Navy Vet’s Attorney In CNN Defamation Case Implores Jury To ‘Stand Up Against Fake News’
The lead counsel for U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young implored jurors Friday to “stand up against fake news” as they began deliberations in the defamation case against CNN.
Young sued CNN over its allegedly defamatory report that Young says falsely accused him of exploiting desperate Afghans seeking evacuation from Afghanistan on a “black market.” Young testified that he lost work as a result of the report due to the use of the phrase “black market.” Jurors were shown a defense contract that Young had that expressly prohibited involvement in “black markets.”
Young’s lead attorney, Vel Freedman, implored jurors to “stand up against fake news” and to “make the phone ring in Georgia [CNN’s headquarters].”
“Send a message [to CNN],” Freedman said, arguing the report was “a calculated attack by CNN on [Young’s] character that has inflicted deep and lasting wounds.”
“Zak’s ability to walk into a room with pride and being seen as a professional with integrity has been stripped away,” Freedman said. “His pain and suffering, mental anguish, seeing his name dragged through the mud. These are injuries that transcend monetary loss. They pierce the soul of who he is, who he was.”
Freedman highlighted during his closing argument that CNN reporter Alex Marquardt (who led the report that later appeared both on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” and elsewhere) admitted he had no evidence that Young took advantage of desperate Afghans but nonetheless went forward with the story and that Marquardt was caught on camera claiming his alleged phone call to Young was just “theater.”
Freedman also argued that while CNN argues the term “black market” does not imply any illegal wrongdoing, individuals involved in the story at CNN used words like “extortion” and “fraud” during the preliminary process of the story and therefore jurors should “not allow CNN to rewrite the English language to avoid liability in this case.”
“You have a tool to save American media,” Freedman said. “It’s called punitive damages. Use it.”
Jurors deliberated for nearly five hours on Thursday with no verdict reached and resumed deliberations Friday morning.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
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