The case, which involved a 2021 segment about a private security contractor in Afghanistan, played out as media organizations face more legal and political pressures.

CNN prevailed over a defamation suit brought in Virginia court by Kashyap Patel, an attorney who served in President Trump’s first administration, accusing the network of falsely connecting him to the spread of conspiracy theories about Trump.

Zachary Young alleged 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.