Nunes’ Court Venue Gamble in Twitter Suit Pays Off for Now

A California congressman’s venue-shopping strategy for a $250 million defamation lawsuit survived an early hurdle because the tweets that got under his skin were posted from Virginia.

The Virginia Circuit Court for Henrico County decided that it has sufficient jurisdiction to consider whether Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) can use that state court to sue the San Francisco-based company for facilitating defamation against him and censoring conservatives and viewpoints with which it disagrees.

That decision could help Nunes pursue his legal claims against Twitter, a political strategist, and social media accounts, including @DevinCow, a parody account. The lawmaker cited a number ...