As the trial in Florida enters its second week, attorneys for Zachary Young, the security consultant named in the CNN story, tried to paint the network as engaging in “theater.”

CNN’s Alexander Marquardt took the stand in a Florida defamation trial Monday, defending his 2021 report that a security consultant sought exorbitant fees in what amounted to a black market to evacuate Afghans during the chaotic U.

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.