EXCLUSIVE: Refugee Rescuer Suing CNN for Libel Wins Right to Seek Punitive Damages

A security consultant whose company worked to extract at-risk women from Afghanistan as it fell to the Taliban, saw his business fail after a damaging story ran on CNN. Zak Young sued for libel and this week he won a procedural victory when a Florida judge said he could seek punitive damages.

U.S. Air Force loadmasters and pilots load passengers during the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) on Aug. 24, 2021, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen/U.S. Air Forces Europe-Africa via Getty Images

A former special operator who rescued refugees from Afghanistan as it fell to the Taliban in 2021 and whose business was destroyed by a CNN story that he says was false and defamatory, won a significant procedural victory in a Florida court in his libel lawsuit against the network.

In an order allowing Zachary Young to sue for punitive damages, Judge William S. Henry in Bay County quoted startling language from CNN employees’ internal emails and texts regarding the story that aired on Nov. 11, 2021.