Zachary Young Appeals AP Defamation Dismissal Over 'Smuggling' Claim After $5 Million CNN Verdict
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 10
Zachary Young Appeals AP Defamation Dismissal Over 'Smuggling' Claim After $5 Million CNN Verdict
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 10
Summary
Three Florida appellate judges heard Zachary Young’s bid to revive his defamation case against the Associated Press after a trial judge threw it out in September.
Young says AP defamed him by reporting in January 2025 that his business helped “smuggle” people out of Afghanistan, a term his lawyer argued AP’s own stylebook defines as illegal activity.
AP lawyer Charles Tobin told the court the stylebook was irrelevant to this case and said the article accurately described the CNN verdict that had favored Young.
That earlier CNN case ended with a jury awarding Young $4 million for lost earnings and $1 million for personal damages before the sides reached an undisclosed settlement on punitive damages.
No ruling timetable was given, leaving the appeal as Young’s next test in a broader campaign against media coverage of his Afghanistan evacuation work.