A CBS senior investigative correspondent faces possible contempt of court charges for refusing to reveal her sources about an FBI counterintelligence probe into a Chinese American scientist's ties to Beijing's military.
Catherine Herridge, a longtime journalist who worked at Fox News at the time of the report in question, could face steep daily monetary sanctions designed to force her to disclose her source, the Washington Examiner reported.
During a late-September deposition in a case involving scientist Yanping Chen against the FBI, Herridge declined to reveal her source or sources.
"I have no desire to defy a court order, but my understanding is that the courts have ruled that in order to seek further judicial review, I must now disobey the order, and for that reason, among others, I am invoking my First Amendment rights and declining to answer the question," Herridge said, per the filing, the Examiner reported.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Christopher Cooper this week ordered Herridge to submit a written argument by Dec. 14 laying out why she should not be held in contempt and penalized, the Examiner said.
Chen is asking that Herridge pay a "continuing, coercive" sanction of up to about $5,000 per day and pay compensation for the entirety of the scientist’s legal fees, according to an application Chen filed this month.
Cooper is not expected to issue a ruling on contempt before late December.
The judge in August issued an order to compel Herridge to participate in a deposition regarding the identity of the sources she used, CNN reported.
Chen has alleged that federal authorities improperly leaked information about her, violating the Privacy Act.
The case potentially could have far-reaching press freedom implications, ABC News reported.
"Any such order not only impairs the ability of the journalist who has been ordered to reveal the identity of her confidential sources but makes it more difficult for all journalists to gather information about newsworthy topics," attorney Floyd Abrams told CNN.
"The Department of Justice issued new Guidelines in 2021 that significantly limited its ability to seek the identification of confidential sources. We would all be better served if that sort of near-total bar were applied to all cases in which journalists' sources were sought."
CBS News and Fox News issued statements supporting Herridge.
"We are fully supportive of Catherine Herridge’s position in this case. No journalist should be punished for maintaining a source's confidentiality," a CBS News spokesperson said in a separate statement. "This motion for 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."
Pat Philbin, Herridge's attorney, served as deputy White House counsel during the Trump administration.