OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:27 PM – Friday, February 23, 2024
Before being let go from her job last week, the esteemed CBS reporter was one of the individuals credited with uncovering the Hunter Biden laptop story that left-leaning news outlets like Politico previously claimed was “Russian disinfo.”
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According to insiders familiar with the situation who spoke with reporters on Thursday, the network took her personal files and computer in a “unprecedented” move.
Twenty CBS News employees were laid off as part of a bigger purge of hundreds of workers at parent firm Paramount Global, including Catherine Herridge, who is currently at the center of a First Amendment case that is being keenly followed by journalists across the country.
Although her dismissal had taken a few coworkers by surprise, insiders claim that many employees are frightened by the network’s choice to retain her personal documents and laptop, which may include even more sensitive information.
“It’s so extraordinary,” a source said, highlighting that the files — which are now property of CBS News — could easily contain confidential material.
According to the source, the network packed up everything she owned and had in the office, with the exception of Herridge’s scrap notes, and told her it would determine what, if anything, would be given back to her.
“They [typically] never seize documents [when you’re let go],” a second source who spoke to the press said. “They want to see what damaging documents she has.”
The network’s actions, according to insiders, might affect Herridge’s First Amendment lawsuit since her documents might reveal confidential talks she had with her attorneys or the identity of sources.
Herridge is facing criticism for allegedly defying U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s directive to disclose her source of information on a federal investigation regarding a Chinese American scientist running a graduate program in Virginia.
The reporter could face contempt of court in the near future for failing to reveal the source of an investigation that she highlighted in 2017, when she was employed at Fox News.
Herridge had run into obstacles from higher-ups regarding her coverage of Hunter Biden’s forgotten laptop. She had also had a falling out with Ingrid-Ciprian Matthews, the president of CBS News, a stern executive cleared of all charges in 2021 after there was an investigation into her hiring and management practices, specifically citing “discriminatory hiring practices and favoritism.”
According to the second source, there is a possibility that the network believes Herridge had material in her files that could result in 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,” said Jonathan Turley, a legal scholar and ex-CBS analyst.
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