CNN pokes holes in security contractor’s defamation claims over Afghanistan evacuation story

CNN’s attorneys dropped a bombshell on a Florida court Thursday that could potentially upend the defamation case against the network brought by a security consultant named in a 2021 story on private contractors charging Afghans fleeing a Taliban takeover during the U.S.'s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Zachary Young — a U.S. Navy veteran who had previously worked for military contractors Blackwater and Dyncorp International — sued the network over a segment aired on Nov. 11, 2021, that included interviews with Afghans claiming some private contractors were charging up to $14,000 for “black market” evacuations.

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