The American Bar Association pulled a report labeling Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump a "libel bully" out of concern he would sue the association, the New York Times reported Monday.

Trump has a long record of suing and threatening to sue people and organizations he believed wronged him. A committee of media lawyers commissioned by ABA examined Trump's litigation history and concluded he frequently used lawsuits to intimidate critics even though he rarely won in court.

The committee labeled Trump a "libel bully" in a report to be published in its legal journal, but ABA Deputy Executive Director James Damos objected to the sharp language the attorneys had used, according to documents obtained by the Times. The correspondence suggests the association itself feared becoming a target of a libel suit by Trump.

"While we do not believe that such a lawsuit has merit, it is certainly reasonable to attempt to reduce such a likelihood by removing inflammatory language that is unnecessary to further the article's thesis," Dimos said in one document. "Honestly, it is the same advice members of the forum would provide to their own clients."

Damos declined to speak to the Times and an ABA spokesman told the newspaper that fear of a libel suit did not play a role in its objections to the report.

Still, some ABA members were far from pleased with the association's decision.

"It is more than a little ironic that a publication dedicated to the exploration of First Amendment issues is subjected to censorship when it seeks to publish an article about threats to free speech," said David Bodney, former chairman of ABA's media-law committee. http://nyti.ms/2eGbCX7

MORE CEO DATELINE

• Associations embrace spirit of Halloween
• Sanders tells beverage association to stop using his name in ads
• Insurance associations planning merger
• U.S. Chamber campaigns against former paid adviser
• Association: Generic drugs saving Americans billions of dollars