PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA – CNN National Security Editor-in-Chief Thomas Lumley was questioned in court Tuesday after internal reports showed he was deeply skeptical of the “pretty flawed” report at the center of a high-profile defamation case.
Zachary Young, a US Navy veteran, claims CNN smeared him in a November 2021 report that first aired on ‘The Lead with Jake Tapper,’ suggesting he illegally took advantage of desperate people trying to enter Afghanistan flee after the Biden administration military withdrawal, implying that he was involved in “black market” transactions, destroying his professional reputation. The report first appeared on television and was then turned into a print piece for CNN’s website.
Lumley, who worked for CNN for more than six years, was called as a witness after internal reports showed that he found the report “full of holes like Swiss cheese.”
CNN national security editor Thomas Lumley was questioned in court on Tuesday after internal reports showed he was deeply skeptical of the “quite flawed” report at the center of a high-profile defamation lawsuit. (Fox News digital)
Jurors were shown a variety of emails and messages during Lumley’s testimony, including one in which he suggested that reporter Alex Marquardt should add information about whether people who pay large sums of money to be evacuated will ever actually leave Afghanistan to leave.
Receiving a draft of the printed article written by Marquardt, Lumley replied: “One important thing is not clear to me. Have any of the people paying these guys actually left the country? I think we need a grave.” ) to explain.
A minute later, Lumley sent a message to a fellow CNN editor saying he didn’t “understand” a basic question about the story, and was surprised that CNN’s fact-checking “triad” approved Marquardt’s report.
Young had previously stated that he helped rescue at least 22 women from Afghanistan, but that information was never reported by CNN, indicating that the network did not follow Lumley’s advice.
“I had a question that I would like to answer,” Lumley said when Young’s lead attorney Vel Freedman asked him if he had any questions about the report.
Thomas Lumley received a draft of the printed article written by Marquardt and replied: “One important thing is not clear to me. Have any of the people who pay these guys actually left the country? I think we need a grave to Please explain. Is it completely hopeless?”
Thomas Lumley, CNN’s senior national security editor, was surprised that CNN fact-checkers approved the story, according to messages he sent to colleagues.
The CNN editor then tried to backtrack on comments he previously made to colleagues.
“Those are my words on the page, but I actually think my question about the story was what I’m going to call a narrative question. It wasn’t a question about the accuracy and fairness of this story, which is ‘triad.’ to worry about,” Lumley said.
“I said, ‘I’m a little surprised,’ but when I think about it,” he continued. “That was a somewhat inaccurate thought.”
Freedman then asked Lumley if he had met with CNN’s lawyers in preparation for his testimony.
“I had a pretty short meeting last night, maybe 45 minutes, and we had a couple of meetings in Washington before the holidays… about four hours maybe,” Lumley said.
Freedman then showed the jury another internal message when Lumley wrote, “It’s actually a good story (without the digital writing or the TV script that answers a basic question).”
Freedman then showed Lumley’s messages to the jury stating, “It’s not clear to me that everyone is being scammed” by Young, adding, “That’s pretty crucial!”
In another message, Lumley suggests pausing the report if Marquardt does not have an answer to the key question.
“If he doesn’t know the answer to that basic question, I’d say we really need to pause until we find out…I hope Alex knows, but I just forgot to mention it,” Lumley wrote to a CNN colleague who replied: “Oops.”
CNN defamation lawsuit: Judge imposes fine for personal jabs after chaos erupts in court
Thomas Lumley wrote: “It would actually be a good story (without the digital writing or TV script answering a fundamental question).”
CNN National Security Editor-in-Chief Thomas Lumley suggested putting the digital report on hold until a basic question was answered.
Lumley confirmed under oath that he sent those messages and that the report aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” shortly thereafter. Lumley then paused the printout.
“We’re pausing it for digital (CNN’s website). My basic question is now answered, but on TV it’s less of an issue. Dramatic silhouette interviews and it’s less eye-catching. As a piece of writing I think it’s less good works,” Lumley wrote to a colleague.
Freedman then showed the jury other emails in which Lumley criticized his network’s reporting. Lumley called it “not ready for prime time at all”, reiterated that it is “not clear from the story whether anyone who pays these people will ever get out” and called the entire report “pretty flawed”.
Freedman pointed out that the report had already aired on CNN when Lumley suggested it was “not ready for prime time.” When pressed in the witness box, Lumley insisted he was criticizing the print piece for digital and not the TV report.
“I wasn’t responsible for the TV piece, so I may have an opinion, but if I had read the TV piece and thought there was a big problem with it, I would have said something,” Lumley testified.
Freedman shot back, “I think you said something.”
U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young testified Thursday that he successfully helped at least 22 women escape Afghanistan. (Jessica Costescu)
“The story is full of holes like Swiss cheese,” Thomas Lumley wrote to CNN colleague Megan Trimble, who replied: “Agree – the story is 80% emotion, 20% obscure facts lol.”
Jurors were then shown more internal CNN messages, including Lumley calling the report a “sh—y urgent off a TV package” and that Marquardt was “pissed off” by the criticism. In another post, he wrote: “I think the Alex story is a mess” and said it might not be “easily salvageable.”
Lumley testified that the message left him “obviously frustrated,” and that he did not think the version that aired on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” should appear online.
“The story is full of holes like Swiss cheese,” Lumley wrote to CNN colleague Megan Trimble, who replied: “Agree – the story is 80% emotion, 20% obscure facts lol.”
CNN National Security Editor-in-Chief Thomas Lumley said in an internal message to colleagues that Alex Marquardt’s report was “not poetry” and “half a good story.”
CNN’s national security editor Thomas Lumley called the story at the center of a high-stakes defamation lawsuit “quite flawed.”
Freedman asked Lumley if an “obscured fact” is a “lie,” but the CNN editor struggled to answer.
“I honestly can’t speak for Ms. Trimble,” he testified.
Freedman then pointed out that the report appeared on several other CNN shows after its initial broadcast on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
Lumley also admitted that the “fundamental question” he wanted to answer could not be found in time for the digital report. Despite all the criticism Lumley leveled in internal messages shown to jurors, he stuck to the story when asked about it on the witness stand.
“From a storytelling perspective, not my favorite. But it’s still an honest and accurate story,” Lumley testified.
Later, CNN attorney David Axelrod, not to be confused with CNN political commentator, questioned Lumley during cross-examination. When asked about the comment “full of holes like Swiss cheese,” Lumley called it “inaccurate language” and said the one “hole” he was particularly interested in was what happened next for the Afghans.
“I would never publish a story that I thought was false or unfair,” he said.
The trial will resume on Wednesday and will be broadcast live Fox News digital.
Nikolas Lanum of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
