GOP Rep. Nunes leaving Congress for Trump social media firm

WASHINGTON – California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, who was 1 of erstwhile President Donald Trump’s astir ardent loyalists successful Congress, is leaving the House astatine the extremity of this twelvemonth to articulation Trump’s fledgling media company.

A connection Monday from the Trump Media & Technology radical said Nunes would service arsenic main enforcement officer, opening successful January 2022. The institution is preparing to motorboat a societal media level intended to rival competitors, including Twitter, which blocked Trump’s relationship successful January pursuing the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol.

In June, Facebook suspended Trump’s accounts for 2 years, pursuing a uncovering that helium stoked unit up of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“Devin understands that we indispensable halt the wide media and Big Tech from destroying the freedoms that marque America great,” Trump said successful a statement.

Nunes' determination comes astatine a clip erstwhile his governmental aboriginal successful California appeared successful imaginable jeopardy — draught maps released successful the once-a-decade realignment of legislature districts suggested helium would look a challenging reelection successful the 2022 midterms. Those maps volition not beryllium finalized until aboriginal this month.

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Nunes, 48, said successful a statement: “The clip has travel to reopen the Internet and let for the escaped travel of ideas and look without censorship. The United States of America made the imagination of the Internet a world and it volition beryllium an American institution that restores the dream.”

Trump’s determination to prime 1 of his astir pugilistic defenders to oversee his caller media radical — alternatively of a seasoned concern person — makes wide that helium intends to usage the institution for governmental payment arsenic overmuch arsenic for profit.

Trump announced the motorboat of his media institution successful October. The institution says its plans see the instauration of “Truth Social,” a Twitter-style societal media app, arsenic good arsenic a subscription-based video streaming work that volition diagnostic amusement programming, quality and podcasts. Trump is listed arsenic the company’s chair.

Trump's media institution and Digital World Acquisition announced implicit the play they had agreements for $1 cardinal successful superior from organization investors.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are looking into the deal. Digital World Acquisition Corp. launched connected the U.S. banal marketplace 3 weeks earlier with the sole intent of uncovering a privately held institution to buy.

Nunes is the apical Republican connected the House quality committee and was the panel’s president earlier Democrats won the bulk successful 2018. He launched the committee’s probe into Trump’s ties to Russia on with California Rep. Adam Schiff, the apical Democrat connected the sheet who is present its chairman.

Soon aft they announced the probe, though, Nunes became 1 of Trump’s astir forceful defenders successful Congress. In aboriginal 2017, helium visited the White House, reviewed documents determination and past held a property league saying that communications involving Trump associates had been swept up by U.S. spy agencies and were mishandled by erstwhile President Barack Obama’s administration. After an uproar, the House Ethics Committee said it would analyse the sojourn and find whether helium had leaked classified information.

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The morals sheet cleared Nunes a twelvemonth later, but Nunes had already recused himself from the Russia probe.

After a contentious probe that Democrats claimed was biased successful Trump’s favor, the Intelligence committee recovered that Russia interfered successful the predetermination but that determination was nary grounds of coordination betwixt Trump’s run and Russia.

Nunes was besides successful the spotlight arsenic helium ardently defended Trump done Democrats’ 2019 impeachment inquiry, which was led by Schiff and the quality panel.

In aboriginal 2021, 2 days earlier the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, Trump awarded Nunes the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In a statement, the White House credited Nunes with uncovering “the top ungraded successful American history,” referencing Nunes’ efforts to discredit the Russia investigation.

In a statement, House Republican person Kevin McCarthy called Nunes an “American patriot” said determination is nary idiosyncratic "better ... prepared to vie head-to-head and pb an alternate to the Big Tech and large media cartel that has carried h2o for the Democrat Party for years.”

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