Catherine Herridge Faces $800-a-Day Fine as Supreme Court Backs Hunt for FBI Leaker

A former Fox News journalist will continue facing $800-a-day (£598.57) fines after the US Supreme Court refused to intervene in a case that has become a major test of press freedom and source protection. The legal battle stems from her reporting on a Chinese American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged.

Catherine Herridge lost an emergency bid to halt the financial penalties after the High Court turned away her appeal. The Canadian journalist is facing civil contempt proceedings stemming from a lawsuit filed by scientist Yanping Chen, who is suing the government over the leaked information.

Before the final decision, Chief Justice John Roberts had briefly paused the financial penalty while the bench reviewed the matter. However, the court confirmed on Thursday that Herridge's request to suspend the fine had been rejected, noting that Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the only justice to support her application.

How the FBI Leak Sparked the Legal Battle

The legal battle stems from a 2017 broadcast package Herridge produced for Fox News, which scrutinised Chen's connections to the military in China. The reports questioned whether the academic used a Virginia-based professional academy she founded to help Beijing gather intelligence on US military personnel.

The ruling drew a sharp response from Fox News Media, which expressed its disappointment over the court's stance.

According to Chen's legal team, the broadcasts relied on material leaked from a federal investigation. That inquiry focused on declarations the academic made on immigration documents regarding her involvement with a Chinese astronaut programme.

Legal records show the leaked material included excerpts from an FBI interview summary, personal photographs, information from her immigration files and slides from an internal bureau presentation. Although the federal investigation lasted six years, it was eventually dropped without any charges being brought against Chen, prompting her to sue both the FBI and the Justice Department in 2018.

Scientist Claims Leak Destroyed Her Life

In her legal claim, the scientist detailed how the subsequent media firestorm derailed her personal life and career, leaving her the target of hate mail and death threats. She alleged that federal officials breached the Privacy Act, a law designed to prevent the government from disclosing private information about individuals without their explicit permission.

Why Herridge Was Held in Civil Contempt

The legal standoff escalated when a Washington court ordered Herridge to answer questions from Chen's lawyers about her anonymous sources. US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the success of the scientist's lawsuit ultimately outweighed a journalist's ability to shield a confidential source.

During a deposition, Herridge stood by her position under oath and refused to identify her sources. The judge subsequently found her in civil contempt, triggering a daily financial penalty that took effect after an appeals court panel upheld the ruling.

Press Freedom Groups Warn of Wider Consequences

Press freedom groups have followed the legal battle with growing concern, warning that penalising reporters for protecting confidential sources could deter whistle-blowers from coming forward and conceal government misconduct from the public.

The financial pressure placed on reporters was criticised by Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who argued that journalists defending constitutional rights should not be burdened with heavy court fines.