keneci
News • Science & Tech • Comedy
CNN, Jake Tapper Defamed US Navy Veteran Zachary Young, Jury Finds
January 17, 2025
post photo preview

A Florida jury found CNN liable for defaming Zachary Young, a US Navy veteran, in a 2021 story about people paid to rescue endangered Afghans following the Taliban takeover.

The jury initially awarded Young $5 million in damages, but a settlement was reached between CNN and Young, with the amount not disclosed, after the jury began considering punitive damages.

This settlement resolves the defamation case against CNN, which was brought by Young over a report by the network’s chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt that aired on Jake Tapper’s show.

The November 2021 report by Marquardt, featured Young and his efforts to evacuate Afghans. The US Navy veteran claimed the report defamed him by implying he was operating a “black market” and charging exorbitant fees to desperate Afghans attempting to flee their country after the Taliban retook control of it earlier that year.

Young was named and his face was shown during segments on both Jake Tapper and Jim Acosta’s shows.

Internal CNN communications during the discovery process revealed that Marquardt’s story made it to air even though some of his colleagues believed it to be “a mess,” “incomplete,” “very much not ready for prime time,” “80% emotion, 20% obscured fact,” and “full of holes like Swiss cheese.”

Other internal communications revealed that Marquardt had declared that he was “gonna nail this Zachary Young mfucker” and agree that Young had a “punchable face.”

Young and his legal team contended that CNN had published “lies” about his business that “rendered Young permanently unemployable in the career he has trained his whole life for” and “resulted in Young’s income plunging to nothing, and have caused Young to suffer millions of dollars in lost income.”

After deliberating for over eight hours, the jury found CNN liable for defamation and initially awarded Young $5 million in damages. Before the jury could decide on punitive damages, CNN and Young reached a settlement, the terms of which are not publicly disclosed.

Critics slammed CNN's recklessness and defamation of a patriotic American like Young who was in Afghanistan to help after President Joe Biden fumbled the US withdrawal from that country after nearly two decades of war against the Taliban.

The discredited and low-rated far-left network is known for its biased reporting against conservatives and the right in general. The network has been leading an unrelenting smear campaign against Donald Trump and Republican politicians in the United States who ridiculed it as "fake news" or "communist news network."

community logo
Join the keneci Community
To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today
0
What else you may like…
Videos
Posts
Articles
SpaceX Starlink Internet Satellites

With Starlink internet, data is continuously being sent between a ground dish and a Starlink satellite orbiting 550km above. Furthermore, the Starlink satellite zooms across the sky at 27,000 km/hr! MORE VIDEOS ON KENECI NETWORK RUMBLE CHANNEL: https://rumble.com/c/Keneci

00:28:08
Elon Musk, DOGE Speak On Waste And Fraud

US Department of Government Efficiency Services (USDS) led by Elon Musk speak on the "mind-boggling" fraud and waste in UInited States federal government

00:00:45
January 17, 2025
SpaceX Launches Starship 7th Test Flight

SpaceX successfully executed its second-ever “chopsticks” catch of a Super Heavy booster (or Booster 14) using the “Mechazilla” launch tower on Thursday(Jan. 16), during the seventh uncrewed test flight of the company's 123-meter Starship rocket. However, the megarocket's upper stage(or Ship 33) was lost approximately 8.5 minutes into the flight in a “rapid unscheduled disassembly(RUD)” or explosion

00:10:30
Welcome to Keneci Network!

Join the conversations!

September 17, 2024
Charges Against Sean 'Diddy' Combs In Grand Jury Indictment

The rapper was charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution in the indictment unsealed Tuesday(Sept. 17)

Combs-Indictment-24-Cr.-542.pdf
"Dear husband"

A Dubai princess took to social media to announce she's divorcing her husband who's worth $40B.

She claims the billionaire is busy with his "other [female] companions"

post photo preview
post photo preview
Elon Musk, Trump 'Big Beautiful Bill' Feud Fallout

The feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk escalated Thursday, with Musk accusing Trump of having ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and criticizing Trump's "big, beautiful" spending bill. Musk alleged that Trump is in the Epstein files, which is why they have not been made public, and suggested that Trump would not have won the election without him.

The White House's Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, calls Musk’s claim “an unfortunate episode” driven by his dissatisfaction with the bill’s lack of EV subsidies. A source notes Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago and references the February 2025 release of flight logs mentioning Trump.

The conflict began when Musk criticized the "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill, calling it an "abomination" and urging to keep electric vehicle (EV) and solar incentives while removing wasteful spending Trump responded by expressing disappointment in Musk, stating that he was "surprised" by Musk's criticism.

During a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Thursday, Trump addressed Musk’s criticism publicly, saying he’s “very disappointed” in Musk, who “knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody.” Trump claims Musk’s objections stem from the removal of the $7,500 EV tax credit, which he says Musk knew about for months. He suggests Musk may have “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Trump also mocked Musk’s appearance, referencing a recent black eye (attributed to Musk’s son) and questioning why he didn’t cover it with makeup.

In a social media post, Trump threatened to cancel Musk’s government contracts, including those for SpaceX and Tesla, stating, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.” He also claimed he asked Musk to leave DOGE because he was “wearing thin.”

Escalating the feud Musk responded by saying SpaceX would begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft, indicating a potential withdrawal from government contracts.

Musk then took to X to make his accusations about the Epstein files. He wrote, "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."

oMI-YMPaKR1qGVLoLQtxaxqzj8LmpgYKPh7sJ8DfmjdkhNZ428Qf3P8NNZiykZzprloLt_pxavtxt9ZGMrilT738j_5rvJgFpXjgFA6OCFsMxKUWJ3SAHFoyH6aYxyJ1Nw=w1280

The White House and Trump's supporters defended Trump, with the White House press secretary describing Musk's comments as "unfortunate" and suggesting that Musk was unhappy with the bill's content. Trump also suggested that Musk was upset about the removal of EV subsidies and mandates, which could affect Musk's Tesla business.

Despite the heated exchanges, Trump downplayed the situation to reporters and instead referenced his policy implementations, saying, "Oh it's okay, it's going very well, never done better."

Throughout the day, Musk's net worth dropped significantly, losing approximately $27 billion, although he remained the world's richest man with a net worth of around $388 billion.

Speaking to reporters by phone Friday, Trump said in response to reports of possible phone call with Musk, "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem....No. I won't be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well."

“Honestly I’ve been so busy working on China… working on Russia… working on Iran.. I’m not thinking about Elon musk .. I just wish him well....,“ Trump later told reporters. "I hope he does well with Tesla."

Read full Article
post photo preview
Trump Announces Travel Ban, Restrictions On 19 Countries

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday, restricting travel to the United States from 12 countries and imposing partial restrictions on 7 others. The countries fully banned from entering the U.S. are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Countries subject to partial restrictions include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The ban takes effect on June 9, 2025.

The proclamation includes exemptions for lawful permanent residents (green card holders); existing visa holders (visas issued before June 9, 2025, will not be revoked); Afghans eligible for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) who assisted the U.S. government; diplomats, athletes (e.g., for the World Cup or Olympics), and dual nationals with passports from non-restricted countries and individuals whose entry serves U.S. national interests, evaluated case-by-case.

The ban is subject to revision if countries improve vetting or security cooperation, and additional countries could be added if new threats emerge.

These restrictions aim to enhance national security and counterterrorism efforts by addressing deficiencies in the information needed to assess potential security threats posed by nationals of these countries.

Read full Article
post photo preview
Dave Portnoy Had A Meltdown In Heated Debate With Cohost About 'Jew Jokes,' Free speech

Barstool founder Dave Portnoy had a heated back and forth with his podcast's cohost Kirk Minihane over 'Jew jokes.'

Portnoy faced backlash recently on social media, after firing two waitresses and taking further action against some college students involved in an incident at his Barstool Sansom Street bar in Philadelphia, where a sign that read "Fuck the Jews," was displayed.

"Shut the fuck up you bald fuck" Portnoy screamed at Minihane during a recent The Unnamed Show episode after Minihane criticized Portnoy's approach to 'Jew jokes.'

Minihane argued that Americans and especially comedians have a right to free speech and to make jokes. While Portnoy suggested that given the war in Gaza and public anti-Israel sentiment online, 'Jew jokes' should not be allowed and offenders must be prosecuted.

"Shut up!... You work for me!" Portnoy screamed at Minihane who responded "Sure. You bet. For now..."

"Quit! I'll save $500,000." Portnoy said.

Minihane then asked "Is this a show or not a show? We can't have a conversation?"

"You're an idiot. You're literally saying people should be allowed to make Jew jokes whenever they want." Portnoy shot back.

Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals