Zachary Young, the U.S.Navy veteran who defeated CNN in a high-profile defamation case, is accusing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of "censorship" for trying to stop him from releasing a spy memoir about his life. Young, who is CIA-trained, successfully 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. During the trial, Young outlined his extensive training in things such as "brush passes," and other sophisticated ways to exchange sensitive information in hostile areas without being detected. Young has since teamed up with "American Sniper" co-author Scott McEwen for a memoir called "American Spy," but he says the CIA withheld permission for the book to be published.
Young said he sent his former employer a manuscript for prepublication review, noting that the book wouldn’t contain classified information and that his involvement with the agency was already part of the public trial record after the CIA confirmed his background to CNN reporters. NAVY VET WHO BEAT CNN IN DEFAMATION TRIAL TEAMS UP WITH 'AMERICAN SNIPER' CO-AUTHOR FOR UPCOMING SPY MEMOIRU.S.Navy Veteran Zachary Young, seen here in Pakistan in the early 2000s.
(Zachary Young)The CIA Author Review Office (ARO) not only rejected his book but also told Young, who signed a nondisclosure agreement during his time with the Agency, to delete the manuscript altogether, according to a letter the Navy veteran said he received earlier this month. "The manuscript cannot be published or disclosed as written, because the manuscript is predicated upon sensitive information subject to your nondisclosure agreement.In issuing this denial, we reviewed the additional materials you submitted with the manuscript, but must stress that these materials did not constitute confirmation or acknowledgment by the organization of the information contained in the m...