Television Journalist Cited for Contempt for Defying Subpoena Over Spy Report

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., held veteran journalist Catherine Herridge in contempt of court Thursday for refusing to disclose her sources for Fox News reports about an FBI investigation of a Chinese American scientist.

The judge fined Herridge $800 per day until she reveals the sources. He gave her 30 days to appeal before the fines begin.

The judge also is setting off a controversy over First Amendment rights with potentially big consequences for freedom of the press.

The dispute arose from a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Chinese American scientist Yanping Chen against the FBI. In 1988, she founded the University of Management and Technology in Virginia.

The FBI began investigating her in 2010 over work she did in China. Her immigration forms did not mention what Herridge’s reporting indicated might have been spying.

No charges have been filed against Chen, who denies any allegations of espionage.

Nevertheless, Fox News broadcast and published online news stories saying Chen hid her previous work for the Chinese military and might have been transferring information the University of Management and Technology gained about the U.S. military to China.

Chen sued the FBI, the Justice Department, the Defense Department and the Homeland Security Department in 2018 for what her lawsuit says were violations of the federal Privacy Act.

Her attorneys subpoenaed Herridge for a deposition to determine the source of her information, which included Chen’s family photos, information from her immigration forms and an FBI memo. Another photo shows Chen wearing a Chinese military uniform.

Herridge, who is not a defendant in the lawsuit, declined to answer some questions when asked under oath in September by one of Chen’s attorneys.

At one point she told the lawyer who asked about her news source, “My understanding is that the courts have ruled that in order to seek further judicial review in this case, I must now decline the order and respectfully I am invoking my First Amendment rights in declining to answer the question.” 

Herridge filed a motion to quash any subpoenas demanding more complete information by claiming a journalist’s privilege for confidential sources.

The motion to quash says, “Confidential sources, and the information they provide, are essential for informing the public on matters relating to national security, including information relating to the military, espionage, government surveillance and homeland security. Fear of exposure will make sources less likely to serve as whistleblowers or otherwise act as confidential sources for such matters.”

Herridge was a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News in Washington, D.C., from 2019 until she was laid off last month. She started at CBS after leaving her role as chief intelligence correspondent for the Fox News Channel.

U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper mostly denied the motion to quash, instead saying Chen made good faith efforts to identify the source of the leaked information in other places for five years but failed. Herridge was her only other option to find the leaker, the judge said.

The judge’s 24-page order finding Herridge in contempt said, “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,” Cooper wrote.

The information Chen seeks from Herridge “goes to the heart of her case,” the order says.

Fox News issued a statement after the contempt citation saying, “Holding a journalist in contempt for protecting a confidential source has a deeply chilling effect on journalism. Fox News Media remains committed to protecting the rights of a free press and freedom of speech and believes this decision should be appealed.”

A CBS News statement said that “we are fully supportive of Catherine Herridge’s position in this case. No journalist should be punished for maintaining a source’s confidentiality. This order finding her in contempt should be concerning to all Americans who value the role of the free press in our democracy and understand that reliance on confidential sources is critical to the mission of journalism.”

The case is Yanping Chen v. Federal Bureau of Investigation et al.

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