CNN defamation suit: Judge forces CNN lead counsel to apologize to plaintiff on the spot
Judge William Henry forced CNN’s attorney to apologize to the plaintiff during a wild morning in a Bay County courtroom Thursday in a high-profile defamation trial.
Judge Henry reprimanded CNN general counsel David Axelrod on Wednesday and ordered him to apologize for repeatedly calling accuser Zachary Young a “liar.” Before jurors entered the chamber on Thursday, Judge Henry asked Axelrod, the CNN on-air reporter of the same name, if he had apologized under the order.
“I haven’t,” Axelrod said.
“Why don’t you do that and I’m going to judge whether it’s an apology or not… you’re angry about it, sorry, that’s not an apology,” Judge Henry said.
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14th Judicial District Court Judge William S. Henry. (Tyler Orsburn/Gannett)
“Mr. Young, I apologize for what I said and represented about the Helios contract. I said you lied during your lie. Your testimony is the same as what we saw in the Conway letter, and I apologize for that,” Axelrod said.
Judge Henry Young asked him if he had accepted.
“No, I don’t,” Yang replied.
Judge Henry went on to say that the Helios contract mentioned in Axelrod’s apology was an agreement to hold a security clearance, not an agreement to get a job, so Young called Axelrod a “liar” and was truthful in his statement.
Young, a Navy veteran, sued CNN for allegedly defaming him in 2021 by saying the Biden administration had illegally profited from helping people flee Afghanistan on the “black market” as the military left the country in 2021. In the year In the November 2021 episode, it was an illegal profiteer who exploited “desperate Afghans.”
Judge Henry ordered lead counsel from both sides to pay $200 each in Wednesday’s ordeal, after previously imposing a fine of $100 for each attorney’s misconduct against the other side. The money will go to Legal Services of North Florida, and the fine will increase to $1,000 in the future.
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CNN’s general counsel, David Axelrod, angered Judge William Henry. (Jessica Costescu)
Judge Henry Axelrod called him “Mr. Henry” in court and told him he was taking it “as a slip” for now.
“Now if you do it again today, I take it as direct, deliberate and conscious insult,” Judge Henry said.
Axelrod blamed the gaffe on having a “long day” and apologized.
Judge Henry told Axelrod on Wednesday: “Now, your credibility with me, Mr. Axelrod, means nothing.
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U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, the Biden administration in 2015 (Jessica Costescu)
Reporting on Wednesday’s drama, Fox News anchor Jonathan Turley wrote that the judge had taken things from “bad to worse” for CNN, saying Axelrod had no credibility with him.
“That’s never a good thing to hear from a judge. Axelrod apologized, but the damage is clear,” Turley said. He wrote.
The ongoing trial is being streamed live. over here.
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