CNN defamation trial: Reporter pressed on his heavy pursuit of Navy veteran as defense downplayed involvement
PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA - CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt was pressed on Monday about his extensive efforts to dig up dirt on the Navy veteran suing CNN for defamation, undercutting CNN’s defense that the plaintiff, Zachary Young, was not a central focus of the report at the heart of the lawsuit.
Young alleges CNN smeared him in a November 2021 report that first aired on "The Lead with Jake Tapper," suggesting he illegally profited off desperate people trying to flee Afghanistan following the Biden administration's military withdrawal, implying he was involved in "black market" dealings and ruining his professional reputation as a result.
Marquardt took the stand in Bay County Court to kick off the trial’s second week of testimony. Earlier in the trial, CNN’s lead counsel David Axelrod, separate from CNN commentator David Axelrod, pushed the notion that Young was essentially a minor player in the segment, but Marquardt was peppered by the plaintiff’s attorney, Vel Freedman, with evidence suggesting the CNN reporter was in hot pursuit of Young.
When CNN’s legal team played the segment for the jury last week, Axelrod repeatedly paused the video and suggested specific tidbits were not about Young. He made a point to note that Young was not mentioned by name until midway through the report, suggesting the story was about Afghans being preyed on in general, even though Young was the only person mentioned.
Jurors were shown an email Marquardt sent to CNN executives on October 28, 2021, pitching a story including Young. However, Young was not contacted by CNN until days later and wasn’t 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 a lawyer "immediately" if he knew he was the focus of a story.
Marquardt acknowledged he initially began pursuing the story because he wanted to look into Young's activities. Freedman then played a recording of Marquardt speaking to a source asking about Young and pulled up an email exchange from the CNN correspondent asking, "Have you heard of Zachary Young?" Jurors were shown an internal message from Marquardt saying he looked at Young "a million times" on LinkedIn, but Marquardt clarified those were times he tried to search Young's profile on the platform unsuccessfully.
Freedman also showed the jury that Marquardt wrote, "I am gathering evidence of this business, of these scams. I want to expose them," after asking about Young.
However, at one point, Freedman pressed Marquardt asking, "You found no evidence that [Young] committed a crime, correct?"
"Correct," Marquardt answered.
When asked if he had evidence that Young took money and took advantage of Afghans, Marquardt says he was "taking advantage of the general situation," but admitted he had no evidence Young took money from any individual Afghans. The court has ruled that Young did nothing illegal.
Freedman accused Marquardt of changing his testimony from his deposition, in which the CNN correspondent said he had no evidence Young "took advantage" of Afghans. This prompted Marquardt to slightly walk back his comment.
Marquardt insisted he didn’t do a "hit piece" on Young.
"I wasn't looking to take anyone down. I didn't take anyone down," Marquardt testified.
Other internal messages show that Marquardt planned on making Young the topic of a story despite fellow CNN reporter Katie Bo Lillis telling Young she wanted to speak to learn the lay of the land for a larger story on evacuations.
Freedman pulled up a message from Marquardt to his source who had animus towards Young who he had shared the published CNN report, writing "Likely not as harsh about Young as you hoped but that's where we ended up."
That CNN source told Marquardt, "Parasites can be hard to exterminate," to which Marquardt replied, "Yeah."
Freedman showed the jury the now-infamous exchange where Marquardt told a CNN colleague, "We gonna nail this Zachary Young mf----r," to which the colleague replied, "Gonna hold you to that one cowboy!"
Marquardt later added, "Or not. maybe he just slips away."
Freedman also laid out Marquardt's exchange with a CNN colleague the day the report aired who told Marquardt that Young had "a punchable face," to which Marquardt replied "right?" Marquardt told the jury he was only "acknowledging what he said" and "was being agreeable," not actually agreeing with what was said.
Marquardt insisted CNN had no animus towards Young after Freedman showed the jury a message in which he wrote, "It’s your funeral bucko," when referring to Young. Marquardt later explained he was referring to Young not being forthcoming about his pricing, saying it raised "suspicion" and that the truth can "reflect poorly on him."
Marquardt testified that nobody from CNN ever told Young the story would mention "black market" dealings. For much of the segment, CNN’s on-screen chyron stated: "AFGHANS TRYING TO FLEE TALIBAN FACE BLACK MARKETS, EXORBITANT FEES, NO GUARANTEE OF SAFETY OR SUCCESS."
Marquardt suggested the term doesn't mean what Young did was illegal, but Freedman pulled up the dictionary definition for "black market," which states it's "an illegal traffic or trade in officially controlled or scarce commodities."
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During questioning from CNN's lead counsel, Marquardt said he stands by his report despite CNN offering an on-air apology to Young four months after the segment initially ran. He later said he wasn't consulted about the apology but was given a "heads up." He expressed he didn't think CNN needed to apologize but was "fine" that it did.
Marquardt insisted the questions he sent to Young were "very simple" and Young's responses would've been included in the report, even suggesting CNN would've been willing to postpone its report if necessary but ran with the story anyway because Young gave "no indication" he was going to answer CNN's questions.
Marquardt said he was "proud" of the report and stands by his work.
Near the end of all-day testimony focused on Marquardt’s reporting on Young, he continued to make the argument that the Navy veteran wasn’t the actual focus.
"He was only a small part of the story," Marquardt said.
The trial resumes Tuesday and will be streamed live on Fox News Digital.