A lawsuit against the news network is still pending after a senior CNN staffer branded a Navy veteran “a s—” in 2021 messages.
CNN’s standards and procedures department’s senior director, Fuzz Hogan, made the comment about Zachary Young, who is currently suing the network in a $1 billion defamation lawsuit after claiming the network “destroyed his reputation,” according to Knewz.com.
The Navy veteran’s appearance on Jake Tapper’s show in November 2021 sparked the trial, which began this week.
By suggesting that he was “illegally profiting” from assisting individuals in fleeing Afghanistan on the “black market” during the chaotic American exit from the nation in 2021, Young says CNN defamed him.
According to his plaintiff’s lawsuit, the program specifically mentioned his work and accused him of taking advantage of “desperate Afghans” who were attempting to escape their homeland when the Taliban seized power.
His lawyers discovered a number of internal communications between CNN staff members, including Hogan’s insults, on the fourth day of the trial.
Hogan spoke with network reporter Elizabeth Wolfe, who seemed to take issue with Young’s business proposal to assist potential Afghan evacuees with legal concerns.
Wolfe said, “Wow, this dude is promising them legal status or refugee status.”
In response, Hogan said, “Yeah, he’s an s—.”
Hogan was in charge of verifying the story’s facts because he was a fact-checker at the time.
Additional communications discovered between Hogan and editor Tom Lumley revealed their discussions about Alex Marquardt’s digital version of the story.
“That story is not poetry in any way,” Lumley wrote, seemingly struggling with the story’s believability. To diffuse the tension, I simply want to publish anything.
It’s half an excellent story, in my opinion. We need to have continued and spread the word more.
“Feels like a good character but he only got 3/4 of the way toward the larger,” Hogan commented in response. Every narrative has the potential to be longer.
“And then you went on to approve a 3/4 true story, didn’t you?” was the question posed to Hogan after he acknowledged calling Young “a s—.”
He concurred and continued by saying that the Tapper story didn’t worry him.
Additionally, the Los Angeles Times reported that the network’s journalists included text messages calling Young a “s— bag” and “an a——” in addition to the statement, “We gonna nail this Young mf—–.”