Posted on 03/01/2024 11:10:57 AM PST by Twotone
A federal judge held veteran investigative reporter Catherine Herridge in civil contempt of court on Thursday for upholding journalistic ethics and not revealing her confidential sources.
Federal district Judge Christopher Cooper ordered Herridge to pay a fine of $800 per day until she divulges the information the court wants.
Cooper wrote in his order:
The Court does not reach this result lightly. It recognizes the paramount importance of a free press in our society and the critical role that confidential sources play in the work of investigative journalists like Herridge. Yet the Court also has its own role to play in upholding the law and safeguarding judicial authority.
Fortunately, Cooper stayed the ruling for 30 days, giving Herridge ample time to appeal before she starts incurring daily fines.
The case stems from Herridge's tenure at Fox News. In 2017, she reported on a federal investigation into Chinese-American scientist Yanping Chen, whom the FBI once investigated over "suspicions of Chinese military ties and whether she had lied on U.S. immigration forms," the New York Times noted. The FBI never charged Chen.
In 2018, Chen sued the federal government, alleging that government employees had leaked her information to Herridge in violation of the Privacy Act.
Last year, Cooper ordered Herridge to reveal the sources of her information about Chen, but she refused, citing her First Amendment rights.
After Cooper's ruling on Thursday, Herridge's attorney, Patrick Philbin, said, "We disagree with the district court’s decision, and to protect Ms. Herridge's First Amendment rights, we intend to appeal."
Fox News, meanwhile, condemned Cooper's ruling for the "deeply chilling effect" that it will have on journalism and the First Amendment.
Advocacy groups concerned about the First Amendment and free press also condemned Cooper's decision, and the legacy media wrote stories about it. But there was an glaring lack of media outrage over Cooper's decision.
In fact, by Friday morning, CNN was the only cable or broadcast news network that had covered the story on TV — for a mere 13 seconds.
There is also a glaring lack of social media posts from virtue-signaling media pundits and news reporters decrying Cooper's decision and the threat it poses for journalism.
Perhaps the lack of outrage from Herridge's colleagues stems from the fact that Herridge, an award-winning reporter, often reported on topics the legacy media ignores, most recently covering allegations of Biden family corruption and the Hunter Biden saga before CBS News decided to terminate her employment.
because Herridge dared to report on the Biden Crime family this is what she gets..tell me again this isn’t Soviet Russia..the left only pretends to despise Putin, they dont despise Putin they admire Putin, they copy his playbook
When the Government goes after reporters who don’t toe the line, like James Rosen or Herridge, the left is quiet.
Appointed by Jug Ears, worked on his campaign.
Another Obama judge going after journalists.
They want to hunt down, imprison and kill the source.
Also another partisan judge on J6 cases too.
Nations hostile to US➡️Soros/Bidens/Clintons/Obama➡️Democrat party➡️Judges
The judges think they are just helping the Democrat party and the Clintons, but they are helping nations who are hostile to this country hurt and destroy this country.
Is anyone else getting tired of these so-called “Federal judges” having so much power that they think they are some kind of a far-left, goofy god or something?
They are not news outlets. They are counterintelligence psy-ops messaging outposts always eager for more commands.
The state run media has their marching orders.
Judge Christopher Cooper is one of Bathhouse Barry’s appointees.
If you say anything about China, which owns politicians and really rules us, you had better prepare to be persecuted.
The "informed source" is probably not, now, of interest, re Yanpin Chen.
Instead, the "informed source" is probably of interest - because this source has leaked other information regarding a different person who is connected to Democrat Party / Biden Administration corruption.
Is my guess: That, the "informed source" is trying to do the right thing, and the leftists want to stop that.
The judge is shredding the Constitution at the behest of his Chinese Overlords.
If this were widely reported by actual journalists and not censored by the gov and big media then you might see actual concern.
How can Catherine defend herself when CBS has all her work belongings? Probably CBS will RAT out her source to the Judge.
We just didn't realize it before.
Isn’t it amazing how disinterested the journalist community is in fighting for their right to uncensored speech?
I wonder, if she named the judge as her source, would that force a mistrial? The judge would at least have to recuse himself from the case. How would anyone prove he wasn’t her source?
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