In 'Unprecedented' Move, CBS Seizes Confidential Files Of Fired Reporter Investigating Hunter Biden Laptop
CBS has seized the confidential files of reporter Catherine Herridge, who was investigating the Hunter Biden laptop scandal before she was fired last week.
Herridge was one of 20 CBS News staffers who were let got as part of a larger layoff - however her firing came as a shock to many given her general popularity as a reporter.
"It’s so extraordinary," one insider told the NY Post, adding that the files most likely contain confidential materials from Herridge's time at both Fox and CBS.
According to the source who called the move 'unprecedented,' the network boxed up all her stuff and told her they would decide what, if anything, would be returned to her.
"They never seize documents [when you’re let go]," a second source told the outlet. "They want to see what damaging documents she has."
A network spokesperson pushed back - telling the Post: "We have respected her request to not go through the files, and out of our concern for confidential sources, the office she occupied has remained secure since her departure," adding "We are prepared to pack up the rest of her files immediately on her behalf – with her representative present as she requested."
Sources feared the network’s actions could have an impact on Herridge’s First Amendment case because her documents may contain privileged conversations she had with her lawyers or the identities of sources.
Herridge is under fire for not complying with US District Judge Christopher Cooper’s order to reveal how she learned about a federal probe into a Chinese American scientist who operated a graduate program in Virginia. -NY Post
Herridge may also be held in contempt of court for refusing to divulge her source for a Fox News investigative piece in 2017, and could be ordered to pay fines of as much as $5,000 per day.
According to the Post, Herridge clashed with CBS execs over her Hunter Biden coverage - particularly CBS News President Ingrid-Ciprian Matthews who was previously investigated for (and cleared of) hiring discrimination.
The Post's second source suggested that Herridge's files may contain information that could support a wrongful termination lawsuit.
"She was pursuing stories that were unwelcomed by the Biden White House and many Democratic powerhouses, including the Hur report on Joe Biden’s diminished mental capacity, the Biden corruption scandal and the Hunter Biden laptop," legal scholar Jonathan Turley wrote in The Hill.
According to Turley, CBS' "heavy-handed" approach with Herridge and her files is "dead wrong."
It's also 'deeply concerning' to SAG-AFTRA, which represents CBS staffers.
"This action is deeply concerning concerning to the union because it sets a dangerous precedent for all media professionals and threatens the very foundation of the First Amendment," the union told the Post.