FILE – Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif, the then ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, center, talks with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left and Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, during a break in a the House Judiciary Committee hearing considering the investigative findings in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 9, 2019. Nunes is leaving the House at the end of this year to lead former President Donald Trump’s effort to launch a social media platform intended to rival Twitter. A statement from the Trump Media & Technology group said Nunes would serve as chief executive officer, beginning in January 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, who was one of former President Donald Trump’s most devoted loyalists in Congress, is leaving the House at the end of this year to join Trump’s fledgling media company.

A statement Monday from the Trump Media & Technology group said Nunes would serve as chief executive officer, beginning in January 2022. The company is preparing to launch a social media platform intended to rival Twitter, which blocked Trump’s account in January following the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol.

“Devin understands that we must stop the liberal media and Big Tech from destroying the freedoms that make America great,” Trump said in a statement.

Nunes’ decision comes at a time when his political future appeared in possible jeopardy — draft maps released in the once-a-decade realignment of congressional districts suggested he would face a challenging reelection in the 2022 midterms. Those maps will not be finalized until later this month.

Nunes said in a statement: “The time has come to reopen the Internet and allow for the free flow of ideas and expression without censorship. The United States of America made the dream of the Internet a reality and it will be an American company that restores the dream.”

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