A Florida judge on Friday sided with US Navy veteran Zachary Young, who is suing CNN for defamation, on several critical issues, including the high stakes test will start next month.
Young claims CNN smeared him by suggesting he illegally profited through a “black market” when he helped people flee Afghanistan during the war. Biden administration military withdrawal from the country in 2021. Young believes CNN “destroyed its reputation and business” during a segment that year on Jake Tapper’s program “The Lead,” which was shared on social media and also repackaged for CNN’s website .
Judge William Henry denied CNN’s request for summary judgment, allowing Young to “proceed with his claim for damages” and stated that the court found that he “did not take money from Afghans.”
CNN faces defamation lawsuit over Afghanistan withdrawal story: ‘Proof of actual malice’
Plaintiff Zachary Young’s photo was broadcast by CNN during the segment in question. (CNN/screenshot)
“Despite claiming to have conducted ‘three weeks of news gathering’ and ‘spoke to more than a dozen sources,’ Defendant’s representatives acknowledged that there was no evidence that Young did anything criminal or illegal. Yet the defendant used the Black Market Chyron. This is enough proof. “On which basis a reasonable jury could find with persuasive clarity that defendant acted with actual malice to survive summary judgment on this issue,” Judge Henry ruled in court documents obtained by Fox News Digitl.
“Defendant had no evidence of illegality and Young said he did not contract with or accept money from individuals. Nevertheless, Defendant published his name and photo as the bad actor preying on Afghans,” he continued. “Accordingly, the evidence could support the conclusion that Defendant broadcast and posted the exhibits with knowledge that the gist was false or with reckless disregard as to whether the gist was false or not.”
CNN’s legal team had argued that Young’s actions violated the Taliban’s Sharia law, but Judge Henry dismissed the idea that he had broken any law.
“Framing these circumstances as a ‘debate’ between the Taliban rulers and the rest of the free world would be like saying that it was debatable whether the Nazi extermination of the Jews at Auschwitz was wrong,” Judge Henry wrote.
U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young believes CNN “destroyed his reputation and business by labeling him as an illegal profiteer who exploited desperate Afghans” during a November 11, 2021 segment on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” (CNN/screenshot)
Judge Henry also called out CNN’s legal team for failing to determine how Young was operating in an unregulated “black market.”
“The fundamental problem with defendant’s arguments is that they rely on her own definition of ‘black market,’ which has been a moving target throughout this litigation, and ignore the potential that ‘black market’ connotes illegality or criminality,” judge wrote Henry. .
It wasn’t a complete shutout for CNN’s legal team. Judge Henry agreed that Young’s company, Nemex Enterprises, Inc., would not be eligible for damages.
The CNN segment in the middle of the lawsuit began with Tapper informing viewers that CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt discovered that “Afghans seeking to leave the country face a black market full of promises, demands for exorbitant fees and no guarantee of safety or success.”
CNN’s legal team argued that Young “injected himself into this controversy by initially contacting” CNN reporter Katie Bo Lillis. However, Judge Henry wrote that “a brief review of this communication, at least on its face, does not demonstrate that Young sought to insert himself into the media spotlight regarding Afghanistan. His first communication was more of a ‘business phone call’. He reached out to see if Lillis needed someone to provide evacuation services.”
‘You could say that Marquardt had his story that he wanted to portray (‘evil people preying on Afghans’). In fact, Marquardt’s first pitches for the story between October 26 and 28, 2021 included the explosive phrases “price gouging.” extortion of desperate Afghans,” “shadowy black market” and then concluded that he “wanted to investigate to what extent this is extortion or fraud.” Then, fortuitously, a door was opened to obtain information for the piece when Young contacted Lillis. Henry wrote.
“When Young stopped working with the investigative journalists, Marquardt found his ‘fall guy’ – Young, despite the fact that Young had not checked all the boxes. Nevertheless, Marquardt had the ‘face’ of the bad guys to put on the screen. Defendant had no evidence that Young did anything illegal, yet it chose the Black Market Chyron and only highlighted him in the Segment,” he added. “They had information that Young was not working directly with individual Afghans or taking money, but that he could be the bad guy preying on Afghans. false information or at least in a reckless manner.”
CNN ACCUSED OF WITHHOLDING CRITICAL DOCUMENTS NEEDED TO DETERMINE VALUE FOR THE DELIBERATION TRIAL
CNN anchor Jake Tapper and correspondent Alex Marquardt during the segment at the center of a defamation lawsuit. (CNN/screenshot)
Judge Henry also found sufficient evidence of actual malice and ruled that Young never accepted money from Afghans.
“There are several examples of statements made by defendant’s reporters during the compilation of the exhibits from which a jury could infer actual malice or express malice,” he wrote.
The civil trial is scheduled to begin on January 6 before Judge Henry in the Circuit Court of Bay County, Florida.
“The Court grants Plaintiffs’ second motion for summary judgment and finds that Plaintiffs did not accept money from the Afghans,” Judge Henry ruled.
The court previously ruled that Young “did nothing criminal or illegal.”
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