House lawmakers will hear from veteran investigative journalists about the significance of the press shield law, which aims to protect journalists and their sources from government overreach and censorship.
Former CBS News correspondents Catherine Herridge and Sharyl Attkisson are expected to testify Thursday at a hearing hosted by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government.
The hearing, “Fighting for a Free Press: Protecting Journalists and their Sources,” will examine the federal government’s infringement on the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press and the federal shield law proposals.
The House passed the Press Act in January, protecting journalists from being forced to reveal sources to government agencies.
Both are also expected to talk about their exits from CBS News.
The Washington Times reached out to CBS News’ parent company, Paramount Global, for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Ms. Herridge, whose files in February were seized by CBS after the network fired her, is ready to reveal the details about her termination before the House Judiciary Committee.
One of her top stories involved the Hunter Biden laptop. Upon her firing, her documents and work laptop were seized and locked up at the CBS News bureau in Washington.
Ms. Herridge is a defendant in a First Amendment case, where she has appealed U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s decision to hold her in contempt for withholding a source’s name for a piece she wrote seven years ago as a correspondent for Fox News.
A spokesperson for SAG-AFTRA, the union representing CBS News employees, has stated that several boxes containing Ms. Herridge’s reporting material were returned.
“The resolution of this matter sends a strong message of protection for basic First Amendment principles,” the union said.
Ms. Attkisson was a CBS News anchor and correspondent from 1993 to 2014. She resigned from the network following tension with management over her investigative reporting into the Obama administration.
That included the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal and the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
At the time of her departure from the network, Ms. Attkisson alleged a “government-related entity” spied on her and planted classified documents on her computer.
Ms. Herridge and Ms. Attkisson will be joined Thursday by SAG-AFTRA’s Chief Broadcast Officer Mary Cavallaro, who will talk about the union’s support for the Press Act.