CNN is currently on trial after being accused of defaming a military contractor. The case relates to a segment that aired in November 2021 about private "blackmarket" contractors hired to carry out evacuations following the U.S withdrawal from Afghanistan. Navy veteran Zachary Young sued CNN in June 2022 and claimed that the segment defamed him.

Chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt denied that his report about security contractor Zachary Young was a “hit piece.”

The rare defamation trial against a media company comes as CNN is looking to slash spending as its ratings plunge.

Alex Marquardt was pressed on Monday about his efforts to dig up dirt on the Navy veteran suing CNN for defamation, undercutting CNN’s defense that the plaintiff was not a central focus of the report.

A senior CNN employee called a Navy veteran “a s—” in 2021 messages that have surfaced as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the news network. Knewz.com can reveal Fuzz Hogan, the senior director of the network’s standards and practices department,