Catherine Herridge — the acclaimed CBS News investigative journalist known for her reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal — told the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday that the network “crossed a red line” when it seized her files after she was fired.
Breaking her silence for the first time since her controversial firing in February, Herridge slammed her former bosses for potentially putting her sources at risk.
“CBS News’ decision to seize my reporting records crossed a red line that I believe should never be crossed by any media organization,” she said in her opening statement at the hearing, titled “Fighting for a Free Press: Protecting Journalists and their Sources,”
“Multiple sources said they were concerned that by working with me to expose government corruption and misconduct they would be identified and exposed.”
Herridge — who is in the middle of a First Amendment case being closely watched by journalists nationwide — was among 20 CBS News staffers let go as part of a larger purge of 800 employees by Paramount.
“CBS News locked me out of the building and seized hundreds of pages of my reporting files, including confidential source information,” Herridge testified.
“I pushed back, and with the public support of my union, SAG-AFTRA, the records were returned.”
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) had demanded CBS turn over information surrounding the circumstances of the file seizure.
While some sources called the seizure “unprecedented” at CBS, the network insisted in a written response to the committee before the hearing that the episode was not unusual.
CBS said no one had rifled through the files and that they were eventually locked inside Herridge’s former office in Washington, DC.
While SAG-AFTRA was key in negotiating the safe return of the files, questions linger as to why CBS News held them.
During her time at CBS, Herridge had encountered roadblocks from higher-ups over her Hunter Biden coverage, sources had told The Post.
She also clashed with CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, who was investigated and cleared in 2021 over accusations of favoritism and discriminatory hiring and management practices, as The Post previously reported.
Meanwhile, in Herridge’s closely watched First Amendment case, the journalist has appealed US District Judge Christopher Cooper’s decision to hold her in contempt for withholding the name of her source for an investigative piece she penned when she was working for Fox News seven years ago.
Herridge said that the litigation and being held in contempt has “taken a toll on me and my career.”
“One of our children recently asked me if I would go to jail, if we would lose our house, and
if we would lose our family savings to protect my reporting sources,” she said. “I wanted to answer that, in this country, where we say we value democracy and the role of a vibrant and free press, it was
impossible. But I couldn’t offer that assurance.”
“This is not a battle you can fight alone,” Herridge added, thanking fellow journalists for the support, as well as Fox News–which is paying for her legal defense.
“When you go through major life events, as I have in recent weeks, losing your job, your
health insurance, having your reporting files seized by your former employer, and being held in
contempt of court, it gives you clarity,” she said. “The First Amendment, the protection of confidential
sources, and a free press are my guiding principles. They are my North Star.”
Heridge cited the importance of the Press Act, which protects journalists from being forced to disclose sources to government agencies.
The House passed the Act in January, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told The Post last month that the upper chamber could soon send the law to President Biden’s desk.
In addition to Herridge, SAG-AFTRA chief news and broadcast officer Mary Cavallaro will speak out on Thursday about the union’s negotiations with CBS to return Herridge’s confidential materials after she was let go.
The House Judiciary Committee also will hear testimony from former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who quit the network in 2014 over claims that CBS killed stories that put then-President Barack Obama in a bad light.