I have to wonder who's sweating now, after the latest news about former CBS investigative reporter Catherine Herridge.
The New York Post is reporting that Herridge is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in a "potentially explosive hearing" on April 11, at 9:30 a.m. Herridge, who had been working on aspects of the Hunter Biden scandal when she was fired, will testify about the circumstances behind her firing.
The theme of the questioning will be “Fighting for a Free Press: Protecting Journalists and their Sources,” according to the the report.
The Committee will also hear from SAG-AFTRA chief news & broadcast officer Mary Cavallaro, who will testify about what the union did in negotiations with CBS to return Herridge’s files after she was fired.
As we reported, there was a huge hullabaloo when the network seized her files after letting her go. In those files there may have been potential privileged information that she had from sources. That concerned and rightly disturbed people who cared about a free press.
Indeed, according to reports, Herridge had faced "roadblocks from higher-ups" over her coverage of Hunter Biden and come up on the wrong side of CBS president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews. So it would be intriguing to hear when Herridge is asked about or chooses to dish on those questions.
READ MORE:
CBS Returns Catherine Herridge's Files, but Sources Dish on More Questions
CBS Just Got Into More Trouble Over Catherine Herridge's Files, Now House Judiciary Wants Answers
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) demanded CBS turn over information surrounding the circumstances of the file seizure by March 1.
While some sources have called the seizure “unprecedented” at CBS, the network insisted in a written response to the committee that the episode was not unusual.
CBS also claimed that they hadn't breached Herridge's files, saying that they had secured her office and anything personal. Perhaps Herridge will have more to say about that, now that she's gotten the files back, if she is able to tell if anyone did in fact breach them.
According to a source, the Committee is also going to hear from former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who quit in 2014 when CBS killed stories that might have made Barack Obama look bad.
At the time of her exit, Attkisson claimed was spied on by a “government-related entity” that planted classified documents on her computer.
In Herridge’s closely watched First Amendment case, the journalist has appealed US District Court Judge Christopher Cooper’s decision to hold her in contempt for withholding the name of her source for an investigative piece she penned when she was working for Fox News seven years ago.
There were reports that Elon Musk's X was courting Herridge to be part of the platform, but she's reportedly considering different options. She likely has a lot of options but X probably would be able to give her the freedom to report as she choses and not being censored or held in by a network. So hopefully she lands in a place that allows her to properly do her work.
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