After Catherine Herridge, a veteran investigative reporter at CBS News, was fired in February, they seized her files, accusing the network of committing “journalistic rape.”
“I couldn’t check my email and I couldn’t get into my office. CBS News seized hundreds of pages of my reporting documents, which included confidential source information,” Herridge said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday.
“When Walter Cronkite’s network seizes your reporting documents, including confidential source information, it is an attack on investigative journalism.”
political insider CBS has seized Herridge’s documents, computers and records, the report said. However, the network vowed that no one would look through the documents, which were safely locked away in her office.
Herridge’s firing and the way it was handled, not to mention the timing, initially raised eyebrows because she was investigating an aspect of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
Previous article: Journalist Katherine Herridge testified that CBS News locked her out of the building and confiscated all her documents, saying she was working with sources to “expose government corruption.”
Nothing is happening here, folks.
“CBS News decided to withhold my reporting records… pic.twitter.com/XDuQEjyHcd
— Colin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 11, 2024
RELATED: Investigative reporter Catherine Herridge scorned after CBS obtained documents
Catherine Herridge-HamsCBS
Katherine Herridge’s revealing CBS News testimony was nothing short of damning.
In addition to the laptop investigation, the award-winning journalist has reported on the House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, special counsel Robert Hull’s report on his handling of classified documents, and the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden accusation.
“I can only speak for myself. When my records were confiscated, I felt like it was press rape,” she said.
Herridge’s sacking itself came as quite a shock. Despite winning awards for her ability to provide breaking news and insider information, she became an unexpected victim of layoffs at the network.
However, the network then confiscated her material, which is absolutely shocking. Herridge believes the impact is far-reaching.
“CBS News’ decision to withhold my reporting records crosses a red line that I believe no media organization should cross,” the Emmy winner testified.
“Multiple sources expressed concerns that by working with me to expose government corruption and misconduct, they would be identified and exposed.”
RELATED: CBS News chief Katherine Herridge receives free speech award after being fired
CBS denies anything unusual
Although Katherine Herridge has repeatedly accused the network of confiscating her files, CBS insists they did not take any unusual action.
The New York Post reported that the network claimed “no one looked through the documents and they ended up locked away in Herridge’s former office in Washington, D.C., before being returned.”
CBS News President Ingrid Cyprien-Matthews, who was involved in the firing of Katherine Herridge, later received a First Amendment Award from the RTDNA Foundation.
Earlier this year, Herridge was held in civil contempt by a federal judge for refusing to reveal the source of a series of stories published in 2017.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper imposed a hefty fine until Herridge complies. She was forced to reveal the identity of the source of a report she wrote that year about a Chinese-American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged with wrongdoing.
The case, along with CBS News’ firing and handling of her file, has significant First Amendment implications.
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