CNN Owes $5 Million for Defamation of Navy Veteran

A Florida jury on Friday found CNN defamed a U.S. Navy veteran when it implied he illegally profited from helping Afghans flee the country during a 2021 segment on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” CNN was ordered to pay Zachary Young $5 million in compensatory damages, and the jury is still deciding on how much the network must now pay in punitive damages.

Young sued CNN in June 2022 for defamation after he said the network’s segment on him “destroyed his reputation and business.” The segment, reported by CNN chief security correspondent Alex Marquardt, said Young operated on the “black market” and “exploited” desperate Afghans fleeing the country, following the U.S. Military’s withdrawal from the country in 2021.

To leave the country, Afghans were being charged “exorbitant, often impossible amounts,” Marquardt said, before a picture of Young was shown. The segment then said Young’s security company was charging $14,500 per person, or $75,000 for vehicles with passengers, to whisk them out of the country — “prices well beyond the reach of most Afghans,” Marquardt said.

More to come…

The post CNN Owes $5 Million for Defamation of Navy Veteran appeared first on TheWrap.