Defamation Trial: Judge Scolds CNN Attorney

Judge William Henry blasted CNN’s lead counsel in the ongoing defamation trial on Wednesday, ordering him to apologize to plaintiff Zachary Young for repeatedly calling him a "liar" and telling the high-powered lawyer he lost all credibility in the courtroom. 

"This isn’t kindergarten. Y'all matriculated from kindergarten a long, long time ago," Judge Henry said. 

Young, a Navy veteran, alleges that CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021. Young believes CNN "destroyed his reputation and business" by branding him an illegal profiteer who exploited "desperate Afghans" during the November 2021 segment.

Young's lead counsel Vel Freedman informed Judge Henry on Wednesday that his client had just learned he lost his security clearance, which had been previously renewed right after the CNN report aired. CNN’s legal team had earlier suggested that Young maintaining security clearance was proof that he lied about being able to work in the wake of the CNN segment. 

Fox News Digital reports Freedman said Young checked his security clearance status after testifying, and discovered that he actually lost it in 2022. As a result, Freedman sought to add a witness from Helios Global, the firm that held Young’s now-defunct security clearance, in order to tell jurors that the relationship "dissolved" in 2022. 

CNN lead counsel David Axelrod, who shares a name with the CNN political commentator, objected to the last-minute effort. However, Freedman insisted the "jury should not be misled" and said Bay County jurors were left with the impression that Young still holds a security clearance to this day. 

The judge presiding over Zachary Young's defamation case against CNN slammed lawyers on both sides for a lack of professionalism on Wednesday. "This isn't kindergarten," Judge William S. Henry said.

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Axelrod insisted that he didn’t mislead the jury, but Judge Henry blasted the "blatant misrepresentation" of CNN’s legal team implying the security clearance document was an employment contract.  

Judge Henry read aloud a transcript of Axelrod’s comments from last week, in which he called the lawsuit a "fraud" and insisted Young "lied" about being able to earn income in the wake of the CNN report. "You called him a liar multiple times there," Judge Henry said.

Judge Henry seemed annoyed that Axelrod used the security clearance document to insist Young was a "liar," but then objected to a witness who would be able to explain that Young did not actually have the clearance. Freedman told the judge that CNN "knew" Young no longer had security clearance but didn't tell the court.

"They knew it was not true," Freedman said. "CNN knew that relationship ended, knew Mr. Young did not know that relationship ended, had proof of it, failed to disclose it to the other side, and then put an expert on the stand to say he still has it."

Much like last week when similar chaos erupted, Judge Henry then called for a recess because he wanted to return to his chambers and think things over. He returned and promptly scolded Axelrod.