The Supreme Court has declined to intervene after a judge ordered an $800-a-day fine for a former Fox News reporter if she refuses to reveal her confidential source. The high court on Thursday rebuffed an emergency appeal from Catherine Herridge related to her stories about a Chinese-American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged, per the AP. The veteran investigative reporter has been held in civil contempt as part of a lawsuit that scientist Yanping Chen filed against the government over the leak.
Herridge published a series for Fox News in 2017 that examined Chen’s ties to the Chinese military and raised questions about whether the scientist was using a professional school she founded in Virginia to help the Chinese government get information about American servicemembers. The stories relied on what Chen’s lawyers say were items leaked from the inquiry, including snippets of an FBI document summarizing an interview, personal photographs, and information taken from her immigration and naturalization forms.
The six-year probe never resulted in charges against Chen, and in 2018 she sued the FBI and the Justice Department. A judge ordered Herridge to answer questions about her source or sources in a deposition with Chen’s lawyers. US District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington ruled that Chen’s need to know for the sake of her lawsuit overcame Herridge’s right to shield her source. She has refused to divulge any names, however.