This could be a game changer for CNN…
CNN is staring down a $1 billion payout if the network loses a major defamation suit centered around damaging claims aired on Jake Tapper’s show.
The CNN host aired poorly researched claims about Zachary Young, a U.S. Navy veteran who sought to help people flee Afghanistan when the U.S. withdrew from the country in 2021 and improperly suggested he was illegally profiting from the missions.
According to The Daily Wire, a Florida appellate court affirmed this month that the veteran and his company, Nemex Enterprises Inc., could seek punitive damages for the Afghanistan story:
Vel Freedman, Young’s lawyer, told NewsBusters his client lost $40-60 million in economic opportunity and could get up to $600 million if a jury awards him emotional damages. With punitive damages, CNN could also end up paying $1 billion, per the report.
The lawsuit alleges CNN destroyed Young’s reputation and business with its report by correspondent Alex Marquardt.
Tapper introduced the segment by telling of a “black market” with demands of “exorbitant fees” and “no guarantee of safety or success.”
Young needed to prove malice and according to the ruling, he’s done exactly that. “Young sufficiently proffered evidence of actual malice, express malice, and a level of conduct outrageous enough to open the door for him to seek punitive damages,” Judge L. Clayton Roberts wrote in the court’s ruling.
The Daily Wire has more:
Internal communications produced in the case showed CNN employees call Young, the sole operator profiled in the TV and online report, a “shitbag” and “a-hole.” There was also a remark about how they were “going to nail this Zachary Young mfucker.”
Other CNN messages revealed discussions about how the story was “full of holes like Swiss cheese” and Young telling Marquardt hours before publication that there were factual inaccuracies in the reporting — which CNN went and published anyway.
CNN argued in its appeal that it “did not intend to harm,” that its “language was either opinion or ambiguous,” and that the internal communications were “journalistic bravado that reflected a sincere belief in the reporting,” the appeals court noted in its opinion.
The new details regarding the lawsuit came days before Tapper is expected to moderate the first 2024 presidential debate on Thursday alongside fellow anchor Dana Bash.
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