In April 2019, Nunes filed a separate $150million defamation lawsuit against the McClatchy Company and others. In May 2018, "The Fresno Bee", a local paper owned by McClatchy, reported that in 2016 a former server of Alpha Omega Winery sued the winery, which is partly owned by Nunes. The server alleged that in 2015 some investors of the company held a yacht party that involved cocaine and prostitution. The report said it was "unclear" whether Nunes "was aware of the lawsuit" or involved in the fund-raising event at the yacht. He did not attend the party, nor was he mentioned in the lawsuit. Nunes said the article was politically motivated and improperly linked him to the fund-raiser. A McClatchy spokesperson defended the report and said Nunes's claim was without merit. Some legal experts have speculated that even though both Nunes and McClatchy are based in California, he filed the lawsuit in Virginia because California has enacted stricter rules against strategic defamation lawsuits than Virginia. Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute said the report did not say or imply that Nunes was at the party. According to her, his intention was to harm the "Bee" and similar lawsuits are designed to send a chilling effect on journalists.