CNN Accused of Battling to Hide Star Reporter’s Promotion and Raise Amid Blockbuster Bank-Breaking $1Billion Jake Tapper Defamation Trial
A notable CNN star received a big promotion and a raise the network is being accused of now trying to hide.
CNN is doing all they can do to hide a reporter's promotion and raise amid a billion-dollar defamation trial.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the news network wants to keep correspondent Alex Marquardt's promotion to chief national security correspondent out of their upcoming trial.
CNN is set to go to trial over shocking allegations made on Jake Tapper's show in 2021.
In 2023, CNN promoted Marquardt to the key position two years after U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young claimed the network pushed a "false narrative" about him and "destroyed his reputation" during a segment in which he was accused of being an "illegal profiteer who exploited desperate Afghans".
CNN now wants to make sure Marquardt's promotion is kept out of the trial as they have filed a motion in limine, arguing that the commentator's contract negotiations are "irrelevant" and should be kept out.
The filing argued: "... Nor such is evidence relevant to Plaintiffs’ claim for punitive damages, given that Mr. Marquardt’s contract negotiations and promotions significantly post-dated publications. Punitive damages may be imposed only if the defendant acted with ‘gross negligence’ or engaged in ‘intentional misconduct’ at the time the tort was allegedly committed."
Alex Marquardt was promoted to chief national security correspondent in 2023.
However, Young's lead counsel Vel Freedman sees things differently and thinks Marquardt's career history "including promotions that postdate the events at trial," go directly to his background as a witness.
Freeman added that Marquardt's "bias as both a very senior CNN employee… and as evidence that he has been rewarded and may be loyal" are relevant to the case.
He added: "Moreover, the fact that CNN was aware of Marquardt’s alleged misconduct in this litigation, investigated it, put his contract negotiations on hold, and then promoted him to chief national correspondent is admissible evidence that goes directly to the entitlement of punitive damages."
The chaos comes after a 2021 CNN segment on The Lead with Jake Tapper, in which Tapper informed viewers Marquardt found "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."
Young was then accused of being a “human trafficker” and a “war profiteer".
Then, in August 2024, CNN reportedly took to citing Taliban Sharia law to defend their remarks made in the episode, and claimed Young "was engaged in criminal activity when he was working to help rescue women and children from Afghanistan following U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban sweeping back into power."
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The lawsuit, filed after the allegations were made on 'The Lead With Jake Tapper', may cost the network $1billion.
Following the allegations, Young filed a lawsuit and argued the episode wrongly portrayed him as a profiteer of war crimes by suggesting he charged "exorbitant fees" on the "black market" when he worked to help desperate Afghans flee the country.
It is possible the lawsuit may cost CNN $1billion.
This comes after Young's lawyers accused the network of also withholding key financial documents in accordance with net worth discovery.
Freedman argued that while CNN had handed over thousands of pages of documents, they have failed to turn over cash flow records.
He stated earlier this month: "CNN’s response has been, ‘Well we don’t have them. That just can’t be the case, your honor," and added, "It just doesn’t compute with common sense."
CNN's attorney, Charles Tobin, argued that the network doesn’t manage its business by a balance sheet, and it doesn’t maintain a cash-flow statement, He also suggested they have been truthful.
However, a judge in Delaware ruled CNN‘s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery must conduct a financial deep dive and then hand relevant information over to Young and his team.
The defamation trial case between Young and CNN is scheduled for January 6, 2025.
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