PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA — CNN national security editor Thomas Lumley was questioned in court Tuesday after internal messages showed he was highly skeptical of the “fairly flawed” report at the center of a high-profile defamation trial.
Zachary Young, a U.S. Navy veteran, claims CNN defamed him in a November 2021 report that first aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” suggesting he illegally took advantage of desperate people trying to flee Afghanistan after the war. The Biden administration military withdrawal, implying that he was involved in “black market” transactions and thus ruined his professional reputation. The report first aired on television and then was printed for CNN’s website.
Lumley, who has worked for CNN for more than six years, was called as a witness after internal messages showed he felt the report was “full of holes like Swiss cheese.”
Thomas Lumley, CNN’s national security editor, was questioned in court Tuesday after internal messages showed he was highly skeptical of the “fairly flawed” report at the center of a highly controversial defamation lawsuit. publicized. (Fox News Digital)
Jurors saw a variety of emails and messages during Lumley’s testimony, including a message in which he suggested reporter Alex Marquardt add information about whether people who pay large sums to be evacuated actually manage to leave Afghanistan.
Lumley received a draft of the printed article written by Marquardt and responded by saying: “One important thing is not clear to me. Do any of the people who pay these guys actually leave the country? I think we need a chart. [paragraph] to explain. Is it totally hopeless? »
A minute later, Lumley sent a message to a fellow CNN editor saying he didn’t “understand” a fundamental question about the story, and he was surprised that the “triad” of the news apparatus CNN fact-checking endorsed Marquardt’s report.
Young had previously testified that he helped rescue at least 22 women from Afghanistan, but this information was never reported by CNN, indicating that the network did not follow Lumley’s advice.
“I had a question that was interesting to me,” Lumley said when asked by Young’s lead attorney, Vel Freedman, if he had any questions about the report.
Thomas Lumley received a draft of the printed article written by Marquardt and responded by saying: “One important thing does not seem clear to me. Do any of the people who pay these guys actually leave the country? I think we need a graphic designer to explain. Is it totally hopeless? »
Thomas Lumley, CNN’s national security editor, was surprised that CNN’s fact-checkers approved the article, according to messages he sent to colleagues.
The CNN editor-in-chief then attempted to walk back comments he had previously made to his colleagues.
“Those are my words on the page, but I actually think my question about the story was what I would call a storytelling question. It wasn’t a question about accuracy and fairness Of this story, what constitutes the ‘triad’ is really concerning,” Lumley said.
“I said, ‘I’m a little surprised,’ but when I think about it,” he continued. “It was a slightly imprecise thought.”
Freedman then asked Lumley if he had met with CNN’s lawyers to prepare his testimony.
“I had a pretty short meeting last night, maybe 45 minutes, and we had a few meetings in Washington before the holiday…about four hours maybe,” Lumley said.
Freedman then showed the jury another internal message when Lumley wrote: “It’s actually a good story (without the digital writing or TV script answering a fundamental question). »
Freedman then showed the jury Lumley’s messages that read, “I don’t know if everyone is being scammed” by Young, adding, “That’s pretty crucial!”
In another post, Lumley suggested a “pause” in the report if Marquardt didn’t have answers to the key question.
“If he doesn’t know the answer to this fundamental question, I would say we really need to pause until we find out…I hope Alex does, but he just forgot to mention it” , Lumley wrote to a CNN colleague who responded, “Oh.”
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Thomas Lumley wrote: “This would actually be a good story (without the digital writing or TV script answering a fundamental question). »
Thomas Lumley, CNN’s national security editor, suggested that the digital report be put on “pause” until a basic question is answered.
Lumley confirmed under oath that he sent these messages and that the report aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” shortly thereafter. Lumley then paused printing.
“We’re pausing it for digital [CNN’s website]. My fundamental question has now been answered, but on television the problem is less. Interviews with a dramatic silhouette and it was done in a less blatant way. As a piece of writing, I think it works less well,” Lumley wrote to a colleague.
Freedman then showed the jury other emails in which Lumley criticized his network’s reporting. Lumley called it “not really ready for prime time”, reiterated that it was “not clear from history whether anyone paying these people ever gets out” and called the whole of the ratio of “fairly imperfect”.
Freedman pointed out that the report had already aired on CNN when Lumley suggested it was “not ready for prime time.” When pressed on the witness stand, Lumley insisted he was criticizing the print-for-digital story and not the television report.
“I wasn’t responsible for the TV show, so I can have an opinion, but if I had read the TV show and thought there was a major problem, I would have said something,” he said. Lumley testified.
Freedman retorted, “I think you said something.”
U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young said Thursday he has successfully helped at least 22 women flee Afghanistan. (Jessica Costescu)
“The story is full of holes like Swiss cheese,” Thomas Lumley wrote to CNN colleague Megan Trimble, who replied: “Okay, the story is 80% emotion and 20% emotion. obscured facts lol.”
Jurors then saw more internal messages from CNN, including Lumley calling the report “crap, urgent to pull a TV package” and that Marquardt was “pissed off” over the criticism. In another message, he wrote : “I think Alex’s story is a disaster” and said it might not be “easily salvageable”.
Lumley testified that the message showed him “clearly frustrated” and that he did not think the version shown on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” should be broadcast online.
“The story is full of holes like Swiss cheese,” Lumley wrote to CNN colleague Megan Trimble, who responded: “Okay, the story is 80% emotion and 20% emotion. obscured facts lol.”
CNN’s national security editor, Thomas Lumley, said in an internal message to colleagues that Alex Marquardt’s report was “not poetry” and “half of a good story “.
Thomas Lumley, CNN’s national security editor, called the story at the center of a high-stakes defamation trial “pretty flawed.”
Freedman asked Lumley if an “obscure fact” was a “lie,” but the CNN editor-in-chief struggled to answer.
“I honestly can’t speak for Ms. Trimble,” he testified.
Freedman then pointed out that the report aired on several other CNN shows after its initial airing on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
Lumley also admitted that the “fundamental question” he wanted to answer could not be found in time for the digital report. Despite all the criticism Lumley voiced in internal messages played to jurors, he stood by the story when asked about it on the witness stand.
“From a narrative point of view, it’s not my favorite. But it’s still a fair and accurate story,” Lumley testified.
Later, CNN attorney David Axelrod, not to be confused with CNN political commentator, questioned Lumley during cross-examination. Asked about the “full of holes like Swiss cheese” comment, Lumley called it “imprecise language” and said the one “hole” he was primarily interested in was what happened next for the Afghans.
“I will never publish a story that I consider incorrect or unfair,” he said.
The trial resumes on Wednesday and will be broadcast live on Fox News Digital.
Nikolas Lanum of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
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