CNN accused of misleading court on net worth for high-profile defamation case

Ahead of a high-stakes defamation trial, CNN is now being accused of misleading the court regarding documents on its net worth.

U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young alleges that CNN smeared his security consulting company, Nemex Enterprises Inc., by implying it illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021. He is now suing CNN claiming it "destroyed his reputation and business" during a segment that year on Jake Tapper's program "The Lead."

In September, Florida Judge William Henry ordered CNN to comply with a subpoena to provide additional financial information that the cable network presented to its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

Although CNN claimed it would present these files, documents obtained by Fox News Digital found that "Plaintiffs learned that CNN never intended to produce documents showing assets and liabilities (because they don’t exist)."

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"Not only did CNN and WBD fail to provide any of the promised documents identifying assets and liabilities, but CNN’s representative also failed to supply any information about the net worth number CNN provided (but disclaimed) in its interrogatory response. Indeed, CNN’s corporate representative did not provide any information about net worth at all, even though net worth was one of the noticed topics—indeed the main topic," they read.

The documents also found that the reason CNN couldn’t provide financial information was because "its financial condition cannot be disaggregated—at all—from the financial condition of its parent company" Warner Bros. Discovery.

Young’s legal team are now requesting the court enter an order requiring Warner Bros. Discovery’s financial statements to be used for determining a potential punitive damages award and preclude CNN from introducing any evidence or argument based on its net worth.

A civil trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 6, 2025, in front of Judge William Henry in the Circuit Court for Bay County, Florida.

Fox News Digital reached out to CNN and Warner Bros. Discovery for a comment.

The CNN segment at the center of the suit, which was shared on social media and also repackaged for CNN's website, began with Tapper informing viewers that CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt discovered "Afghans trying to get out of the country face a black market full of promises, demands of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success."

Tapper tossed to Marquardt, who said "desperate Afghans are being exploited" and need to pay "exorbitant, often impossible amounts" to flee the country. Marquardt then singled out Young, putting a picture of his face on the screen and saying his company was asking for $75,000 to transport a vehicle of passengers to Pakistan for $14,500 per person to end up in the United Arab Emirates.

"Prices well beyond the reach of most Afghans," Marquardt told viewers.

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Earlier this year, judges with the First District Court of Appeal for the State of Florida ruled that Young offered evidence "of actual malice, express malice, and a level of conduct outrageous enough" to warrant a trial.

The judges wrote, "Young proffered CNN messages and emails that showed internal concern about the completeness and veracity of the reporting — the story is ‘a mess,’ ‘incomplete,’ not ‘fleshed out for digital,’ ‘the story is 80% emotion, 20% obscured fact,’ and ‘full of holes like Swiss cheese,’" but the network aired it anyway.

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Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.