[American Greatness] Investigative journalist Catherine Herridge testified Thursday that CBS News locked her out of her emails and her office when it seized her reporting files, which included confidential source information pertaining to an investigation into government corruption."I can only speak for myself. When my records were seized, I felt it was a journalistic rape," Herridge told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government hearing.
The seizure of her files back in February alarmed many current and former CBS employees, as the move was said to be unheard of in the news business. SAG-AFTRA, the media’s largest labor union, immediately got involved, and several days after the news shocked the reporting world, Herridge’s materials were returned.
Herridge, formerly the Chief Intelligence correspondent for Fox News, was one of four witnesses testifying before the subcommittee hearing, titled "Fighting for a Free Press: Protecting Journalists and their Sources." The purpose of the hearing was "to examine the federal government’s infringement on the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press, as well as federal shield law proposals."
Also testifying Thursday were Mary Cavallaro, Chief Broadcast Officer of SAG-AFTRA News & Broadcast Department; Sharyl Attkisson, Investigative journalist and managing editor of "Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson;" and Nadine Farid Johnson, Policy Director for Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
All four witnesses strongly supported the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act, which passed the unanimously in the House back in January and is currently being considered in the U.S. Senate.
The PRESS Act prohibits the federal government from compelling journalists and providers of telecommunications services to disclose "sources, records, contents of a communication, documents, and information obtained or created by journalists in the course of their work" except in limited circumstances involving terrorism or imminent violence. The legislation also prevents federal law enforcement from abusing its subpoena power.
"As you know, I was held in contempt of court for upholding the basic journalistic principle of maintaining the pledge of confidentiality to my sources," Herridge said in her opening statement. "I have complete respect for the district court and the judicial process and I am not here to litigate the merits of that case. It will play out before the appellate court in Washington D.C."
Emphasis added first para.