Alex Marquardt's exit from CNN 'obviously' tied to network's costly defamation trial, insiders say

CNN staffers are convinced the abrupt exit of network's chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt was tied to his involvement in the defamatory report that cost CNN millions.

Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to joseph.wulfsohn@fox.com and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.

Marquardt was at the center of a defamation case brought against him and CNN in January by U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young. A Florida jury found that CNN defamed Young and ruled that he could seek punitive damages as a result of a November 2021 report by Marquardt. The report branded Young as a shady profiteer who exploited "desperate Afghans" trying to flee Afghanistan during the Biden administration's chaotic military withdrawal from the Taliban-run country, implying Young was operating on a "black market."