Former Fox News and CBS News journalist Catherine Herridge has made a shocking accusation against her ex-employer on Capitol Hill.
According to Herridge, who spearheaded much of the reporting on Hunter Biden's laptop, CBS seized her work laptop and confidential files after her termination, an act she called “journalistic rape.”
The news network controversially fired Herridge in February as part a round of mass layoffs initiated by parent company, Paramount Global.
The New York Post explains:
“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,” she continued.
Herridge was one of 20 CBS News staffers terminated during the February ousting, which also saw the termination of 800 Paramount employees.
In a written reply to the committee, the network argued that the mass layoffs were not unusual and did not have ulterior motives.
It added that CBS News representatives eventually returned Herridge's files and claimed that no one had accessed them.
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