House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced this week that his committee would be probing the seizure of records from former CBS News journalist Catherine Herridge, which allegedly include those related to Hunter Biden. The unusual move came after Herridge was released by CBS following a wave of layoffs.
Following the layoffs, the news company kept Herridge’s private files, including her laptop.
REPORT: After firing investigative reporter Catherine Herridge who was investigating the Hunter Biden laptop story, CBS reportedly seized her belongings.
Nothing to see here.
The network reportedly seized all of her belongings including files, computers and most importantly,… pic.twitter.com/oLFIlZwsOA
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 22, 2024
Jordan sent a letter to CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews this week, asking for who “made the decision to terminate” the employee.
“The unprecedented actions of CBS News threaten to chill good journalism and ultimately weaken our nation’s commitment to a free press,” Jordan wrote.
The committee chair also requested information about who accessed Herridge’s files, as well as more information about the documents themselves. Jordan gave the news organization’s president until 5 p.m. on March 1 to comply with the request.
Herridge’s investigation into Hunter Biden was reportedly not well-received by CBS News’ leadership.
Herridge is a former Fox News reporter who was allegedly looking into the actions of the president’s son.
CBS denied anything unusual about the seizure. “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,” said a spokesperson.
“We are prepared to pack up the rest of her files immediately on her behalf – with her representative present as she requested,” said the CBS official.
In addition, Herridge is involved in an ongoing legal battle after she refused to name a confidential source.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered her to hand over information regarding how she discovered a federal investigation into a Chinese-American scientist allegedly linked to Beijing’s space program. The judge may find her in contempt of court, which could carry a fine of between $500 and $5,000 per day.
The information regarding who gave Herridge the information could be in her private files.
