FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New York, June 24, 2026 — A D.C. appeals court declined yesterday to pause an $800-per-day fine against investigative reporter Catherine Herridge for refusing to identify her confidential sources in response to a civil subpoena.
Herridge was held in contempt of court in 2024 for refusing to divulge sources for her reporting at Fox News on an investigation of a scientist and university president with alleged ties to the Chinese military. She asked for a pause of the daily fine while she petitions the Supreme Court to review the appeals court’s recent ruling against her, but her request was denied in yesterday’s one-sentence order.
The following can be attributed to Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern:
“Every journalist who depends on confidential sources to inform the public should be alarmed that a reporter has been ordered to pay almost $1,000 a day for not burning her sources. Sources come forward at great personal and professional risk to expose government abuse and corruption because they believe journalists can protect them. Will future whistleblowers in D.C. and elsewhere trust investigative journalists who they now know may have to choose between keeping their word and financial ruin?
“The prospect of crippling fines will especially impact independent journalists like Herridge, at a time when corporate outlets are increasingly compromised. Congress needs to provide clear statutory protection against compelled disclosure of journalists’ sources by passing a strong shield law like the PRESS Act.”
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