Fired CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge accuses network of ‘journalistic rape’ for seizing her files at Capitol Hill hearing

Catherine Herridge — the acclaimed CBS News investigative journalist known for her reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal — accused the network of “journalistic rape” for seizing her files after she was fired during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday.

Breaking her silence for the first time since her controversial dismissal in February, Herridge called the move by her former bosses an assault on journalism.

“When my records were seized I felt it was a journalistic rape,” Herridge testified at the hearing, titled “Fighting for a Free Press: Protecting Journalists and their Sources.”

“When the network of Walter Cronkite seizes your reporting files, including confidential source information, that is an attack on investigative journalism.”

The Emmy-award winning reporter — who is in the middle of a First Amendment case being closely watched by journalists nationwide — also said that confiscating her files could have put her sources at risk.

“CBS News’ decision to seize my reporting records crossed a red line that I believe should never be crossed by any media organization,” Herridge said.

“Multiple sources said they were concerned that by working with me to expose government corruption and misconduct they would be identified and exposed.”

Herridge, who had spent nearly five years at the network after being hired away from Fox News, was among 20 CBS News staffers let go as part of a larger purge of 800 employees by Paramount.

While some sources called the seizure “unprecedented” at CBS News, the network insisted in a written response to the committee that the episode was not unusual.

CBS said no one had rifled through the files and that they were eventually locked inside Herridge’s former office in Washington, DC, before being returned after outcry from her union, SAG-AFTRA.

The Post reached out to CBS News for comment.

Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked Herridge if she wrote critical stories about Hunter Biden, the laptop, the Biden family, the business operation and the Biden brand.

Herridge replied: ” I reported out the facts of the story. I called balls and strikes.”

“You sure did,” Jordan said. “You reported the facts and then CBS fired you!”

During her time at CBS, Herridge had encountered roadblocks from higher-ups over her Hunter Biden coverage, sources had told The Post.

She also clashed with CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, who was investigated and cleared in 2021 over accusations of favoritism and discriminatory hiring and management practices, as The Post previously reported.

In addition to Herridge, SAG-AFTRA chief news and broadcast officer Mary Cavallaro testified on Thursday about the union’s negotiations with CBS to return Herridge’s confidential materials.

The House Judiciary Committee also heard testimony from former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who quit the network in 2014 over claims that CBS killed stories that put then-President Barack Obama in a bad light.

Attkisson’s told the committee that her critical reporting of the government resulted in her phone being tapped.

Meanwhile, in Herridge’s closely watched First Amendment case, the journalist has appealed US District 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.

Herridge said that the litigation and being held in contempt has “taken a toll on me and my career.”

“One of our children recently asked me if I would go to jail, if we would lose our house, and if we would lose our family savings to protect my reporting sources,” she said. “I wanted to answer that, in this country, where we say we value democracy and the role of a vibrant and free press, it was impossible. But I couldn’t offer that assurance.”

“This is not a battle you can fight alone,” Herridge added, thanking fellow journalists for the support, as well as Fox News — which is paying for her legal defense.

“When you go through major life events, as I have in recent weeks, losing your job, your
health insurance, having your reporting files seized by your former employer, and being held in
contempt of court, it gives you clarity,” she said.

“The First Amendment, the protection of confidential sources, and a free press are my guiding principles. They are my North Star.”

Heridge cited the importance of the Press Act, which protects journalists from being forced to disclose sources to government agencies.

The House passed the Press Act in January, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told The Post last month that the upper chamber could soon send the law to President Biden’s desk.