Donda Academy abruptly shut down in October 2022, amid a cascade of fallout from West’s antisemitic comments, which led a number of his business partners such as the Gap and Adidas to sever ties with him.

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There were reports that the school reopened shortly thereafter; however, according to the California Department of Education, the school has been closed since June of this year.

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Santa, aka the IRS, might be dropping $1,400 into your stocking this year

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Santa, aka the IRS, might be dropping ,400 into your stocking this year

Everyone’s favorite Christmas gift giver, the Internal Revenue Service, has announced that it will be doling out more than $2 billion in checks to Americans this month as part of its effort to make sure everyone received their stimulus payments from 2021.

The federal tax agency has announced that an internal review showed many Americans had never received their economic impact payments, which were supposed to go out following the filing of 2021 tax returns. Because of this, the agency is paying out the money they still owe Americans who never received their checks.

Although most eligible Americans received their stimulus payments, the checks will be sent to those who qualified but filed a 2021 tax return that left the space for recovery rebate credit blank.

Those people are eligible for up to $1,400 from the federal government. The payments should be received by late January 2025, at the latest.

“These payments are an example of our commitment to go the extra mile for taxpayers. Looking at our internal data, we realized that 1 million taxpayers overlooked claiming this complex credit when they were actually eligible,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “To minimize headaches and get this money to eligible taxpayers, we’re making these payments automatic, meaning these people will not be required to go through the extensive process of filing an amended return to receive it.”

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Stimulus payments of $1,400 were sent out to Americans as part of a $1.9-trillion COVID-19 relief bill. Millions of Americans were eligible for the payments.

To get a check, Americans were required to make less than $75,000 per year or under $150,000 as a household.

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