Florida jury. The media is seething. How dare these upstart peasants presume to judge us?!?!
U.S. Navy Veteran Zachary Young's legal team accused CNN of choosing "theater over truth" in a desperate attempt to drive ratings, which "destroyed the life of an American Patriot" on Tuesday during the first day of a high-stakes defamation trial.
Young believes CNN "destroyed his reputation and business" by branding him an "illegal profiteer" who exploited "desperate Afghans." 14th Judicial Circuit Court Judge William S. Henry, who is presiding over the trial in Bay County, Florida, has ruled that Young "did not act illegally or criminally" despite what the network reported on air.
"In August 2021, as American troops withdrew from Afghanistan under President Biden's orders, the world braced for the Taliban's return to power. Anyone watching the news at that time witnessed the chaotic situation that unfolded as millions of people attempted to flee the war-torn country," attorney Kyle Roche said to kick off the plaintiff's opening statement.
"But CNN reporters, sitting at their desks in Washington, D.C., wanted to tell Americans an even more sensational story," Roche continued. "They had received a tip that Zachary Young, a veteran and CIA-trained operative, was illegally preying on desperate Afghans in a black market operation."
CNN's lead counsel David Axelrod pushed back on Zachary Young's claims, insisting CNN's reporting was "tough and fair" but "accurate."
Roche told the jury of six women and two men, including alternates, there would be "nothing wrong" with CNN reporting that if it were true.
"The problem for CNN? It couldn't confirm any of the facts," Roche said.
"It tried to get evidence that Zach was charging Afghans but everyone it spoke to either said that they had never heard of Zach, or that Zach only worked with corporations like Bloomberg that wanted to pay professionals like Zach to get their people out of the country," he continued. "The facts didn't matter. CNN felt that they had a sensational story that would drive ratings, and they didn't care about the truth."
Roche said emails and behind-the-scenes video footage will confirm his argument because they "show that CNN took pleasure in casting Zach as the villain" in an effort to increase interest in the story. Roche then told the jury about internal communications in which CNN employees used profanities and disparaging language when privately discussing Young.
The trial judge earlier rejected CNN's attempt to have this lawsuit tossed out based on those emails, which show that CNN did in fact have "actual malice" against Young. They created the story in order to destroy him and they weren't bothering to hide that in emails between each other.
They conducted the voir dire over the past few days.
Young's lead attorney, Devin Freedman, asked prospective jurors during the selection process if they would balk at a $1 billion payout if evidence supports it. Only one expressed hesitation. A potential juror who previously worked for an ABC News affiliate said they "absolutely" would be willing to use a punitive damages judgment to send a message to CNN and other news outlets.
Only one potential juror admitted to "regularly" watching CNN, and only 2 out of roughly 40, or 5 percent, knew who Tapper was. Another said he couldn't be impartial because he believes "media outlets think they can say whatever they want" and then "pretend to be the victim when they're called on it." At least six raised their hands when Freedman asked if they believe CNN creates fake news.
Six jurors and two alternates were selected Monday evening, allowing the trial to move forward Tuesday morning.
Monday's selection marks the beginning of the trial that's been over two years in the making. Young filed suit against CNN in June 2022 over a segment on The Lead with Jake Tapper that ran roughly six months earlier.
The November 2021 segment centered on private contractors using an illegal "black market" and charging "exorbitant fees" to evacuate people from Afghanistan as the Taliban regained control during the Biden-Harris administration's chaotic 2021 withdrawal. The segment singled out Young, who was given only two hours to respond when CNN national security correspondent Alex Marquardt reached out for comment.
CNN removed the term "black market" from the online version of the segment and issued an on-air apology acknowledging Young had not broken any laws. But attorneys for the Navy veteran say the segment irreparably damaged his reputation and caused tens of millions of dollars in business losses.
CNN has already faced several setbacks. On Thursday, Judge William Henry ruled in favor of Young, allowing him to use Tapper's disparagement of Fox News in November 2023 at trial. At the time, Tapper referred to Fox News as a "cancer on the democracy we have" and accused Fox News of abrogating its "grave responsibility" to be "fair and honest" in its news coverage. Young sought to include Tapper's statements to show that the veteran newsman and CNN were keenly aware of the obligation to present fair and accurate information to viewers.
LOL.
Henry also ruled that Young's attorneys could present text messages the veteran says will show that CNN employees had an agenda to smear him as a war profiteer. In one, Marquardt, the lead reporter on the Tapper segment, told colleagues he wanted to "nail this Zachary Young mfucker." In another, CNN senior editor Fuzz Hogan called Young "a shit."