Former Fox News and CBS News investigative journalist Catherine Herridge was held in contempt of court and ordered to pay $800 a day until she revealed her source in a libel suit involving a Chinese American professor.
CBS News fired Herridge in February, reportedly as part of an effort by the network to reorganize the news division. Herridge's confidential files—including information on her confidential sources—were seized along with notes and other materials, raising suspicions about ulterior motives.
At the time of her firing, Herridge had been working on several stories involving Biden administration scandals, and the speculation is that this, rather than corporate downsizing, was the reason for firing her.
Now, she's landed in trouble with the court. Her 2017 story of the Chinese-American scientist, Yanping Chen, dealt with an FBI investigation of the scientist for her ties to Communist China.
U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled that Herridge violated his court order from August demanding that Herridge reveal the source who told her that the FBI was investigating Chen.
Chen was never charged as a result of the investigation, which sought to determine whether she had lied about her military service and whether her school’s student database could be accessed from China, as the Fox News reports revealed. But after those stories brought the probe to light, Chen sued the federal government alleging that Herridge had been given leaked materials that violated her privacy, including photographs and images of internal government documents.
Herridge sat for a deposition in late September but refused to reveal how she obtained the information, citing her First Amendment rights and telling Chen’s lawyer, “I must now disobey the order.”
“The Court does not reach this result lightly,” Judge Cooper wrote. “It recognizes the paramount importance of a free press in our society and the critical role that confidential sources play in the work of investigative journalists like Herridge. Yet the Court also has its own role to play in upholding the law and safeguarding judicial authority.”
Chen is suing the FBI for damages, "claiming that the leaked information was part of a campaign to damage her after federal prosecutors ended their six-year investigation of her without bringing charges," according to a story in Politico.
After finding nothing actionable in Chen's investigation, the Justice Department kicked her on the way out the door and leaked just enough damaging information to Herridge to pique her interest.
“The court’s order holding journalist Catherine Herridge in contempt for refusing to name her confidential source is unfortunate and should disturb anyone who cares about press freedom,” said Caitlin Vogus, deputy director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation. “When courts force journalists to burn their sources, it absolutely undermines the public’s right to know.”
Perhaps it does. But Ms. Chen has rights, too. So where does the public's "right to know" stop and Chen's right to privacy begin?
The FBI investigation has ruined Chen's life.
The lawsuit has steadily advanced for five years despite generating little attention. Yet it represents the collision of a wide range of Washington interests and issues, carrying implications for how journalists’ First Amendment protections are balanced against the need to prevent leaks of sensitive government information that implicates privacy rights. Cooper noted in court Tuesday that while Congress passed the Privacy Act almost five decades ago, lawmakers have “not seen fit to pass a reporters’ shield law.”
“For better or worse,” the judge added.
Both sides made excellent points. But it bothers me that journalists believe that their "right to know" trumps anything else, even privacy which is the bedrock principle in the Constitution.
The push-pull between the freedom of the press and privacy will continue as long as the republic stands.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Herridge went to jail. We apologize to our readers for this error.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member