CNN defamation trial: Reporter continues hard-hitting pursuit of Navy veteran as defense downplays involvement
PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA – CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt was under pressure Monday for his extensive efforts to dig up dirt on a Navy veteran who sued CNN for defamation, undermining CNN’s defense that the accuser, Zachary Young, was not the central focus of the reporting at the center of the lawsuit.
Young claims CNN defamed him in a November 2021 report that first aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” suggesting he made illegal money from desperate people trying to flee Afghanistan after Biden administration military retirement, implying that he was involved in “black market” dealings and as a result destroying his professional reputation.
Marquardt testified in Bay County court to begin the second week of testimony in the trial. Earlier in the trial, CNN’s lead attorney David Axelrod, separate from CNN commentator David Axelrod, pushed the idea that Young was essentially a sidekick in the segment, but Marquardt was peppered by plaintiffs’ attorney Vel Freedman with evidence suggesting that he a CNN reporter was in hot pursuit of Young.
CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt came under fire Monday for his extensive efforts to dig up dirt on a Navy veteran who is suing CNN for defamation. (Fox News Digital/Law and Crime)
When CNN’s legal team played the segment for the jury last week, Axelrod repeatedly paused the video and suggested that certain tidbits were not about Young. He pointed out that Young was not mentioned by name until midway through the report, suggesting it was a general story about Afghans being preyed upon, even though Young was the only person mentioned.
Jurors were shown an email Marquardt sent to CNN executives on Oct. 28, 2021, outlining a story involving Young. However, Young was not contacted by CNN until days later and was not told he was part of the story from the beginning until Marquardt told him on November 10, 2021, the day before the CNN report aired. Young previously testified that he would have called an attorney “immediately” if he had known he was at the center of the story.
Marquardt admitted that he initially started researching the story because he wanted to investigate Young’s activities. Freedman then played a recording of Marquardt’s conversation with a source inquiring about Young and pulled an email from a CNN correspondent asking, “Have you heard about Zachary Young?” Jurors were shown an internal message from Marquardt saying he looked up Young “a million times” on LinkedIn, but Marquardt clarified that those were instances when he unsuccessfully tried to search Young’s profile on the platform.
Freedman also showed the jury that Marquardt wrote, “I’m collecting evidence about this business, about these frauds. I want to expose it,” after asking a question about Young.
At one point, however, Freedman pressed Marquardt, asking, “You haven’t found any evidence of that [Young] committed a crime, right?”
“Exactly,” Marquardt replied.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper and correspondent Alex Marquardt during a segment at the center of the defamation lawsuit. (CNN/Screenshot)
When asked if he had evidence that Young was taking money and exploiting Afghans, Marquardt said he was “taking advantage of the general situation,” but admitted he had no evidence Young was taking money from any individual Afghan. The court ruled that Young had done nothing illegal.
Freedman accused Marquardt of changing his testimony from the deposition, in which a CNN correspondent said there was no evidence Young “exploited” the Afghans. That prompted Marquardt to backtrack a bit on his comment.
Marquardt insisted he did not do a “hit article” on Young.
“I didn’t want to knock anybody down. I didn’t knock anybody down,” Marquardt testified.
Other internal messages show that Marquardt planned to make Young the subject of the story despite fellow CNN reporter Katie Bo Lillis telling Young she wanted to talk to get the situation for a larger story about the evacuations.
Freedman drew on Marquardt’s message to his source hostile to Young to whom he shared the published CNN report, writing “Probably not as harsh on Young as you hoped, but that’s where we ended up.”
That CNN source told Marquardt, “Parasites are hard to eradicate,” to which Marquardt replied, “Yes.”
Freedman showed the jury the now-infamous exchange in which Marquardt told a CNN colleague, “We’re going to hunt down this Zachary Young mf—-r,” to which the colleague replied, “I’ll hold you for that one cowboy!”
Marquardt later added, “Or not. It might just slip away.”
The jury saw a text exchange in which Alex Marquardt told a CNN colleague, “We’re going to hunt down this Zachary Young mf—r,” to which the colleague replied, “I’ll hold you for that one cowboy!”
Jurors were shown a deposition email sent by Alex Marquardt to CNN executives on October 28, 2021.
Freedman also brought up Marquardt’s exchange with a CNN colleague on the day the report aired, who told Marquardt that Young had a “punchable face,” to which Marquardt replied “doesn’t he?” Marquardt told the jury he only “admitted what he said” and “was admissible,” not that he actually agreed with what was said.
Marquardt insisted that CNN was not hostile toward Young after Freedman showed the jury a note in which he wrote, “That’s your funeral ghost,” referring to Young. Marquardt later explained that he was referring to Young not being forthcoming about his prices, saying that this raised “suspicion” and that the truth “could reflect badly on him.”
Marquardt testified that no one at CNN ever told Young that the story mentioned “black market” deals. For much of the segment, CNN’s on-screen chyron declared, “AFGHANISTANS TRYING TO FLEE THE TALIBAN FACE BLACK MARKETS, EXCESSIVE CHARGES, NO GUARANTEE OF SAFETY OR SUCCESS.”
Marquardt suggested the term didn’t mean what Young did was illegal, but Freedman pulled out a dictionary definition for “black market,” which says it’s “the illegal trade or commerce of officially controlled or rare goods.”
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Under questioning from CNN’s general counsel, Marquardt said he stood by his report despite CNN’s apology to Young four months after the segment originally aired. He later said that no one had consulted him about the apology, but he had been “warned”. He said he didn’t think CNN needed to apologize, but it was “good” that it did.
Marquardt insisted that the questions he sent to Young were “very simple” and that Young’s answers would be included in the report, even suggesting that CNN would be willing to delay its report if necessary, but went ahead with the story anyway because Young gave “no indication” he intended to answer CNN’s questions.
Marquardt said he is “proud” of the report and stands by his work.
Near the end of a daylong testimony focused on Marquardt’s coverage of Young, he continued to make the argument that the Navy veteran was not in the spotlight.
“He was just a small part of the story,” Marquardt said.
The trial continues on Tuesday and will be broadcast live Fox News Digital.
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