Devin Nunes (Devin Nunes/Facebook)

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is suing CNN for defamation over the network’s reporting that he allegedly met with Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin.

A CNN spokesperson declined to comment to iMediaEthics on the record.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, calls for $435.35 million plus interest.

“CNN is the mother of fake news,” the lawsuit claims. “It is the least trusted name. CNN is eroding the fabric of America, proselytizing, sowing distrust and disharmony. It must be held accountable.”

The lawsuit alleges CNN’s Nov. 22 article about Nunes is a “demonstrably false hit piece.” The article alleges Nunes went to Vienna to meet with Ukraine prosecutor Victor Shokin to “discuss digging up dirt on Joe Biden.”

The article reported:

“A lawyer for an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani told CNN that his client is willing to tell Congress about meetings the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee had in Vienna last year with a former Ukrainian prosecutor to discuss digging up dirt on Joe Biden.The attorney, Joseph A. Bondy, represents Lev Parnas, the recently indicted Soviet-born American who worked with Giuliani to push claims of Democratic corruption in Ukraine. Bondy said that Parnas was told directly by the former Ukrainian official that he met last year in Vienna with Rep. Devin Nunes.”

The lawsuit denies the claims and calls CNN’s source Lev Parnas “a fraudster and a hustler.”

The CNN report noted that it tried to ask Nunes about the allegation but in two in-person exchanges, Nunes said he wouldn’t talk to CNN. CNN noted it also contacted Nunes’s representatives.

Hat Tip: Fox News