Now a mayoral candidate, Dan Cohen still battling the Star Tribune

Minneapolis mayoral candidate Dan Cohen, who won a landmark lawsuit against the Star Tribune at the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991, still isn't happy with his hometown newspaper.

Cohen is outraged about a 143-word blog post the paper published Wednesday about his mayoral campaign. He responded today with 929-word rebuttal, accusing the paper of taking "cheap shots" at him.

Cohen complained the paper mentioned that his previous mayoral bid in 1969 won the backing of Republican President Richard Nixon, but omitted that his bi-partisan supporters included then-U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy, D-Minn.

Cohen's previous battle with the Star Tribune grew out of the 1982 governor's race. Cohen, working on behalf of Republican candidate Wheelock Whitney, passed some opposition research to the paper about the DFL candidate for lieutenant governor.

The Strib, along with the Pioneer Press, promised Cohen anonymity, but published his name anyway. The papers argued the First Amendment gave them the right to renege on the agreement.

The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed. It ruled that press freedom doesn't include the right to break a promise.

Cohen, who lost his public relations job due to all the bad publicity, won $200,000 in damages.

Here's his press release about the latest perceived slight.

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