Print this article Rep. Devin Nunes sued NBCUniversal Media on Tuesday, claiming MSNBC host Rachel Maddow defamed him in a series of statements suggesting the California Republican was in cahoots with a Russian agent implicated in that nation's interference in the 2016 election. The congressman is seeking monetary damages from the company, alleging Maddow falsely accused him of criminality and exposed him to "public ridicule, scorn, contempt, censure, and prejudice," according to a complaint filed in federal court in Texas. The lawsuit stems from a March 18 broadcast of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC when Maddow said Nunes, top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, accepted a package from Andrii Derkach, a member of Ukraine’s legislature who is deemed a Russian agent by the United States, and withheld its contents from intelligence authorities.