A judge ruled Friday that a security contractor can seek punitive damages against CNN over a November 2021 report about war profiteers who charged Afghans who were trying to leave their country after the U.S. military withdrawal.
The contractor, Zachary Young, said CNN destroyed his business by including him in a segment by chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, which focused on how Afghans were being charged high prices by evacuation services.
The report used the term “black market” in an onscreen graphic and in a spoken introduction. Young, the only person mentioned by name in the segment, said the report gave the false impression that he was involved in illegal activity and exploited “desperate Afghans.”
Florida Judge William S. Henry had previously ruled that Young’s actions did not violate any laws and that he never took any money directly from Afghans. Young’s company sought corporate sponsors to pay for assistance in leaving Afghanistan.
“Sufficient evidence exists upon which a reasonable jury could find with convincing clarity that Defendant acted with actual malice,” Henry wrote in his ruling.
If the case goes to trial, a jury will be asked to determine if CNN journalists acted with actual malice, defined as the publication of false information with reckless disregard of the truth.
A CNN representative declined comment on the case.
Marquardt’s story, which first aired on “The Lead With Jake Tapper,” reported 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.”
CNN removed the term “black market” from the web version of the report after Young complained, and the network issued an on-air apology on March 25, 2022, clarifying that he was not involved in illegal activity. But Young said the network fell short of a full retraction of the story.
A two-week jury trial has been scheduled for Jan. 6. If it goes forward, CNN’s journalists and producers will have to give public testimony on the internal workings in the news organization, some of it potentially embarrassing.
Evidence in the case includes text messages from CNN journalists describing Young as a “s—bag” and “a—.” There was also a text that said “we gonna nail this Young mf—.”
There are also emails from editors raising questions as to whether the story was ready to air. (The segment got approved after going through the network’s vetting process).
