Judge pauses daily fines for journalist Catherine Herridge

A federal judge has halted the $800 daily contempt fines imposed on investigative reporter Catherine Herridge, who has refused to disclose confidential sources. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that Herridge will not be required to continue these payments while her legal team seeks to have the U.S. Supreme Court hear her First Amendment case.

In addition to pausing the fines, the court denied a request from plaintiff Yanping Chen to increase the daily penalty to $5,000 and ordered the reimbursement of $14,400 in fines Herridge had already paid.

The legal battle stems from Herridge's 2017 reporting at Fox News regarding Yanping Chen, a Chinese-American scientist involved in an FBI counterintelligence investigation. Chen sued federal agencies, alleging violations of the Privacy Act, and subpoenaed Herridge to identify the federal sources who leaked records to the media. Herridge was held in civil contempt in 2024 for refusing to unmask her sources.