Catherine Herridge, a veteran investigative journalist formerly of CBS News, accused the network of committing “journalistic rape” when they seized her files after her firing in February.
“I have been locked out of my emails and out of the office. CBS News seized hundreds of pages of my reporting, including classified information,” Herridge said Thursday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
“When Walter Cronkite’s network gets hold of your reporting files, including confidential source information, it is an attack on investigative journalism.”
The political insider reported that CBS had seized Herridge’s files, computers and documents. The network, however, promised that no one would examine them and that the documents were safely locked away in his office.
Herridge’s firing and the way it was handled, not to mention the timing, initially raised eyebrows, as he was investigating one aspect of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal at the time.
JUST IN: Reporter Catherine Herridge testifies that CBS News locked her out of building and seized all of her files, says she was working with sources to “expose government corruption.”
Nothing really happens here, folks.
“CBS News’ decision to seize my reporting… pic.twitter.com/XDuQEjyHcd
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 11, 2024
RELATED: Investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, who had files taken by CBS, held in contempt
Catherine Herridge Hammers CBS
The testimony of Catherine Herridge who denounced CBS News was nothing short of damning.
In addition to the laptop investigation, the award-winning reporter covered the House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report into his handling of classified documents, and the criminal charges against Hunter Biden.
“I can only speak for myself. When my documents were seized, I thought it was journalistic rape,” he said.
The dismissal of Herridge himself came as a real shock to the public. She was a surprise victim of the network’s layoffs, despite her award-winning ability to deliver breaking news and inside scoops.
The fact that the network subsequently seized his materials, however, was alarming to say the least. The consequences, according to Herridge, were far-reaching.
“CBS News’ decision to seize my reporting crossed a red line that I believe should never be crossed by any media organization,” the Emmy Award winner testified.
“Many sources said they were concerned that by working with me to expose government corruption and misconduct, they would be identified and exposed.”
RELATED: CBS News chief behind firing Catherine Herridge to receive free speech award
CBS denies anything out of the ordinary
Despite Catherine Herridge’s repeated accusations that the network seized her files, CBS maintains that they did nothing out of the ordinary.
The New York Post reports the network’s claim that “no one had searched through the files and that they were ultimately locked in Herridge’s former office in Washington, D.C., before being returned.”
CBS News President Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, who was involved in the firing of Catherine Herridge, later received a First Amendment Award from the RTDNA Foundation.
Earlier this year, Herridge was charged with 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 significant fines until Herridge complies. She was pressured to reveal the identity of a source used for a report she wrote that year about a Chinese-American scientist who had been investigated by the FBI but never accused of wrongdoing.
The case, as well as CBS News’ firing and handling of its files, has significant First Amendment implications.
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