CBS News claimed in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee that the network’s decision to retain the confidential files of Catherine Herridge, the acclaimed investigative reporter who was ousted two weeks ago, was “nothing unusual,” The Post has learned.
The committee, which on Friday launched a probe into the network’s seizure of the files, demanded that CBS News reveal who at CBS or its parent company, Paramount Global, “made the decision to terminate” Herridge, a reporter who was probing the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
In a letter obtained by The Post, Paramount Global senior vice president and associate general counsel Randa Soudah didn’t directly answer that question.
Instead, Soudah said Herridge’s Feb.13 termination was “part of a widely-reported reduction in staff that affected all divisions” of the company that claimed 750 jobs.
Soudah also cited company policy and stated that Herridge’s files — which included confidential reporting notes with the names of her sources, files on her legal case and other personal documents — essentially belonged to the network.
Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has also demanded CBS turn over information by March 1 relating to its decision to retain her confidential files after she was terminated.
According to the letter, the decision to retain Herridge’s files came on the day of Herridge’s dismissal. The reporter, who was among 20 CBS News employees including four correspondents who were ousted, was not in the office that day.
As a result, Herridge “had no opportunity” to clean out her office, the letter said, noting that human resources “collected all her personal belongings in her office — clothing, books, awards and the like — and returned them to her.”
CBS News on Monday finally returned confidential files belonging to fired investigative reporter Catherine Herridge amid mounting pressure from the House Judiciary Committee and the union representing the journalist, The Post has learned
Herridge — who is in the middle of a key First Amendment case — had been probing the Hunter Biden laptop scandal when the acclaimed journalist was shockingly fired as part of mass layoffs by parent company Paramount Global nearly two weeks ago.
Her personal files — along with her work laptop, which may have contained other confidential info — were immediately confiscated and locked away at the CBS News office in Washington, DC.
“Catherine Herridge’s union representative picked up her materials this morning,” a CBS News rep confirmed to The Post on Monday.
A spokesperson for SAG-AFTRA, the union representing CBS News employees, confirmed that several boxes containing Herridge’s reporting materials were returned.
“The resolution of this matter sends a strong message of protection for basic First Amendment principles,” the union said.
The Post exclusively reported on Friday that the House Judiciary Committee is launching a probe into the network’s shocking seizure of the reporter’s files as part of her termination.
……Herridge — who is 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.
During her time at CBS, Herridge had encountered roadblocks from higher-ups over her Hunter Biden coverage and had also clashed with Ciprian-Matthews, a sharp-elbowed executive who was investigated — and cleared — in 2021 over favoritism and discriminatory hiring and management practices, as The Post previously reported.
Some sources speculated that the network may believe Herridge has information in her files that could lead to a lawsuit for wrongful termination.
Others mused that she may have sensitive information — including sources — that are central to her investigation into Hunter Biden.
Currently, 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.
The journalist may soon be held in contempt of court for not divulging her source for an investigative piece she penned in 2017 when she worked for Fox News.
She could be ordered to personally pay fines that could total as much as $5,000 a day.
Insiders were concerned that CBS could be subpoenaed to reveal her source’s identity, which would have threatened free press principles.
There’s also a ton of evidence regarding Biden family bribery, influence peddling and money laundering with China and Ukraine.
The DOJ and the FBI work together to protect them. They refuse to acknowledge the mountain of incriminating evidence on Hunter Biden’s laptop, they hid the Biden classified documents scandal, and they dismiss the national security implications of Biden’s connections to the ChiComs and Ukraine.
The Big Guy is ass deep in the corruption.
Related post:
https://sfcmac.com/latest-whistleblower-testimony-to-house-oversight-committee-biden-family-crimes-doj-and-fbi-coverups/
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