Sen. Ted Cruz said CNN may have committed a crime by threatening to publish the identity of a private citizen who made a video depicting President Trump beating up the news network.
The Texas Republican tweeted Wednesday that CNN may be guilty of “extortion.”
(1/2) Troubling. I assume CNN’s lawyers are examining GA § 16-8-16 Theft by extortion. If CNN constructively obtained the gif-maker’s IP… https://t.co/ChxqocuDgc
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2017
(2/2) it’s a GA crime if they threatened to “Disseminate any information tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule….” https://t.co/ChxqocuDgc
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2017
In an article published Tuesday night, CNN said it uncovered the identity of a Reddit user, who goes by the name “HanA**holeSolo,” who made a video superimposing CNN’s logo on a man Mr. Trump tackled.
CNN said it chose not to publish the man’s identity “because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again.”
“CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change,” the network continued.
The article created a firestorm on social media, with users accusing the multi-billion dollar media conglomerate of threatening to release a private citizen’s identity if he did not behave in a way that pleased the network.
In a statement Wednesday, CNN said any “assertion that the network blackmailed or coerced him is false.”
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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