Posted on 06/02/2025 12:35:08 PM PDT by Red Badger
The departure comes on the heels of a Florida jury awarding a U.S. Navy veteran at least $5 million over a report that said he operated in a "black market."
CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, whose 2021 report portraying a U.S. Navy veteran as illegally exploiting Afghans was found to be defamatory earlier this year, is leaving the network.
“Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business,” Marquardt wrote in a Monday post on X (formerly Twitter). “Profound thank you to my comrades on the National Security team & the phenomenal teammates I’ve worked with in the US and abroad.”
Marquardt has been among the centerpieces of CNN’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war. He was also the focus of a defamation lawsuit against the network from Zachary Young, who sued over a report saying that he charged Afghans exorbitant fees to be evacuated in the aftermath of the U.S. military withdrawal from the country.
In January, a Florida jury awarded Young $5 million. Following the verdict, a settlement was reached to resolve the entirety of the case before jurors calculated punitive damages, which is intended to punish malicious conduct and could’ve added millions more to the total award, for an unspecified amount.
The decision may have amplified the perception of alleged bias from CNN amid President Donald Trump’s persistent criticism of the network.
After the verdict, CNN said at the time, “We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to strong, fearless and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case.”
The disputed segment opens with Jake Tapper describing the U.S. government’s evacuation of citizens. He goes on to say Afghans “trying to get out of the country face a black market full of promises, demand of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.” The segment then switches to Marquardt describing the situation of a man located in the U.S. whose family remained in Afghanistan and said that he found people on Facebook charging $10,000 per person to be evacuated. Marquardt stated, “according to Afghans and activists we’ve spoke with, desperate Afghans are now being exploited” because of the “exorbitant” and “impossible” amounts charged, pointing to a LinkedIn post from Young advertising his services and chat logs between him and people inquiring about his business.
Discovery wasn’t kind to Marquardt or CNN, with internal emails suggesting that the network ignored evidence contrary to its narrative for the segment. In a message to a CNN colleague, he wrote that CNN is going to “nail this Zach Youngmfucker.” A producer said that the plaintiff had a “punchable face.”
CNN declined to comment for this story.
Before his eight-year stint at CNN, Marquardt was ABC News’ foreign correspondent for roughly the same amount of time. He has won Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards.
““Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business,” What a joke, evidently you were not one of them.
He’ll be fine...........At WKRP in Cincinnati..........
Too bad he didn’t exit the Planet.
$10,000 to rescue someone on the other side of the world sounds cheap to me.
"Comrades" but of course. I'm not sure if this loser is referring to some CNN National security Team or the Governments. Either way Hopefully they have been added to the unemployment line as well.
Or at W O L D. Maybe he could start that record store.....
What they didn’t report were that Americans and Afghanis friendly to the US were left behind. Most of them are in hiding while people like Sarah Adams are chartering planes and means to get out of the country.
Yes and I watched testimony. CNN’s story claimed the pilot was taking exorbitant amounts from impoverished desperate people. However the charter plane charges were paid by aid associations who collected donations to charter removals for small groups. not by individuals.
The pilot involved was devastated financially & emotionally by the accusations. Fake weaponized CNN deserved to have judgement against them.
evidently he was, the problem is that their very best just isn’t good enough.
Could CNN be any more loathsome? Time will tell.
It would be difficult to know which media members to list as Enemies of the State.
Winning these awards is one of the easiest. The academies vet with a fury the members that get these awards.
I think he exited with a boot on his ass.
I did not mean to say that the lawsuit was unfounded, only that they made it sound like $10,000 was robbing people. Do they not know what costs are to fly around the world from The US and back to retrieve these people.
CNN was scum for demeaning the man for doing what the US government should have done.
No, I didn’t get that impression of your post at all. I agreed with your point. My post just reflected how angry I was at what CNN had done callously to the pilot, destroyed his business & reputation for a soundbite and ignored the facts. It was pretty explosive testimony.
His use of the word "comrades" speaks volumes.
I believe in the freedom of the press. However, they should be held to the same standards as everyone else. Freedom of the press does not mean they can lie about individual or events to promote an agenda.
That’s why we have defamation, slander and libel laws........
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