Interesting Question: Is This Extortion?

I don't know enough about the extortion statute to know if this claim is right--but wouldn't it be interesting if it is? From Red State:

This post has a simple premise: Mike Rogers (the liberal blogger, not the Congressman) has the legal right to "out" any gay politician he wants to "out." He does not, however, have the legal right to extort a gay politician, especially when the desired payoff is a vote from that politician. Extortion is a felony, and when the targets of extortion are politicians, the entire system is corrupted in a vile and unacceptable way. 18 U.S.C. § 875(d) states, "Whoever, with the intent to extort from any person . . . any money or other thing of value, transmits in interstate . . . commerce any communication containing any threat to injure the property or reputation of the addressee or of another . . . shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

Arguably, Mike Rogers extorted Larry Craig by threatening to "out" him if he did not vote against the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. For this, he deserves the condemnation of all morally responsible citizens of this country and, at least, an investigation by the federal government to look for possible criminal wrongdoing.

The facts of Mike Rogers' scheme were covered here at RedState when Mr. Rogers "outed" Senator Craig three weeks before the 2006 elections. At the time, Senator Craig denied Mike Rogers' allegations, and no one had any reason to believe Rogers over Craig. The story blew over. In light of recent events, it appears that Mike Rogers really did have the goods on Craig, to a remarkably specific extent (to wit, that he engaged in gay sexual acts in public restrooms), which makes his actions a very serious matter indeed. While Senator Craig deserves opprobrium for placing himself in a position to be extorted, all believers in clean representative democracy should shudder at the thought of a private citizen influencing the votes of a United States Senator through extortion. Senator Craig has justly resigned. Now we should examine whether Mike Rogers ran afoul of 18 U.S.C. § 875(d). Our system of representative democracy cannot countenance such brazen attempts to corrupt legislators. Make no mistake: Mike Rogers' attempt to coerce Larry Craig into a specific vote by threatening to publicly damage his reputation was no more defensible or tolerable than a quid pro quo involving votes traded for cash.

I share Red State's concern that being a hypocrite isn't okay--but if this qualifies as extortion (and it sounds like it does), then Mike Rogers should be prosecuted.