In the midst of facing a $1 billion defamation suit, CNN gave the primary offending journalist, Alex Marquardt a promotion to chief national security correspondent and a cushy raise to go along with it. Rationally, one might question how someone could obtain a promotion after causing their company to become entrenched in serious and costly litigation, but it was a question and series of facts that CNN was trying to hide from a Florida jury last Thursday, according to courtroom video exclusively obtained by NewsBusters.
The fact that CNN gave a journalist a promotion while there was ongoing litigation caused by their “half ass” reporting would speaks volumes to a jury about their mind set about the case.
That’s why CNN’s new lawyer David Axelrod repeatedly insisted that, “This has absolutely nothing to do with this case.” “What happened two years later is irrelevant, it's a sideshow, it's unduly prejudicial because it has no relevant value,” he added.
He also complained:
And so really, what happens to Alex Marquardt's career at CNN after this, getting a promotion has no relevance on what he did in November of 2021. It's really, we suspect to, to backdoor this kind of ‘CNN's terrible,’ also the backdoor Alex Marquardt's compensation, which Mr. Sanborn's gonna talk about in a little bit as being improper.
Judge William Scott Henry of Florida’s 14th Judicial Circuit Court recalled that there was sworn deposition testimony from a CNN employee who admitted that Marquardt’s promotion and raise were put on hold earlier in the litigation process. Axelrod tried to downplay that fact:
HENRY: Was there anything to do with this contract negotiations being put on hold for a while? I remember reading a reference to something along those lines. Was that ongoing at the time the piece aired?
AXELROD: What’s that?
HENRY: Was his negotiations going ongoing at the time the piece aired or shortly thereafter, and they put it on hold?
AXELROD: What's that? No, his negotiations didn't happen till at least a year later, I think they started, and, and then they were on hold for a bit, and then that period ended. He was promoted in 2023.
Vel Freedman, lead counsel for Plaintiff and Navy veteran Zachary Young, had receipts in the form of deposition testimony from CNN HR boss Stephanie Altman, who confirmed that Marquardt’s promotion was paused directly because of the litigation:
And the question is, “Ms. Altman, in preparation for this deposition were you told about the scope of the topic that we'd be covering today?” That would answer, “That would be discussing the impact of Alex Marquardt’s contract negotiations related to the punitive damages motion.” There's a, there's a more clear answer.
(…)
And here's the testimony: “At what point was the decision made to pause Mr. Marquardt's contract negotiations?” Answer: “Upon the filing of the punitive damages motion, I believe it was in April.”
“So, the fact that CNN discovered all the misconduct as laid out clearly in the punitive damages brief, read it, put his contract on hold, and then decided to reward the wrongdoer by promoting him and giving him substantial raise, are factors that are relevant to the punitive damages analysis, and something that the jury should be able to hear when determining entitlement,” Freedman succinctly argued.
Freedman suggested that the promotion was possibly tied to his testimony during the consideration for punitive damages.
Seemingly irked by the arguments he was facings, Axelrod launched into personal attacks on Young, calling him a “war profiteer” and “a bad guy”:
And when we talk about the ‘shitbag’ comments, it's not just gonna be about the fact that he was a war profiteer. It's gonna be about the fact that this is a guy who claims to be a quiet, uh, a quiet soldier, a quiet operative. And when he gets confronted by a woman on LinkedIn, he calls her a spiteful bitch. When he gets asked and challenged about how much money he's charging, he says, why don't you have him run for the border and see how far he gets. That's what they're gonna testify about why they thought Mr. Young was a bad guy, because, in fact, he was a bad guy, and he is a bad guy.
“But that's all gonna come out at trial. The rest of this is just show,” he huffed.
As a refresher, Young was trying to get women and children out of Afghanistan and away from the Taliban. Judge Henry had also already ruled that Young “did not act illegally or criminally” in what he was doing. Young also worked with companies such as Bloomberg News and Audible.
In a comment to NewsBusters back in July, Joe Delich (counsel for Young) decried Marquardt’s promotion amid their suit. “CNN’s internal messages are indicative of a cowboy culture that cares more about clicks than accountability. In fact, CNN promoted the primary reporter on the story after this lawsuit was filed, indicating this kind of journalism is not only tolerated at CNN—it’s rewarded,” he said.
Perhaps that was why CNN had their journalistic conduct guidelines sealed as part of the proceedings. Judge Henry ordered the Cable News Network to turn over their guidelines after they refused to do so.
Click here for the relevant portion of the hearing transcript.
