U.S. Navy veteran suing CNN lands key legal victories ahead of high-stakes defamation trial

A Florida judge on Friday sided with U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, who is suing CNN for defamation, on several critical issues as the high-stakes trial is set to begin next month.

Young alleges that CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited via a "black market" when helping people flee Afghanistan during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021. Young believes CNN "destroyed his reputation and business" during a segment that year on Jake Tapper's program "The Lead," which was shared on social media and also repackaged for CNN's website.

Judge William Henry denied CNN’s motion for summary judgment, allowing Young to "proceed with his claim for punitive damages" and declaring the court found he "did not take money from Afghans."

"Despite claiming it did ‘three weeks of newsgathering’ and ‘spoke with more than a dozen sources,’ Defendant’s representatives acknowledged it had no evidence that Young did anything criminal or illegal. Yet, Defendant used the Black Market Chyron. This is sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable jury could find with convincing clarity that Defendant acted with actual malice to survive summary judgment on this issue," Judge Henry ruled in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.

"Defendant had no evidence of illegality and Young said he was not contracting with or taking money from individuals. Despite this, Defendant published his name and photograph as the poster child bad actor preying on Afghans," he continued. "Accordingly, the record evidence could support a conclusion that Defendant aired and posted the Pieces knowing the gist was false or with reckless disregard as to whether the gist was false or not."

CNN’s legal team had argued that Young’s actions violated the Taliban’s Sharia law, but Judge Henry slapped down the notion he violated a law.

"Framing these circumstances as a ‘debate’ between the Taliban rulers and the rest of the free world would be akin to saying it was debatable whether the Nazi extermination of the Jews at Auschwitz was wrong," Judge Henry wrote.

Judge Henry also called out CNN’s legal team for failing to nail down how Young operated in an unregulated "black market.