The Lead

The $1 billion defamation suit against CNN continued to chug along in the background as the presidential election and world events take center stage. But on Tuesday, Florida 14th Circuit judge William Scott Henry cleared the way for Plaintiff and U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young to use legal force to compel CNN to turn over financial documents and to subpoena their parent company Warner Bros.…

News consumers are often unaware of just how friendly the power players in Washington are, and those relationships are often undisclosed. A Netflix show called Somebody Feed Phil underlined that CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg aren't just anti-Trump allies.

Monday marked the three-year anniversary of the suicide attack near the Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of 13 U.S. service members. As part of their coverage of the anniversary, CNN’s Phil Mattingly, filling in as host of The Lead, brought on White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby to press him on administration’s lack…

CNN’s Jake Tapper – who never served, who was never a war reporter, who got rich off of books and movies he’s written about other peoples' war stories – had some pretty strong, negative thoughts about Republicans who answered the call to serve America, on Wednesday. Ahead of Night Three of the Democratic National Convention were valor thief Governor Tim Walz (MN) was set the accept the veep…

CNN was just handed a slew of legal defeats in the $1 billion defamation case against them. On Monday, Judge William Scott Henry of Florida’s 14th Circuit Court sided with Plaintiff and Navy veteran Zachary Young on multiple motions against CNN, including compelling them to turn over their journalistic conduct guidelines, compelling them to comply with turning over documents necessary for…

The only things certain in life are death, taxes, and the media trying to fact-check Republican claims that Democrats are the real radicals on abortion. Unfortunately for CNN’s Jake Tapper, Vice President Kamala Harris picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was there on Wednesday’s edition of The Lead to educate him on just how radical Walz…

On Thursday, as CNN shows hyped actress Jennifer Aniston complaining about J.D. Vance quipping that liberals are mostly "childless cat ladies," afternoon host Jake Tapper went so far as to have on reporter Elizabeth Wagmeister to read her "favorite" clapbacks by Taylor Swift fans. 

With a greater division in the understandings of each generation, politics has been caught in the very real question of how to appeal to all audiences, how to do this without isolating one, and especially without ostracizing another. This issue was demonstrated perfectly in the Monday afternoon segment of CNN’s The Lead, as host Jake Tapper and his fellow co-hosts attempted to dissect…

The drip, drip, drip of developments from the $1 billion defamation suit against CNN has been steady. In addition to reporting on CNN attempting to block host Jake Tapper from being deposed as part of the proceedings, NewsBusters has exclusively obtained an unredacted transcript from the deposition of CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt connected to the case. NewsBusters has also obtained an…

Overshadowed by the Republican National Convention last week, CNN’s lawyers filed a motion for a protective order that aimed to block network host Jake Tapper from being deposed as part of the $1 billion defamation suit against the network. It was the second time Tapper was requested for deposition and the second time CNN put up resistance, this time more aggressively.

The dam appears to have broken after NewsBusters took the lead in recent days to put a spotlight on the massive defamation suit against CNN that could possibly cost them upwards of $1 billion. Along with the increased notoriety of the case, so has followed public awareness and expert analysis. NewsBusters has sought out expert opinions on how CNN had allegedly harmed plaintiff, security…

Earlier this week, NewsBusters was the first to report that the defamation suit against CNN could cost the network upwards of $1 billion. The possible cumulative damages were able to be that high because a Florida appeals court affirmed that plaintiff, security contractor, and Navy veteran Zachary Young was able to prove malice on behalf of CNN. And what few have seen, was the video from…

Nick Fondacaro broke a story on how debate moderate Jake Tapper's show aired a nasty hit piece that spurred a defamation lawsuit from a man working to evacuate people out of Afghanistan. Internal messages show profane malice from reporter Alex Marquardt and others. It's no one's idea of idealistic investigative journalism. It sounds like Gotcha journalism.

The case may not be as well known (yet), but CNN could be facing a defamation liability rivaling or exceeding the $787 million Fox News paid out to Dominion Voting Systems. NewsBusters recently reported on Florida’s First District Court of Appeals affirming that plaintiff Zachery Young could seek punitive damages, in addition to economic and emotional damages, from the Cable News Network in a…