During the ongoing defamation trial against CNN, a judge imposed fines for personal insults as chaos erupted in the court. As things became tense in the Bay County Courtroom in Panama City, Florida, 14th Judicial Circuit Court Judge William S. Henry set the precedent that such conduct would not persist in future hearings.
As background, the defamation suit against the legacy media outlet stems from U.S. Navy Veteran Zachary Young arguing that CNN smeared his name by suggesting that he had illegally profited from helping people flee from violence in Afghanistan amid the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal in 2021. Young argues that CNN’s characterization of him as a “black market” operator who exploited Afghans “destroyed his reputation and business.”
Controversy broke out during the trial when CNN’s lawyer presented a document that seemingly refuted Young’s testimony that he had not received money or found work in his industry since the network aired the story about him. Young’s attorney, Vel Freedman, explained, “We did not have this document, or it would have been produced, and that does not mean Mr. Young violated his discovery obligations.”
Freedman then called out CNN, claiming the network used a “surprise document” for “dramatic effect.” The lawyer continued, “We’re not supposed to have trial by ambush in this state,” before adding, “This is wholly inappropriate. And CNN should not be permitted to use this document. They should have provided it to us first.”
Axelrod began to interject before Judge Henry restored order and criticized both parties for “personal attacks.” However, Axelrod shot back, “The plaintiff’s entire case is that after the CNN publication, he couldn’t get any work” before stating that Young “knew he entered into a new agreement with a government contractor one month after CNN’s publication.”
“This entire lawsuit was a fraud on this court. It was a fraud on CNN,” Axelrod continued, while claiming that Young “lied” in his deposition. “He made up some incredible ruse,” CNN’s legal counsel added. “This lawsuit was a fraud from day one.” From there either side argued in a heated back-and-forth before Judge Henry called out both parties for “throwing mud back and forth.”
“I’m not going to rule based on who can make each other out to be the worst person in this case,” Judge Henry maintained. The trial was then sent to recess as the judge thought things over, while speculation grew as to whether the case would be outright dismissed. Henry eventually determined that the document would be permitted to be used in the trial.
Furthermore, Henry set a fine of $100 each time the lawyers would make personal insults moving forward. “I don’t expect this to happen again. I think I said this the last time,” Judge Henry said. Addressing the document presented by Axelrod, Young said, “Once you leave government services, you can’t personally hold a [security] clearance by yourself. It has to be through a company that has an agreement with the United States government. They are the ones that have to sponsor the clearance. Clearance is issued by the U.S. government,” Young said.
“This is just a company, like any defense contractor, that has the contracts with the U.S. government, and they hold the clearance for the individual,” Young added. “Every year you have to sign this administration document with whoever holds your clearance. In this case it’s Helios. It’s not an agreement to do work… it’s just an administrative function.”
Watch JD Vance question CNN’s network integrity here:
"*" indicates required fields