Fired CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge reveals photos of files on Hunter Biden, COVID origins seized by network: Attack on investigative journalism

Fired CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge posted photos of the confidential files seized by the network — which “included sensitive reporting about COVID-19 origins and Hunter Biden.”The award-winning investigative journalist — who was dismissed last February as part of wider layoffs by embattled parent company Parent Global — stirred a firestorm in her bid to regain the materials before the network gave back the items weeks later.“Exactly one year ago, @CBSNews returned my investigative reporting files,” Herridge wrote on X on Wednesday.“Today, I am releasing photos of the records for the first time so you can see the sheer volume involved.”One photo showed stacks of folders next to a Home Depot-labeled box.Herridge wrote that the material encompassed four large moving boxes weighing over 100 pounds in total that were seized by the network.Herridge referred to CBS News’ actions as a “journalistic rape” and “an attack on investigative journalism.”“I hope no investigative reporter has to suffer a similar injustice in the future,” she added.A CBS News spokesperson declined to comment.The incident led to a hearing last April by a House Judiciary subcommittee, titled “Fighting for a Free Press: Protecting Journalists and Their Sources.”Herridge testified and discussed being held in contempt of court for refusing to disclose confidential sources related to a national security story.Her materials were returned after pressure from the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the union that represents some 160,000 media professionals and actors.Herridge praised SAG-AFTRA for standing up “for journalism when CBS News executives seized my reporting files…”“At the time, a Paramount lawyer pushed back, insisting ‘CBS acted to secure and protect the material in Ms.

Herridge’s office’,” wrote Herridge, who has since launched her own newsletter on the Substack platform.Herridge, a...