Cohen Threatened CNBC That Trump Would Sue After 2014 Poll Disappointment
Donald Trump and his then-attorney Michael Cohen pressured CNBC in 2014 to place the real-estate tycoon higher in its list of the country’s top business leaders after Mr. Cohen failed to manipulate the rankings in Mr. Trump’s favor, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Cohen called CNBC and threatened that Mr. Trump would sue over his poor standing in the ranking, arguing that the news channel was “ignoring the will of the people,” the people familiar with the matter said. CNBC didn’t respond to the threat, and Mr. Trump didn’t sue. Mr. Cohen didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Trump also called network executives to complain, the people familiar with the matter said, in addition to griping publicly on Twitter about it.
Mr. Trump didn’t crack the top 100 in the CNBC rankings, which were decided by a panel of experts appointed by the business channel to curate the list. As part of the process, CNBC held an online poll meant to guide the expert panel as it pared a list of 200 contenders down to 25.
Mr. Trump had canvassed for votes on Twitter while Mr. Cohen, then his special counsel at the Trump Organization, enlisted a small technology company to use computer code to cheat the polls by repeatedly voting for Mr. Trump.
When he failed to make the cut, Mr. Trump lashed out at CNBC in two tweets. “Stupid poll should be canceled—no credibility.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cohen-threatened-cnbc-that-trump-would-sue-after-2014-poll-disappointment-11548075720
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