Veteran gets legal victory in CNN lawsuit, outlet to be in court next year

A U.S. Navy veteran won a legal victory in a lawsuit against CNN when a judge ruled Friday that the network's expert witness can't testify that the plaintiff did not suffer financial loss as a result of the CNN story that generated the lawsuit.

Navy veteran Zachary Young filed a lawsuit against CNN in which he alleged the network "destroyed his reputation and business" by smearing him when it ran a story that implied he illegally profited in the "black market" by helping people escape Afghanistan during the Biden administration's botched withdrawal from the country.   

The story ran on Jake Tapper's show, "The Lead," in November 2021 and on the CNN website and social media.

CNN wanted to use expert Brian Buss to testify in court about the incident, to raise questions as to whether Young actually suffered financial and reputational damage because of the CNN story, but a judge limited what Buss can talk about, according to Fox News.

"In formulating his opinions, Mr. Buss reviewed documentation produced by Plaintiffs regarding past income, including tax returns, employment contracts, bank statements and other financial reports and records, along with deposition testimony," Judge William Henry wrote in his decision.

He said that "Buss can testify as to what he reviewed, what the documentation demonstrated in terms of pre-publication income and prospects of ongoing revenues, what items of revenue were not recurring or future expected income, and what Plaintiffs did or did not do to obtain income after the date of the publications" but "concluding that Plaintiffs suffered zero lost income/profits as a result of the publications is too speculative and beyond Mr. Buss’ qualifications for the reasons discussed above."

Judge Henry said he has seen sufficient evidence of actual malice and found that Young never took money from Afghans. 

"There are several examples of statements made by Defendant’s reporters during the course of putting together the pieces from which a jury may infer either actual malice or express malice," he wrote.

The civil trial will start on Jan. 6, 2025, in Bay County, Florida.