Navy veteran escalates defamation battle against Associated Press after local outlets pull article
FIRST ON FOX – U.S. Navy Veteran Zachary Young, who is seeking nearly $500 million in a defamation lawsuit against the Associated Press, continues to push for punitive damages after the outlet wrote he "helped smuggle people out of Afghanistan."
Young, who successfully sued CNN for defamation earlier this year, prevailed after alleging that CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021. When covering the trial in January, AP media reporter David Bauder wrote that "Young's business helped smuggle people out of Afghanistan."
Young's legal team has said that the AP article "went even further than CNN's falsehoods," and previously updated the complaint to include 40 Associated Press articles that use the term "smuggling" to describe criminal conduct. The court previously ruled that Young did nothing illegal.
Young's attorney, Daniel Lustig, notified the 14th Judicial Circuit Court in Bay County, Florida on Friday that U.S. News & World Report, WTOP News and The Minnesota Star Tribune have all removed their republication of the Associated Press article.
"Each did so shortly after receiving Plaintiffs' letter. While none of these outlets formally admitted fault, the timing and action speak for themselves. These removals further support Plaintiffs' argument that the Defamatory Article was understood as a criminal accusation and carried reputational risk, and that the Associated Press's refusal to retract or correct its version, despite having greater knowledge and post-litigation obligations, reflects express malice and deliberate disregard for the truth," Lustig wrote in a court filing.
"The removals also reinforce that the defamatory implication was clear to reasonable publishers, underscoring that AP's continued publication was not a good-faith editorial judgment but a knowing act of reputational harm," Lustig continued. "The Associated Press's decision to stand alone in continuing publication also reflects a reckless and knowing departure from accepted journalistic standards, which further supports the finding of actual malice."
Lustig believes the court should authorize the filing of a claim for punitive damages.
"We've now shown the court that the Associated Press escalated a false accusation even after multiple outlets who trust and rely on AP for content removed the article, and after a Florida judge ruled the claim was untrue," Lustig told Fox News Digital.
"The damage to Mr. Young's reputation continues, and AP's refusal to correct the record while publicly calling the lawsuit frivolous isn't journalism. It shows malice," Lustig continued. "This filing asks the court to treat it that way."
Indeed, the AP has referred to the lawsuit as "frivolous" in past statements to the press.
"AP's story was a factual and accurate report on the jury verdict finding in Zachary Young's favor. We will vigorously defend our reporting against this frivolous lawsuit," an AP spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital.
Young is seeking at least $18 million in economic loss, $50-75 million in reputational harm, $5-10 million in emotional distress and $300-350 million in punitive damages, according to a Notice of Filing.
The Associated Press did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
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