Judge Rebukes CNN’s Jake Tapper For LYING in Embarrassing Billion Dollar Defamation Lawsuit and Orders Network’s Chief Anchor to Sit For Deposition
Aug. 14 2024, Published 3:15 a.m. ET
A judge has sensationally called out CNN’s Jake Tapper for lying in the network's bruising billion-dollar defamation battle, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
In a declaration he submitted to a Florida court as part of the network’s legal stoush with a former U.S. military veteran, Tapper claimed he had no knowledge of the financial performance of the network where he works or his show The Lead With Jake Tapper.
The anchorman, under oath, said: “I have no knowledge about CNN's net worth. I don't have any knowledge regarding what the Tapper show may or may not generate that may go toward CNN's net worth."
But Judge William Scott Henry of Florida’s 14th Circuit Court delivered an epic smackdown at a hearing on August 12, rebuking Tapper and ordering the 55-year-old must sit for a deposition.
“I kind of have a hard time believing what Mr. Tapper put in that declaration,” the judge said.
"I have a feeling that is the basis of what time slot he gets and how much his contract is and everything else with CNN."
The report cited in the case came from a Nov. 11, 2021, segment on CNN’s 'The Lead with Jake Tapper,' which was shared on social media and also repackaged for CNN's website.
Zachary Young, a former member of the U.S. Navy, is locked in a high stakes fight with the worldwide leader in news over a Nov. 2021 report in which CNN accused him of being a war profiteer through illegal evacuations of refugees it said he sold on the black market in Afghanistan.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, a desperate CNN had argued Young and his legal team only wanted a deposition so they could use it to “harass CNN and Mr. Tapper.”
The ratings-challenged network, whose viewership has hit a two decade low, claimed there was “no basis” whatsoever “to depose Tapper” in a filing on July 17.
They said doing so would cause “annoyance and embarrassment” to Tapper — who bills himself as "your friendly neighborhood anchorman" on social media — while “providing little useful information,” according to their lawyer.
Tapper explained to his audience how CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt discovered '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.'
- CNN Ducks for Cover in Billion-Dollar Defamation Battle and Begs Judge Not to Force Them to Disclose ‘Guidelines for Journalistic Conduct’
- CNN ‘Caused Women to be Killed or Beaten’ by Taliban Terrorists, Ex-US Major General Claims… as Billion-Dollar Jake Tapper Defamation Battle Takes Dramatic Twist
- CNN Sides With Taliban in Jake Tapper Defamation Battle: Embattled News Network Claims Military Vet Who Saved 20 Women's Lives Broke Sharia Law, Demands Lawsuit be Tossed
The courtroom revelation Tapper lied is yet another major blow to CNN which has copped black eye after black eye in the case, including from a retired major general, an expert witness, who blamed the network’s report for likely causing innocent people to killed or beaten.
As this masthead reported, secret and expletive-laden correspondence between CNN staffers also emerged, with text messages revealing individuals called Young a “s---bag” and “a------” while conceding the story was “very much not ready for prime time” and was “full of holes like Swiss cheese.”
Alex Marquardt, the correspondent who broadcast the report, even quipped to a colleague “it’s your funeral bucko” — a reference to Young — before the story went to air.
Marquardt followed up by saying 'desperate Afghans are being exploited' and need to pay 'exorbitant, often impossible amounts' to flee the country. He singled out Young and his company, using a picture of his face on screen, as an example.
Young saved at least 20 women’s lives and charged $14,500 a piece for their evacuation for his clients, including major corporations, previous court filings detailed.
In his ruling, Judge Henry ordered CNN to make its star anchor available for an interrogation — but limited the scope of the questioning to finances and not the Nov. 2021 report or the network’s policies and procedures.
The case is expected to go trial next year.
Have a tip? Send it to us! Email RadarOnline.com at tips@radaronline.com.