The fine folks over at the Communist News Network have been on trial for defaming Navy Vet and security consultant Zachary Young. They have just been found guilty.
For a bit of background, Zack was helping get people out of Afghanistan in the wake of Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal. A CNN segment that ran on Jake Tapper and Jim Acosta’s shows claimed he was running an illegal operation. Young believes CNN “destroyed his reputation and business” by branding him an “illegal profiteer” who exploited “desperate Afghans” during a November 11, 2021, segment that first aired on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
Young sued and sought damages over the November 2021 report in which CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt claimed that bad actors were reportedly running a black market and charging exorbitant fees to Afghans attempting to flee their country after the Taliban retook control of it earlier that year. Only Young was named and his was the only face shown in the report.
The trial comes after three-plus years of litigation. 14th Judicial Circuit Court Judge William S. Henry, who presided over the trial in Bay County, Florida, previously ruled that Young “did not act illegally or criminally” despite what the network reported on air.
Every second of the segment was picked apart during the trial, with CNN’s legal team insisting Young was not a major element of the story and the plaintiff’s team suggesting the “black market” implication ruined Young’s career as a defense contractor, where that language was specifically mentioned as grounds for termination in a contract he signed.
Young’s legal team obtained damning CNN internal messages through discovery repeatedly showing staffers expressing overt hostility towards the Navy veteran. Among those presented to the jury include one calling him a “s–tbag” an “a–hole” one saying he has a “punchable face.” Marquardt’s own message telling a colleague “we’re gonna nail this Zachary Young mf—er” was often cited throughout the trial.
The trial also included Judge Henry scolding CNN lead counsel David Axelrod, who is not the on-air Dem operative with the same name, several times and forcing him to apologize to Young on the spot for calling him a “liar” when evidence proved he didn’t lie about failing to earn work in his field on the heels of the CNN segment airing.
A Florida jury deliberated more than 6 hours before reaching their verdict. The concluded CNN was guilty of defamation and awarded $4 million in economic damages, $1 million in emotional damage and decided punitive damages were in order. The punitive phase of the trial started shortly after the verdict was read.
