CNN Fails to Strike Settlement Deal in $1Billion Defamation Battle With Veteran Now 'Looking Forward' to Looming Trial
CNN grudgingly turned over financial documents in preparation for a defamation trial against a Navy veteran whose lawyers predict they could win $1billion.
Sept. 16 2024, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
CNN has exhausted its efforts to avoid a $1billion defamation trial threatening to expose the network's cash secrets.
RadarOnline.com exclusively obtained the latest documents from the bombshell case showing CNN failed to reach a settlement agreement with Navy veteran Zachary Young.
In light of the development, Young's legal team told us the vet was "looking forward to trial".
The vet is suing CNN for alleged defamation over a November 2021 report.
Young filed his defamation suit in Bay County, Florida, over a November 11, 2021 segment of The Lead With Jake Tapper.
His legal team claimed CNN "destroyed his reputation and business by branding him an illegal profiteer who exploited desperate Afghans" during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Tapper's segment – and a report from network correspondent Alex Marquardt – suggested Young and his security consulting company Nemex Enterprises Inc. charged "exorbitant fees" to help Afghan women flee the country.
The segment aired on 'The Lead With Jake Tapper' in 2021.
Young claimed the report caused him to lose out on $40-60million in economic opportunity because he said it made people in the field no longer want to work with him.
With the drawn-out court battle approaching its trial date, the parties agreed to sit down and attempt to work out a settlement deal — meaning CNN would pay Young an agreed-upon amount to resolve the matter.
But a filing on September 13 revealed all parties met for mediation talks on September 11 and "were unable to reach any agreement and an impasse was declared".
Young's lead counsel, Vel Freedman, was unable to say exactly what CNN offered his client during last week's confidential meeting, but he told RadarOnline.com: "Mr. Young is looking forward to trial this January and looks forward to presenting his case to a jury of his peers."
Freedman has predicted the damages could amount to more than $1billion based on Florida's laws around punitive damages and Young’s legal burden to prove malice.
As this outlet told you, a judge also recently "paved the way" for Young to be granted a subpoena to force the network to hand over sensitive financial information in preparation for trial.
Young's lead counsel, Vel Freedman, said his client was 'looking forward to trial'.
NewsBusters reporter Nicholas Fondacaro explained: "Essentially, this will act as a way to double check to see if CNN was being honest with the financial documents they were turning over as part of discovery; comparing what they turned over to Young's legal team versus what they told corporate."
Eriq Gardner, a Puck reporter also covering the matter, claimed Judge Henry's decision "sent a jolt through CNN's executives offices" because "Young has won a green light to seek punitive damages".
He added: "Accordingly, Young's attorneys will soon be receiving documents to assess CNN's net worth, so they can argue before a jury just how big a penalty Young should receive.
"The judge has also ordered a deposition for Jake Tapper, who will likely have to disclose his salary and contract negotiations."
Last month, in another unsuccessful last-ditch bid to avoid trial, the network moved for the case to be thrown out because it argued reporters were referring to the Taliban's Sharia Law in their assertions about Young.
The civil trial is scheduled to begin on January 6, 2025.
The defendants called Young's actions "almost certainly" illegal under the Taliban-imposed standards, which they said ban the movement of women without a male relative present.
Young's lawyers took CNN to task over its abrupt pivot to this narrative and said the tactic "sinks to a new low" when it comes to "desperate measures".
They wrote in a rebuttal: "[T]hrough two years of litigation and 17 depositions across all ranks of CNN from journalists to executives, 'Sharia' was never mentioned, not once."
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The filing continued: "Faced with a clear record of misconduct, punitive damages, and a January trial, CNN's response is a masterclass in absurdity and desperation."
A CNN spokesperson previously defended the Sharia law argument in a statement to RadarOnlne.com, saying: “Acknowledging the state of local law is a necessary part of the legal analysis.”
The network has continued to stand by its controversial report and claimed it did not intend to cause any harm. Lawyers for CNN insisted Young "lined his pockets at an astounding rate" but "didn't personally evacuate anyone."
The civil jury trial is set to begin on January 6, 2025.
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