In a Monday morning X post, chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt announced that he would be leaving CNN “after 8 terrific years.” But Marquardt’s departure comes four months after he cost the network several million dollars and tarnished their reputation with a maliciously defamatory report against Navy veteran Zachary Young.
“Some personal news: I’m leaving CNN after 8 terrific years,” he wrote to his followers.
Adding: “Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business. Profound thank you to my comrades on the National Security team & the phenomenal teammates I’ve worked with in the US and abroad.”
Some personal news: I’m leaving CNN after 8 terrific years. Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business. Profound thank you to my comrades on the National Security team & the phenomenal teammates I’ve worked with in the US and abroad.
— Alex Marquardt (@MarquardtA) June 2, 2025
Marquardt was at the center of a January defamation trial as his reporting about Young, a security contractor who was coordinating efforts to get innocent people out of Afghanistan, was found to be maliciously defamatory and cost CNN $5 million in economic and emotional damages, plus an undisclosed amount in punitive damages.
Through discovery, messages between Marquardt and his “phenomenal teammates” (as he described them) proved that he had targeted Young with actual and pressed malice. He had boasted to an editor that he was “going to nail this Zachary Young mfucker,” and he agreed with another co-worker that Young had a “punchable face.”
During the trial, it came to light that Marquardt had fabricated a call with Young, falsely giving the impression that he tried really hard to get a hold of him before the story went to air. In footage that was left on the cutting room floor, but was played for the jury, he joyfully called the fake phone call “theater!”
After giving Young only two hours to respond before the story went to air, Young actually messaged back (in the middle of the night for him) warning Marquardt that the story had factual inaccuracies. In a message to an editor, Marquardt decried: “fucking Young just texted.”
In the midst of the case proceedings, Marquardt actually received a promotion to chief national security correspondent; something CNN wanted to hide from the jury. “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,” Young’s co-counsel Joe Delich told NewsBusters back in July, 2024.
Marquardt refused to apologize to Young when pressed in open court, as did every CNN employee who testified.
His X post did not mention his new landing spot.
