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PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA – US Navy veteran Zachary Young’s legal team accused CNN of choosing “theatre over truth” in a desperate attempt to boost ratings, which “destroyed the life of an American patriot” on Tuesday during its first day high trial for defamation.
Young believes CNN has “destroyed his reputation and his business” by labeling him an “illegal profiteer” exploiting “desperate Afghans.” 14th Circuit Judge William S. Henry, who is presiding over the trial in Bay County, Florida, ruled that Young “did not act illegally or criminally” despite what the network reported on air.
“In August 2021, as US troops were withdrawing from Afghanistan under President Biden’s ordersthe world was preparing for the return of the Taliban to power. Anyone watching the news at the time witnessed the chaotic situation unfolding as millions of people tried to flee the war-torn country,” attorney Kyle Roche said at the start of prosecutors’ opening statement.
“But the CNN reporters, sitting at their desks in Washington, wanted to tell the American people an even more sensational story,” Roche continued. “They received a tip that Zachary Young, a veteran and CIA trained operative, was illegally hunting desperate Afghans in a black market operation.”
US Navy veteran Zachary Young believes CNN has “destroyed his reputation and business” by branding him an “illegal profiteer” who exploited “desperate Afghans”. (Jessica Costescu)
CNN General Counsel David Axelrod dismissed Zachary Young’s claims, insisting that CNN’s reporting is “tough and fair” but “accurate.” (Jessica Costescu)
Roche told the jury of six women and two men, including deputies, that “there would be nothing wrong” with the CNN report if it were true.
“The problem for CNN? He couldn’t confirm a single fact,” Roche said.
“He tried to get evidence that Zach was charging Afghans, but everyone he talked to either said they’d never heard of Zach or that Zach only worked with corporations like Bloomberg who wanted to pay professionals like Zach to get their people out of the country . . . he continued. “The facts didn’t matter. CNN thought they had a sensational story that would increase ratings, and they didn’t care about the truth.”
Roche said the emails and behind-the-scenes videos would back up his claim because they “show that CNN was happy to cast Zach as the villain” in an effort to drum up interest in the story. Roche then told the jury about internal communications in which CNN employees used profanity and derogatory language when discussing Young privately.
CNN GOES TO COURT FOR HARD TRIAL FOR DEFAMATION ON AFGHANISTAN SEGMENT
Attorney Kyle Roche, part of Zachary Young’s legal team, made his opening statement Tuesday. (Jessica Costescu)
The story first aired on November 11, 2021 during CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper”.
“Zach’s face was flashed on TV screens around the world, portraying him as a black market operator preying on desperate Afghans. We are in this courtroom today because CNN chose theater over truth and destroyed the life of an American patriot,” Roche said.
Roche told jurors that Young successfully evacuated 22 women from Afghanistan on behalf of Audible and Bloomberg, American companies that hired him to ensure that certain people got out of the country safely.
“You’re going to hear how this story turned Zach’s life upside down, despite warnings from CNN’s own employees that this story had ‘more holes than Swiss cheese,'” Roche said, alluding to internal communications that revealed some CNN employees skeptical of stories before airing.
Roche reminded jurors that the court had already ruled that Young did not break any laws by accepting money from the Afghans. He said this is an opportunity to send a message to all news outlets that “reckless journalism is un-American,” “dangerous” and has consequences.
“There is simply no excuse for what CNN did, and we will show you that through the evidence,” he said.
CNN faces defamation lawsuit over story on withdrawal from Afghanistan: ‘evidence of real malice’
Jurors on Tuesday saw CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” segment at the center of a high-profile defamation lawsuit. (CNN/Screenshot)
Roche did not use its allotted time to air the segment at the heart of the lawsuit, suggesting it would be shown later in the trial when prosecutors had more time to break down each moment they consider defamatory.
Next up was CNN’s lead attorney David Axelrod, who is not the same person as CNN’s senior commentator David Axelrod, who presented the defense’s opening argument. He strongly rejected Roche’s claims, insisting that CNN’s reporting was “hard and fair” and “accurate.” He added that it “never implied that Young had done anything criminal.”
“It’s not there,” Axelrod said.
“Every word was accurate, and CNN’s coverage was tough,” Axelrod added. “And that’s what the evidence will show in this case.”
Axelrod then showed jurors the segment at the heart of the case, criticizing Young’s legal team for not showing it themselves during opening statements.
CNN Turns Over Internal Documents As Part of Major Defamation Lawsuit
“It never says that Mr. Young is doing anything criminal. It never implies that Mr. Young is doing anything criminal. The story says that Mr. Young is charging a lot of money to get people out of Afghanistan, and it’s using his own words, only his own words, to explain it,” Axelrod said.
“This is a defamation case and you may wonder why the plaintiffs didn’t show the segment in their presentation … they chose not to show it to you. Because when you actually watch the segment and actually look at the article, you’ll see it’s not there,” he added. “So I’m begging you, watch the segment carefully.”
CNN’s attorney then started the segment and stopped it repeatedly to present his side of the story to jurors, often suggesting that many of the elements were not even related to Young.
Young then testified as the first witness and spent the rest of the day detailing his rich past. It will continue on Wednesday.
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