Court says CNN parent company MUST hand over financial docs if subpoenaed

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CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, has been ordered by a judge to turn over financial documents if and when subpoenaed.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Lynne M. Parker issued the ruling Friday, stating specifically that Warner Bros. Discovery must hand all financial documents over to plaintiff Zachary Young’s lawyers or issue a “sworn declaration” that said documents don’t exist if and when Young’s lawyers file a new, amended subpoena.

The original subpoena that Warner Bros. Discovery has refused to abide by was filed earlier in the fall:

BREAKING: CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery will be getting subpoenaed in the $1 billion defamation case against the network. The subpoena will be limited to any financial documents prepared by CNN as a way to double check they’re being honest with discovery. pic.twitter.com/COdToAy9TU

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) September 5, 2024

So who is Zachary Young? He’s a security contractor whose Florida-based company, Nemex Enterprises, helped people flee Afghanistan during President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal, according to Fox News.

CNN ran a segment on Nov. 11th, 2021 in which it smeared him and his company by essentially accusing them of charging Afghan evacuees exorbitant sums of money for help.

The segment featured correspondent Alex Marquardt delivering a report on host Jake Tapper’s show as chyrons read as follows:

“AFGHANS TRYING TO FLEE TALIBAN FACE BLACK MARKETS, EXORBITANT FEES, NO GUARANTEE OF SAFETY OR SUCCESS”

“AFGHANS AND ACTIVISTS REPORT DEMANDS OF $10K-$14K FOR ATTEMPTS TO GET FAMILY MEMBERS OUT OF COUNTRY.”

Featured above the chyrons was a photo of Young:

No other contractors were smeared in the segment.

In a lawsuit subsequently filed on Aug. 18th, 2023, Young slammed the network for portraying him as an “illegal profiteer” exploiting “desperate Afghans” with “exorbitant” fees.

Young further claimed that the network’s smears ruined his reputation and thus his business.

Over in Florida, where the case was originally filed, 14th Judicial Circuit Court Judge William Henry previously ruled that CNN must turn over its financial documents.

After Warner Bros. Discovery refused to turn over the documents, Young’s attorneys, Blake Bennett and Joe Delich, filed a motion to compel in Delaware, where the company is based.

“It’s simply inconceivable that Warner Bros. Discovery is incapable of providing cashflow and balance sheet information for its wholly owned subsidiary,” Delich told Judge Parker.

“Warner Bros. Discovery has produced some documents but has not produced any information about cashflow, or any kind of balance sheet information. We know that Warner Bros. Discovery has the ability to do this,” he added.

As proof, he noted that the company prepares consolidated financial statements publicly filed with the SEC.

“In order to prepare consolidated financial statements, there must be something to consolidate,” he said.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s attorney, Jennifer Ying, responded by claiming Young’s lawyers had filed a “premature motion” with respect to the original subpoena’s return date. She also alleged that the subpoena had never specified cash flow statements and balance sheets. And finally, she for real claimed the documents don’t exist.

“If it doesn’t exist, we can’t be compelled to produce anything,” she said. “We have told them twice now that such information does not exist. They have refused to accept that. We cannot create information that simply does not exist.”

Parker disagreed with the latter notion for obvious reasons — why wouldn’t financial documents exist? — and told Young’s attorneys to file a new subpoena that specifically mentions cash flow statements and balance sheets.

“You’re going to subpoena Warner Brothers requesting these two specific things, and they’re either going to produce documents or they’re going to give you a sworn declaration that it does not exist,” she said. “Issue the subpoena right away. They have 20 days from the date of issuance to respond.”

Previous documents released by Warner Bros. Discovery included text messages from Marquardt in which he’d written that he wanted to “nail this Zachary Young mfucker” and thought his smear story would be Young’s “funeral,” according to legal scholar Jonathan Turley.

“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 sh-t,’” Turley noted in a blog post.

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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.