CBS seizes confidential files of fired reporter pursuing Hunter Biden laptop story in ‘unprecedented’ move: sources

The acclaimed CBS reporter who was investigating the Hunter Biden laptop scandal before she was fired last week had her personal files seized by the network in an “unprecedented” move, sources told The Post on Thursday.

Catherine Herridge — who is the middle of a First Amendment case being closely watched by journalists nationwide — was among 20 CBS News staffers let go as part of a larger purge of hundreds of employees at parent company Paramount Global.

Her firing had stunned co-workers, but the network’s decision to hold on to her personal materials, along with her work laptop where she may have other confidential info, has left many staffers shaken, according to insiders.

“It’s so extraordinary,” a source familiar with the situation told The Post, noting that the files — which are presumptively now the property of CBS News — most likely contain confidential material from Herridge’s stints at both Fox and CBS.

The source said the network boxed up all her personal belongings except for Herridge’s notes and files and informed her that it would decide what — if anything — would be returned to her.

“They never seize documents [when you’re let go],” a second source close to the network said.

A CBS spokesperson pushed back on claims that the network plans to keep any sensitive information belonging to Herridge.

“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 rep told The Post.

“We are prepared to pack up the rest of her files immediately on her behalf – with her representative present as she requested.”

In what way?

CBS retaining corporate property isn’t a First Amendment issue.

If you’re arguing that the Bidet Admin told CBS that they’d “be doing the country a favor” by firing 800 reporters (including Mrs X) and handing over to a Man in a Trenchcoat Mrs X’s papers and laptop and SS#, well….

In the first place, it is intellectual property explicitly tailored for dissemination in the interest of the oublic good.

In the second place, if I may ask, why is Herridge singled out here? Clearly it is not a common practice in the journalism industry, as her colleagues have said.

The short of it is thus: jouralism is not your typical corporate industry manufacturing tangible goods.

I disagree in part.

First, it’s not Herrod’s intellectual property unless she had a contractual agreement with her employer to retain all IP rights in her reporting and work. Such an arrangement, by the way, is VERY unusual. Not impossible but unusual. If that WAS the case, her lawyers would be all over that and we’d probably have that leaked to the press. Further, CBS would know darn well it’s her property and would tread lightly when firing her.

Second, Herridge was fired with hundreds of randos. The only entities singling her out are The Hill and the NY Post. And I would submit to you, the people ranting about “OMG they took HER stuff” are at best ignorant about what happens in the process of firing people.

I DO agree, journalism isn’t plumbing, contractor work, or automobile manufacturing. It’s actually less important. Nobody writes a pearl-clutching saga in the NY Post when a guy who worked for decades loyally has his job eliminated. Nobody sheds a tear that he couldn’t bring home a few really cool reports he wrote that made the company money. My electrician and mechanic are more valuable to this nation than a talking head.

Again, CBS is scum and it is totally possible Bidet wants his hands on her papers and laptop. If that’s at play, that’s criminal AND a 1st Amendment violation. It’s also worth noting, Ms Herridge did some good reporting and she donated part of her liver to her infant son (most of the media would probably abort their kid).

That said, this saga is about a member of the MSM who is on TV and lives in Manhattan, who earned a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and a Master’s degree in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. No disrespect meant to Ms. Herridge, but on paper she’s one of the “elite.” Forgive me if I don’t get my knickers in a twist.

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