On Friday, CNN was found guilty of defaming a senior U.S. Navy officer Zachary Young.
Following almost eight days of deliberations, jury found CNN both” dedicated defamation per poder” and” committed defamation by suggestion”.
Phase 2 of the trial began when jurors decided that punitive damages are appropriate and awarded Young$ 4 million in economic damages and$ 1 million in emotional damages. Young did receive compensatory damages to deter CNN and other sites from doing what CNN did.
The case began after a CNN” The Lead with Jake Tapper” sector in November of that year falsely depicted Young as an Afghani who was being evacuated on a “black business.” Young was later determined by a judge to be not illegal. Young claimed that the sector “rendered Young completely underemployed” because Young’s security contracts explicitly prohibited the use of the phrase “black market” in the chyron implied Young was engaged in illegal behavior.
As Young claimed and as communications indicate, he informed CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis that his goal was to “align business partners who have the resources to support with those afghan most in need” rather than seek funding for departure costs straight from Afghans. Young was pressed by Lillis about his pricing strategy, and Lillis inquired as to whether he had ever been able to evacuate anyone properly. Importantly, Young evacuated nearly two hundred Afghans, including a child, a reality that was easily left out of CNN’s review and modern history.
Fresh cautioned her to “please make sure your information aligned before taking a few words information” with strange resources and “running with it” before he ended his trade with Lillis.
Alex Marquardt, the CNN reporter on the story, later contacted Young and gave him a two-hour deadline to respond to a litany of questions. Young informed Marquardt that two hours was not enough time to respond, eventually telling Marquardt it was” not a realistic deadline” but that” I can tell you for sure, some of your facts/assertions]are ] not accurate, and if they are published, I will seek legal damages”. Additionally, the evidence presented to jurors revealed that Marquardt attempted seven times to find dirt on Young and struck out without providing any evidence of wrongdoing.
The defamatory segment was later later aired, then reaired, shared on social media, and CNN’s website.
Young claimed that the report had “wrecked” his life and that he had not worked since the segment first aired. Young also described how the report had impacted his personal life in his emotional testimony.
” I am aware that I’m not the same man that I was. I know I’m not the same person my wife married”, Young testified. ” I’m humiliated about that”.
The Federalist’s election correspondent, Brianna Lyman. With a degree in International Political Economy, Brianna received her degree from Fordham University. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
