Investigative reporter Catherine Herridge secured a significant, although momentary, victory for press freedom after a federal decide clarified that she won’t must maintain paying an $800-per-day contempt high quality whereas her authorized group asks the U.S. Supreme Courtroom to listen to her First Modification case.
The courtroom additionally denied plaintiff Yanping Chen’s request to extend the each day high quality to a staggering $5,000 and ordered that the cash Herridge has already paid be returned, Herridge introduced Friday in a statement on X.
The district courtroom has clarified that I don’t must pay the $800 each day contempt high quality for refusing to reveal my confidential sources whereas our group asks the Supreme Courtroom to listen to our First Modification case.
The courtroom additionally denied the plaintiff, Yanping Chen’s request to boost the each day contempt fines to 5K. The courtroom ordered reimbursement for the fines I’ve already paid.
This case is far larger than one journalist, one story, or one information outlet. The end result will affect each newsroom on this nation and the power of reporters to guard their sources and do investigative reporting that seeks accountability.
But, crucial proof stays hidden from the general public and below seal by the District Courtroom.
At a time when many company media retailers select to settle or strain journalists to give up their notes, I wish to acknowledge that Fox Information has continued to face behind me and totally assist the First Modification and investigative journalism by paying my lawyer’s charges.
I stay dedicated to safeguarding the ideas of investigative journalism and a free press.
FIRST AMENDMENT CASE UPDATE
The district courtroom has clarified that I don’t must pay the $800 each day contempt high quality for refusing to reveal my confidential sources whereas our group asks the Supreme Courtroom to listen to our First Modification case.
The courtroom additionally denied the plaintiff,… pic.twitter.com/XNQ3ds3ZAc
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) August 7, 2026
Herridge’s ordeal stems from her 2017 Fox Information reporting on Yanping Chen, a Chinese language-American scientist and founding father of the College of Administration and Know-how in Virginia, a Division of Protection-funded faculty.
The collection examined Chen’s prior service in China’s Individuals’s Liberation Military, statements on her U.S. immigration types, and questions on whether or not her faculty, which enrolled American service members utilizing Protection Division tuition help, may have been used to assemble data of curiosity to Beijing.
The FBI had performed a multi-year counterintelligence investigation into Chen. Brokers searched her dwelling. No fees have been ever filed.
Chen later sued the FBI and different federal businesses below the Privateness Act, claiming officers illegally leaked protected details about her to the media to wreck her repute.
Unable to determine the alleged leaker after years of discovery, Chen’s attorneys turned their hearth on the journalist. They subpoenaed Herridge and demanded she identify her confidential sources. She refused.
U.S. District Choose Christopher Cooper, who was nominated by Barack Obama, held Herridge in civil contempt in February 2024 and imposed the $800-a-day high quality designed to interrupt her will. The D.C. Circuit later upheld the contempt discovering.
On July 2, the Supreme Courtroom denied Herridge’s emergency request to cease the sanction from taking impact. Justice Brett Kavanaugh mentioned he would have granted the keep.
However the district courtroom has now clarified that the fines are paused by way of the denial of any well timed petition asking the Supreme Courtroom to evaluation the case—or by way of the completion of Supreme Courtroom proceedings if the justices agree to listen to it. The decide additionally ordered Herridge’s earlier funds returned, in response to the court update reported Friday.
That clarification issues. It prevents the contempt sanction from changing into a monetary bludgeon earlier than Herridge has exhausted her alternative to hunt evaluation from the nation’s highest courtroom.
Advert block customers: Some web site options could not work appropriately whereas an advert blocker is enabled, as a result of they break scripts and content material this web site relies on. If you cannot see feedback beneath, for instance, please disable your advert blocker.
