(CNN) The former House information technology staffer whose proximity to Democratic Party leadership made him a linchpin of conspiracy theories pushed by Republicans up to the President is suing a conservative news outlet and its reporter for defamation.

Imran Awan, along with his wife, two brothers and a friend who all worked for House Democrats in recent years, filed the lawsuit in DC Superior Court against The Daily Caller and Luke Rosiak, a reporter who later wrote a book about Awan.

They allege that the group turned their lives upside down with a false story, leading to "extreme financial hardship" and "emotional distress."

"This lawsuit seeks accountability for a relentless, xenophobic campaign of defamatory attacks that have destroyed the reputations and ruined the livelihoods of a group of Pakistani-American Muslims who were employed as information-technology workers in the U.S. House of Representatives," the plaintiffs wrote.

In an email, Rosiak referred CNN to a managing editor at The Daily Caller News Foundation for comment. The editor, Ethan Barton, said the outlet had not yet been served with the lawsuit and therefore could not respond yet.

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