Fox News reports:
The American Conservative Union on Tuesday accused Politico of attempting to “cancel” the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) by contacting potential sponsors in an act that “crosses the line from protected speech to political activism.” CPAC organizers sent a scathing letter, signed by American Conservative Union general counsel David Safavian, to Politico’s CEO and top editor that promises legal action.
It began by claiming Politico has ignored its “ethos” to provide accurate reporting and nonpartisan impactful information. American Conservative Union’s general counsel wrote that the effort from Politico staffers “amounts to tortious interference with business relationships” that won’t be tolerated. However, the news organization maintains that it hasn’t done anything wrong. “POLITICO is doing what journalists do—ask questions and pursue truth. We will continue to do so,” a Politico spokesperson told Fox News.
Matt Schlapp tried to go on background after the fact with Politico. He refused to answer questions about CPAC losing sponsors. Then, when Politico emailed sponsors, the general counsel of Schlapp’s organization accused Politico of “tortious interference.” https://t.co/vAVhPsxGPY
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 27, 2021
WOW: Talk about “cancel culture” Matt Schlapp’s CPAC threatens to sue Politico if they keep writing about CPAC’s difficulties to lining up sponsors for this year’s CPAC convention. https://t.co/gZe2aHEAme
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) January 27, 2021
"ACU chairman Matt Schlapp said he is convinced this year’s conference will be no different from past years. 'CPAC is going great,' he told POLITICO on Tuesday, before then saying that his quote needed to be attributed without his name." 👀 https://t.co/INN0OjqVRw
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 27, 2021