A Navy veteran is suing far-left CNN for defamation and now a judge has ruled CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s pompous lectures about “journalistic ethics” can be heard by a jury.

Unless a settlement is reached, the trial begins Monday.

As Breitbart News has previously reported, Navy veteran Zachary Young has already won several vital pre-trial motions against CNN and Tapper. Here’s how it began…

Back in November of 2021, when our mentally incapacitated president demanded we evacuate Afghanistan in the stupidest and most destructive way possible, the regime media was desperate to manufacture villains that would take the heat off of Biden. That’s when regime anchor Tapper told his handful of viewers, “Afghans trying to get out of the country face a black market full of promises, demands of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.”

He then turned the segment over to CNN regime correspondent Alex Marquardt, who said that “desperate Afghans are being exploited” by those offering evacuation services for “exorbitant, often impossible” costs.

A picture of Young flashed on the screen along with chyrons that read: “AFGHANS TRYING TO FLEE TALIBAN FACE BLACK MARKETS, EXORBITANT FEES” and “NO GUARANTEE OF SAFETY OR SUCCESS” and “AFGHANS AND ACTIVISTS REPORT DEMANDS OF $10K-$14K FOR ATTEMPTS TO GET FAMILY MEMBERS OUT OF COUNTRY.”

This is from one of the complaints filed by Young’s legal team:

The truth is nothing like CNN told it. The fact is that in late 2021, Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. During that turmoil, Young began leveraging his unique skillset and relationships to assist USS. corporations and charities that wanted to safely and swiftly extract certain persons from Afghanistan. Young was successful, saving dozens of lives for various corporate sponsors, and building a track record that led to more engagements with established corporations and NGOs.

Contrary to CNN’s untrue and sensationalist reporting, Young never advertised to, or took a single penny from, any Afghan, much less “exploited” “desperate Afghans.” And he certainly never sold any services on a “black market.” Everything he did was legal.

Four months later — four whole months after branding a man a black marketer getting rich off of desperate people in legitimate fear for their lives, Tapper tried to take it all back with this on-air “apology”:

And before we go, a correction. In November, we ran a story about Afghans desperate to pay high sums beyond the reach of average Afghans. The story included a lead-in and banner throughout the story that referenced a black market. The use of the term black market in the story was in error. The story included reporting on Zachary Young, a private operator who had been contacted by family members of Afghans trying to flee the country. We didn’t mean to suggest that Mr. Young participated in the black market. We regret the error and to Mr. Young, we apologize.

But.

Texts show that CNNLOL was out to destroy Young:

The evidence included messages from [CNN’s Alex] Marquardt that he wanted to “nail this Zachary Young mfucker” and thought the story would be Young’s “funeral.” After promising to “nail” Young, CNN editor Matthew Philips responded: “gonna hold you to that cowboy!” Likewise, CNN senior editor Fuzz Hogan described Young as “a shit.”

As is often done by media, CNN allegedly gave Young only two hours to respond before the story ran. It is a typical ploy of the press to claim that they waited for a response while giving the target the smallest possible window.

In this case, Young was able to respond in the short time and Marquardt messaged a colleague, “fucking Young just texted.”

And now the trial judge has basically ruled that statements made by Jake Tapper pompously calling out others over “ethics,” including his pompous attacks on Trump’s “ethics,” can — in my own words — be shoved up his hypocritical ass.

CNN attorney “Charles Tobin argued that Tapper’s commentary on journalistic ethics should not be used during the first phase of the trial because of how discovery played out so far,” reports Law & Crime.

Tobin then said that his understanding was that Tapper’s statements would only be used if the trial moved to the phase where damages are assessed.

The judge disagreed, saying that “the first phase will also concern whether Young is entitled to punitive damages.” He added that this “basic question” will be “informed by Tapper’s statements about the world of journalism.”

The judge further explained that this “would be one of those things where, you know, if you’re not adhering to journalistic standards and you’re out there for clickbait — or for malice or for other things of that nature — I mean that’s relevant to an entitlement, potentially, to punitive damages.”

Then came the stinger when the judge said he would allow the jury to hear Tapper’s attacks on incoming President Trump’s ethics.

“We learned in the campaign that Donald Trump can be cavalier about facts and truth,” Tapper said in 2017.

The anchor then went on to criticize the way that “conservative media” helped Trump repeat “falsehoods” as well “incendiary nonsense against President Trump from the left.”

CNN’s lawyer argued Tapper’s Trump-related comments might “make this a political case” about “whether CNN is a network that is criticizing President Trump and whether it is doing it in the proper way.”

The judge laughed off the objection.

The question now becomes one of a settlement agreement over the weekend. However, a previous settlement negotiation has already failed, but now CNN is likely looking at the writing on the wall and thinking seriously about opening its checkbook. This judge is no fool. The trial will be heard by a Florida jury. CNN is a national joke. Above all, Young appears to have a watertight case for deliberate malice.

Let’s hope there’s no settlement and the jury decides that the only adequate punishment is to hand the entire the CNN network over to Alex Jones.

John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.