CNN Ordered To Pay $5 Million In Defamation Case

CNN Forced To Pay 5 Million In Defamation Case

CNN has been ordered to pay a whopping $5 million to a Navy veteran for defamation in a shockingly egregious segment about his actions during outgoing President Joe Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal.

A jury in a Panama City, Florida, court has determined that CNN had “demonstrated expressed malice, actual malice, and outrageous behavior, which opened the door for a massive punitive damages judgement,” according to reporting from NewsBusters.

This defamation ruling comes after CNN blatantly lied about Navy veteran Zachary Young and his efforts to evacuate people from Afghanistan when Biden’s disastrous withdrawal led the Taliban to regain control of the country.

For intentionally defaming Young without concern for the impact that their reporting would have on his life and business, CNN was ordered to pay him “$4 million in economic damages and $1 million in emotional damages.” The jury has not yet determined how much CNN will have to pay in punitive damages.

The defamation stems from a November 2021 segment of “The Lead with Jake Tapper” focused on Young’s efforts to aid in high-risk evacuations from Afghanistan, with disgraced CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt deliberately singling Young out as the network’s poster boy for “exploiting” desperate Afghani citizens who were trying to flee the country as the Taliban took over.

Tapper began the segment by stating: “In our world today, the U.S. government, the Biden administration says that as of last week, it had assisted in the departure of at least 377 U.S. citizens and 279 lawful permanent residents of the U.S. from Afghanistan since August 31st. Still, many Afghans, Afghans who desperately want to flee Taliban rule and Afghans who say their lives are at stake, they remain behind. As CNN’s Alex Marquardt has discovered, 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.”

Marquardt then joined the show to double down on attacking Young for supposedly taking advantage of desperate people.

“According to Afghans and activists we’ve spoken with, desperate Afghans are being exploited like that young man, told they can get them or their families out if they pay exorbitant, often impossible amounts,” he said. “One LinkedIn user posted messages with Young, where Young said it would be $75,000 for a car to Pakistan. He told another it would be 14 and a half thousand per person to get to the United Arab Emirates or Albania for another 4,000. Prices well beyond the reach of most Afghans.”

Of course, the trial revealed the truth about Young’s actions, as the jury was shown evidence that he had done nothing that CNN was accusing him of — and that CNN employees were fully aware that they were lying when the story aired. Marquardt was even caught texting a coworker: “We gonna nail this Zachary Young mf—ker.”

Marquardt also openly admitted on the stand that he had “no evidence” of Young taking advantage of any Afghani citizen, but still repeatedly claimed that he was “proud” of his reporting on the story.

The defamation wasn’t all that surprising to many on social media, as it has been known for some time now that CNN and other mainstream media outlets care more about pushing their agenda, narrative, and propaganda than actually informing the people about the truth.

Related Posts