Devin Nunes Accuses Media of ‘Furiously Smearing and Libeling’ John Solomon in Barnstorming Hearing Opener

House Intelligence committee ranking minority member Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) opened Tuesday’s impeachment hearings with a fiery defense of John Solomon — a reporter whose controversial work is oft cited by Republicans as it relates to the Ukraine scandal.

During his Tuesday opener, Nunes railed against the media for discrediting the reporting of Solomon — formerly a columnist for The Hill and currently a Fox News contributor.

“Solomon’s reporting on Burisma, Hunter Biden, and Ukraine election meddling has become inconvenient for the Democratic narrative,” Nunes said. “And so the media is furiously smearing and libeling Solomon.

In a memo Monday, The Hill‘s editor in chief, Bob Cusack, told staff that the outlet is currently reviewing Solomon’s work on Ukraine. Solomon’s work relating to former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch has come under particular scrutiny, given that he has been accused in earlier impeachment hearings of helping facilitate a smear campaign against Yovanovitch.

Solomon spent years working for the Associated Press, and also has — among other stops — spent a bit of time at the Washington Post. But he then moved on to right-leaning outlets like the Washington Times and The Hill. He is a favorite of conservative radio hosts and Fox News opinion hosts — with Sean Hannity, in particular, regularly featuring him on his program.

But his methods have come into question as he is thought, by many critics, to have too close of a relationship with his sources. Notably, in last week’s hearings, it came to light that Solomon had been sending his columns to Rudy Giuliani and others in President Donald Trump’s circle prior to publication.

Watch above, via CNN.

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