Veteran investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, whom CBS News laid off last week, shared a statement on Friday that appeared to confirm that the network had seized notes from her office after she had been let go — an unusual and heavy-handed manner that called into question the network’s motives.
Herridge, who reported on the Justice Department and other national security matters, had been reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal for the network and was in the middle of a First Amendment case after refusing to turn over to an Obama-appointed federal judge the name of a source for an investigative piece she wrote for Fox News in 2017.
“Important update via @sagaftra,” Herridge posted on X, along with the union’s statement.
The statement came after an article on Tuesday by The Hill columnist and former CBS News legal analyst Jonathan Turley that said CBS News had seized Herridge’s files — a highly unusual practice when a news employee is laid off. It said:
Go get um Cat.
Last time I worked for a company, my work product belonged to them. Why the fuss over this? She was their employee. They paid her to do a job. Don’t they own her work, including her notes and records?