CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, whose 2021 report portraying a U.S. Navy veteran as illegally exploiting Afghans was found to be defamatory earlier this year, is leaving the network.
“Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business,” Marquardt wrote in a Monday post on X. “Profound thank you to my comrades on the National Security team & the phenomenal teammates I’ve worked with in the US and abroad.”
Marquardt has been among the centerpieces of CNN’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war. He was also the focus of a defamation lawsuit from Zachary Young, who sued over a report saying that he charged Afghans exorbitant fees to be evacuated in the aftermath of the U.S. military withdrawal from the country, against the network.
In January, a Florida jury awarded Young $5 million….
