Investigative journalist Catherine Herridge testified Thursday that CBS News locked her out of her emails and her office when it seized her reporting files, which included confidential source information pertaining to an investigation into government corruption.
“I can only speak for myself. When my records were seized, I felt it was a journalistic rape,” Herridge told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government hearing.
The seizure of her files back in February alarmed many current and former CBS employees, as the move was said to be unheard of in the news business. SAG-AFTRA, the media’s largest labor union, immediately got involved, and several days after the news shocked the reporting world, Herridge’s materials were returned.
Herridge, formerly the Chief Intelligence correspondent for Fox News, was one of four witnesses testifying before the subcommittee hearing, titled “Fighting for a Free Press: Protecting Journalists and their Sources.” The purpose of the hearing was “to examine the federal government’s infringement on the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press, as well as federal shield law proposals.”
Also testifying Thursday were Mary Cavallaro, Chief Broadcast Officer of SAG-AFTRA News & Broadcast Department; Sharyl Attkisson, Investigative journalist and managing editor of “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson;” and Nadine Farid Johnson, Policy Director for Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
All four witnesses strongly supported the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act, which passed the unanimously in the House back in January and is currently being considered in the U.S. Senate.
The PRESS Act prohibits the federal government from compelling journalists and providers of telecommunications services to disclose “sources, records, contents of a communication, documents, and information obtained or created by journalists in the course of their work” except in limited circumstances involving terrorism or imminent violence. The legislation also prevents federal law enforcement from abusing its subpoena power.
“As you know, I was held in contempt of court for upholding the basic journalistic principle of maintaining the pledge of confidentiality to my sources,” Herridge said in her opening statement. “I have complete respect for the district court and the judicial process and I am not here to litigate the merits of that case. It will play out before the appellate court in Washington D.C.”
Herridge testified that she has been fighting in the courts for two years, and that I is facing crippling fines of 800 dollars a day, to protect my reporting sources.
” 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 stated.
The First Amendment, the protection of confidential sources, and a free press are my guiding principles. They are my North Star. When I was laid off in February, an incident reinforced in my mind the importance of protecting confidential sources. CBS News locked me out of the building and seized hundreds of pages of my reporting files, including confidential source information.
Herridge testified that “multiple sources” had contacted her to express concern that by working with her “to expose government corruption and misconduct they would be identified and exposed.”
I pushed back, and with the public support of my union, SAG-AFTRA, the records were returned. CBS News’ decision to seize my reporting records crossed a red line that I believe should never be crossed by any media organization.
Herridge noted that being held in contempt has “taken a toll on me and my career” and said she could not fight this battle without the support of other journalists and multiple First Amendment organizations.
JUST IN: Reporter Catherine Herridge testifies that CBS News locked her out of the building and seized all her files, says she was working with sources to "expose government corruption."
Nothing at all going on here, folks.
"CBS News’ decision to seize my reporting records… pic.twitter.com/XDuQEjyHcd
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 11, 2024
“When the network of Walter Cronkite seizes your reporting files including confidential source information that is an attack on investigative journalism, Herridge told Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
I just want to be clear congressman. Wherever you work, if this happened to you, it’s an attack on free press. It’s an attack on the First Amendment. It makes it more challenging for reporters to work in the future. That disrupts the free flow of information to the public. They call journalism a profession for a reason. Because it’s about an informed electorate and it’s a cornerstone of our Democracy. I can only speak for myself. When my records were seized, I felt it was a journalistic rape.
Catherine Herridge, former FOX and CBS News journalist who is currently being held by a federal judge in civil contempt for not divulging sources, says to Rep. @Jim_Jordan: "I can only speak for myself. When my records were seized, I felt it was a journalistic rape." pic.twitter.com/YNv7tUYoQ3
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 11, 2024