The man at the center of a retracted CNN story about his alleged ties to Russia told Fox News that conservative reaction to the incident was "overblown".
Financier Anthony Scaramucci, a member of Donald Trump's transition team, spoke to Fox & Friends on Thursday after the network spent three days attacking CNN for a story about him meeting with the chief executive of a Russian investment firm. The CNN story was eventually retracted and three employees resigned.
During the interview host Ainsley Earhardt referenced an anonymously-sourced report that Scaramucci intended to sue CNN for $100 million.
"Why was it important for you to get a lawyer, threaten them, say you might sue?" Earhardt asked.
"I think all that stuff, Ainsley, was exaggerated," Scaramucci explained. "I had a couple of conversations with senior staff at CNN. I made it very clear to them that the story was not accurate and that it was a defamatory story. I reminded them about my legal background."
"And so it's clearly not true and needed to be retracted," he added. "But I didn't go and sue them or anything like that. I think that got a little bit overblown to be honest."
Watch the video below.
