CBS News is pushing back on the report that it seized Catherine Herridge‘s belongings.
Herridge was among the many CBS News staffers laid off last week as a result of company-wide retrenchment affecting about 800 employees, as announced by the news division’s parent company, Paramount Global. Following the news, The Hill on Thursday published a story alleging that CBS News had seized her personal belongings, including her “files, computers and records, including information on privileged sources.”
This is especially notable because Herridge, who was working as a CBS News senior investigative correspondent and had been with the news division since 2019, has been involved in a court case in which she has refused to reveal her sources stemming from an investigative piece she wrote while working for Fox News in 2017.
SAG-AFTRA and the Freedom of the Press Foundation condemned the supposed move to seize files; however, CBS News is denying these allegations in a statement to TVNewser.
“Catherine’s personal belongings were delivered to her home one week ago, and we are prepared to pack up the rest of her files immediately on her behalf—with her representative present as she requested. We are awaiting a response from Catherine and/or her representative to do so. 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,” the statement reads.
Before she departed Fox News in 2019, Herridge was awarded the annual Tex McCrary Award for Journalism by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. In accepting the award, Herridge said, “I am honored to accept this award, and I am grateful for your recognition of our national security and intelligence reporting at Fox News.” She continued, “My family background has made national security reporting deeply personal and it has given me a profound respect for the Medal of Honor recipients honored this evening.”