CNN loses defamation lawsuit to Navy vet - quickly agrees to settlement | Law Enforcement Today

PANAMA CITY, FL-  The CNN legal team quickly settled a lawsuit suit against a Navy Veteran who ran an evacuation service out of war-torn Afghanistan after a Florida jury found the network guilty of defamation.

According to Fox News, Zachery Young won a favorable ruling from the Florida court after eight hours of deliberation. The outlet reported that Young was awarded $4 million in lost earnings and an additional million in personal damages. However, as the jury considered punitive damages, Judge William S. Henry announced that a settlement had been reached between the network and the Navy vet. The report detailed that following the botched withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan by the Biden Administration Young was reportedly offering evacuation service out of the warzone to safe harbors in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates per CNN. In its 2021 broadcasts, the network’s anchor Jake Tapper reported on “desperate Afghans still trying to escape the country being preyed on by folks demanding that they pay up big time to get out,” implicating  Young with claims that “desperate Afghans were being exploited.”

Journalist Alex Marquardt specifically targeted Young in his reporting claiming that "Afghans trying to get out of the country face a black market full of promises, demands of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success,” according to Tapper.

The reporter’s presentation placed Young’s image on-screen overlaid with narration claiming his company was charging Afghan refugees $75,000 per vehicle to transport passengers to Pakistan or $14,500 per person for transit to the UAE adding these were, “Prices well beyond the reach of most Afghans.”

The subject of an alleged phone call between Marquardt and Young was a contentious one with CNN claiming that the reporter attempted to reach the plaintiff while Young dismissed this as “theater.” 

The reporter said during the aired segment "In a text message, he told CNN that Afghans trying to leave are expected to have sponsors pay for them," Marquardt said, adding that Young told the network evacuation costs are "highly volatile and based on environmental realities."

The CNN reporter then continued to claim that Young "repeatedly declined to break down the cost or say if he’s making money," while airing ‘b-roll’ of an Afghan man who allegedly couldn’t afford to evacuate his family from the Taliban-ruled country.

"In another message, that person offering those evacuations, Zachary Young, he wrote, ‘Availability is extremely limited, and demand is high’… he goes on to say, ‘That’s how economics works, unfortunately,’" Marquardt said according to Fox.

As reported by The New York Post, Young told the court that the fallout of the story destroyed his business and that by showing his face on screen and alleging he led a “Black Market” operation smuggling Afghanis out of the country they caused him direct harm. He told the court that he suffered severe depression and panic attacks and characterized the report as a “smear job,” and that he lost millions in potential income as a result.

Following the verdict and despite the undisclosed settlement, a CNN spokesman told the Post “We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to strong, fearless, and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case.” Marquardt claimed in testimony that his story “was not a hit piece,” although the network conceded it was wrong to use the phrase “black market.”
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