By Steven Richards
Published: June 23, 2024 10:14pm
CNN presidential debate moderator Jake Tapper’s show is at the center of a defamation suit brought by a consulting company which alleges that the network and one of its reporters lied about the company’s work.
The network’s defense: CNN did not intend to harm and its language was “opinion or ambiguous.”
Tapper is set to co-host the first presidential debate next Thursday which is being hosted by his network. The host has come under scrutiny from former President Donald Trump, who is set to participate in the debate, for his partiality— calling him “Fake [Jake] Tapper.”
But, as the well-known CNN personality gears up for that debate he also finds himself in the middle of a lawsuit against his employer by security consulting firm Nemex Enterprises and its owner Zachary Taylor, who worked to help evacuate Afghanis following the chaotic Taliban takeover of that country.
"Jake Tapper started his career working for a Democrat politician and he has never been able to shake the habit. Trying to run cover for Biden's disastrous pullout from Afghanistan, he and his CNN show slimed a hero who saved the lives of those Biden put in jeopardy. Now CNN is facing a billion dollar defamation suit at the same time Tapper will be moderating the presidential debate featuring the politician he lied for. Unreal," Dan Schneider, Vice President at conservative media watchdog Media Research Center, told Just the News in a statement. His organization reported that CNN has since deleted the TV segment under scrutiny from its website.
Earlier this month, a Florida Court of Appeals granted a win to Young and Nemex when it found there was “sufficient preliminary evidentiary showing of actual malice” in CNN’s coverage of their work in Afghanistan.
The court’s decision succinctly summarized the background of the case: “On November 11, 2021, CNN's ‘The Lead with Jake Tapper’ aired a video segment by reporter Alex Marquardt about Afghans attempting to flee the Taliban via private evacuation operators like Young. Over the next few days, Marquardt's reporting was republished on another CNN program, disseminated on Facebook and Twitter, and repackaged into a digital article on CNN's website.”
Young sued CNN for defamation and trade libel, arguing his reputation was damaged by the news station’s coverage. “Specifically, Young alleged CNN repeatedly accused him of operating in a ''black market" and mischaracterized his work as exploitative because he charged "exorbitant" fees Afghan citizens could not pay. Young claimed he was particularly harmed because he was the only private evacuator profiled in the reporting,” the decision reads.
The lawsuit showed internal communications from other CNN employees concerned that the story was “incomplete,” “a mess,” and not “fleshed out for digital.” Another criticism offered internally was that the “story is 80% emotion, 20% obscured fact,” according to the ruling.
CNN’s defended its publication of the article and TV segments by claiming in court papers that it “did not intend to harm,” that “its language was either opinion or ambiguous,” and “the internal communications were journalistic bravado that reflected a sincere belief in the reporting,” according to the appellate court's ruling.
https://justthenews.com/accountability/media/jake-tapper-center-defamation-lawsuit-cnn-prepares-host-presidential-debate