U.S. News & World Report retracts AP article about veteran Zachary Young, but AP stands by the story

U.S. News & World Report has retracted a republished Associated Press report at the center of a high-stakes defamation lawsuit brought by U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, but the AP continues to stand by its reporting. 

Young, who successfully sued CNN for defamation earlier this year, alleged 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 filed a defamation lawsuit against the AP on Friday for "an article that went even further than CNN's falsehoods." In the court filing obtained by Fox News Digital, Young's lawyer, Daniel Lustig, wrote that the "AP blatantly accused Mr. Young of engaging in criminal human smuggling."

The AP stands by its reporting and vowed to "vigorously defend" itself against a "frivolous lawsuit," but U.S. News & World Report removed its pickup of the story. It is common practice for news outlets to republish stories from wire services like the AP and Reuters.

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"RETRACTION: U.S. News & World Report has removed the article previously available at this URL that had been published on January 17, 2025, entitled 'Florida Jury Says CNN Defamed Navy Veteran in Story About Endangered Afghans.' The article was reported and written by the Associated Press (AP). As an AP subscriber, U.S News regularly republishes multiple AP articles on a daily basis," U.S. News & World Report wrote on the page where the AP report used to exist. 

"The AP article reported that the jury found that a CNN report on Mr. Young had falsely implied he had engaged in illegal conduct," U.S. News & World Report continued. "The AP article also stated that 'Young's business helped smuggle people out of Afghanistan.' Mr. Young subsequently contacted U.S. News and objected to the word 'smuggle' as accusing him of engaging in criminal activity. In republishing the article, U.S. News had no intention to suggest that Mr. Young's actions were unlawful. Nevertheless, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, U.S. News has removed and retracts the AP article."

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While U.S. News & World Report has retracted the story, other outlets that republish AP reporting, such as The Minnesota Star Tribune and WAFF, kept the story up as of Monday afternoon. 

Young believes the AP acted with actual malice and is seeking "damages in excess of $50,000.00, exclusive of interest, costs and attorneys' fees," according to the filing. 

Young will presumably amend the lawsuit to add punitive damages.

"In essence, AP's defamatory statement dealt another blow to Plaintiffs' reputation and trade, exacerbating the damage that CNN's reporting had already inflicted," Young's lawyer wrote. 

"AP is liable for defamation by implication because the publication, taken as a whole, would reasonably cause readers to draw a false and defamatory conclusion about Mr. Young. AP acted with actual malice in publishing this implication, or at least negligently, as detailed previously," the suit continued. "AP knew the implication was false, i.e., Mr. Young was not a criminal smuggler, yet allowed it to be communicated to readers, demonstrating a reckless disregard for the truth."

The AP Stylebook, which is the industry standard for many news organizations, noted in 2019 that human smuggling "typically involves transporting people across an international border illegally, with their consent, in exchange for a fee."

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Young's attorney believes U.S. News & World Report did the right thing. 

"U.S. News realized that retracting the article was necessary because it is based on a lie about Mr. Young - something AP still refuses to do. This retraction confirms what we've said all along: the accusation was false, reputationally damaging, and never should have been published in the first place," Lustig told Fox News Digital. 

Young is seeking the same venue for his lawsuit against the AP as he had with CNN: Bay County, Florida. 

"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 told Fox News Digital last week. 

The AP directed Fox News Digital to the same statement when asked about U.S. News & World Report's retraction.