PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA – U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young’s legal team accused CNN of choosing “theatre over truth” in a desperate bid to boost ratings, “destroying the life of an American patriot” on Tuesday during the first day of a high-stakes defamation trial.
Young believes CNN has “destroyed his reputation and business” by labeling him as an “illegal profiteer” who exploited “desperate Afghans.” Judge William S. Henry of the 14th Judicial Circuit, who presided over the trial in Bay County, Florida, ruled that Young “did not act illegally or criminally” despite what the station reported on air.
“In August 2021, when US troops withdrew from Afghanistan President Biden’s ordersthe world braced for the Taliban’s return to power. Anyone watching the news at the time witnessed the chaotic situation that unfolded as millions of people tried to flee the war-torn country,” attorney Kyle Roche said in kicking off the prosecution’s opening statement.
“But CNN reporters, sitting at their desks in Washington DC, wanted to tell Americans an even more sensational story,” Roche continued. “They had received a tip that Zachary Young, a veteran and CIA-trained operative, was illegally preying on desperate Afghans in a black market operation.”
US Navy veteran Zachary Young believes CNN has “destroyed his reputation and business” by labeling him as an “illegal profiteer” who exploited “desperate Afghans.” (Jessica Costescu)
CNN’s lead attorney David Axelrod pushed back on Zachary Young’s claims, insisting that CNN’s reporting was “tough and fair” but “accurate.” (Jessica Costescu)
Roche told the jury of six women and two men, including alternates, that there would be “nothing wrong” with CNN reporting that if it were true.
“The problem for CNN? It couldn’t confirm any of the facts,” Roche said.
“It tried to get evidence that Zach was suing Afghans, but everyone it spoke to said they had never heard of Zach, or that Zach only worked with companies like Bloomberg who wanted to pay professionals like Zach to get their people out of the country . ”, he continued. “The facts didn’t matter. CNN felt like they had a sensational story that would boost the ratings, and they didn’t care about the truth.”
Roche said emails and behind-the-scenes video footage will prove his argument because they “show that CNN had fun casting Zach as the villain” in an effort to increase interest in the story. Roche then told the jury about internal communications in which CNN employees used profanities and disparaging language when discussing Young privately.
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Attorney Kyle Roche, part of Zachary Young’s legal team, delivered his opening statement Tuesday. (Jessica Costescu)
The story first aired on November 11, 2021, during CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
“Zach’s face was seen on TV screens around the world, portraying him as a black market operator preying on desperate Afghans. We are in this courtroom today because CNN chose theater over truth and the life of an American patriot destroyed,” Roche said. said.
Roche told jurors that Young successfully evacuated 22 women from Afghanistan on behalf of Audible and Bloomberg, US companies that hired him to ensure certain people could leave the country safely.
“You’re going to hear how this story turned Zach’s life upside down, despite warnings from CNN’s own staff that this story had ‘more holes than Swiss cheese,’” Roche said, citing internal communications that showed some CNN staffers were skeptical of the issue. the story before it aired.
Roche reminded jurors that the court had already ruled that Young did not break any law by receiving money from Afghans. He said this was an opportunity to send a message to all news organizations that “reckless journalism is unAmerican,” “dangerous” and has consequences.
“There is simply no excuse for what CNN did, and we’re going to show you that through the evidence,” he said.
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Jurors saw CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” segment take center stage in a high-stakes defamation lawsuit Tuesday. (CNN/screenshot)
Roche did not use his allotted time to air the segment at the center of the lawsuit, suggesting it would be shown later in the trial, when plaintiffs had more time to break down each moment they deemed defamatory.
Next up was CNN’s chief counsel David Axelrod, who is not the same person as CNN senior commentator David Axelrod, to deliver the opening argument for the defense. He strongly pushed back on Roche’s claims, insisting that CNN’s reporting was “rigorous and fair” and “accurate.” He added that it “never implied that Young had done anything criminal.”
“There’s none there,” Axelrod said.
“Every word was accurate, and CNN’s reporting was rigorous,” Axelrod added. “And that’s what the evidence in this case will show.”
Axelrod then showed jurors the segment at the heart of the case, criticizing Young’s legal team for not showing it themselves during the opening statements.
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“It never says Mr. Young does anything criminal. It never implies Mr. Young does anything criminal. The story says Mr. Young asks for a lot of money to get people out of Afghanistan, and it uses his own words: only his own words , to explain that,” said Axelrod.
“This is a defamation case, and you may wonder why the plaintiffs did not show the clip in their presentation… they chose not to show it to you. Because if you actually look at the clip, and you actually look at the article, you’ll see there’s none there,” he added. “So I beg you, pay close attention to the segment.”
CNN’s lawyer then started the segment and paused it repeatedly to show jurors his side of the story, often suggesting that many of the elements weren’t even related to Young.
Young then took the stand as the first witness and spent the rest of the day describing his extensive background. It will resume on Wednesday.
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