Fired CBS News reporter Katherine Herridge claims she received “orders” to investigate Hunter Biden's laptop from her bosses at Tiffany Networks, namely media heiress Shari Redstone and CBS CEO George Cheeks. “I didn't comply,” he accused the former editor.
Posted by Herridge X's explosive video On Tuesday, it was revealed that Cheeks told her “multiple times” that he wanted her to investigate the Hunter Biden laptop scandal. This directive came directly from Mr. Redstone, the controlling shareholder of CBS's parent company, Paramount Global, who urged it to be “a top priority.” ”
“George Cheeks told me over and over again that this was a top priority for the network and a top priority for his boss, Shari Redstone, so I accepted the assignment. , I did it to the best of my ability,” she said.
Cheeks told CBS that she wanted to “take accountability” on the issue and “speak truth to those in power on both sides of the aisle,” a move welcomed by investigative reporters.
But the reporter said there was backlash within leftist networks over the investigation of the president's son's laptop and whether its contents revealed corruption by President Biden.
“While there were constituencies within the company that supported it and who saw the value in investigating the Hunter Biden story, there were also some elements within CBS News that were resistant to it,” Herridge said. spoke.
“It didn't matter what the facts of the case actually were. This really bothered me as a journalist.”
CBS did not respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Ms Herridge revealed in her book: Recently published newsletter Herridge's immediate supervisors, Washington bureau chief Mark Lima and CBS News president Ingrid Cyprian-Matthews, allegedly pushed Herridge's reporting and killed potential stories early in the laptop scandal.
Her report was never broadcast, although messages from retainers of Chinese energy companies were sent, along with other texts and emails.
In a bombshell, Herridge told Cyprian Matthews and CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell in early October 2020 that his laptop contained “a $1 million retainer from a Chinese energy company.” '' and business information. Texts and emails from Democratic challenger Joe Biden's son.
However, her report was never broadcast.
The Post was the only mainstream publication at the time to report that the laptop belonged to Hunter Biden, leading to a ban on the story by social media giants Facebook and Twitter.
It took another two years for CBS to air the forensic examination of Hunter Biden's laptop data. By then, Cyprian-Matthews had been promoted to president of CBS News.
The importance of Herridge's reporting on Hunter Biden's laptop
scandal. CBS (via Getty Images)
“When I created this story, I created it after the midterms were over. What I was against was that I was prepared before the midterms and trained myself to always do the story when I was ready. Because I’m receiving it,” she said in a video Tuesday. “It shouldn't be dictated by political cycles.”
After the piece aired, Ms. Herridge was encouraged to continue reporting what she discovered during the forensic investigation.
“For example, in the text message, unfortunately, there was a lot of use of the N-word, a lot of the N-word, and I thought that was something worth writing about, but I was told that it wasn't something that CBS News would be interested in. '', she said, noting that while CBS did not report that story, it also carried information from a forensic investigation that revealed “more than half a dozen emails that may have been used by Joe Biden.'' .
“I thought it was a story, but the answer I got was, 'We need to know what's in the email,'” she said, explaining that it would be a “year-long process.” Attempts to obtain that information resulted in her being told not to pursue it.
The award-winning journalist said he was following a story on his laptop when he encountered a “disconnect” at the Tiffany network.
“I couldn't understand how a senior executive like George Cheeks could tell me that this is a top priority for the network and his bosses. Yet CBS News executives said that the producer's anchor We showed that we can refuse,” she said.
“I came to the conclusion that they must have felt they were more powerful than George Cheeks, which was surprising to me. I had never worked in a workplace,” Herridge said.
Earlier this year, Herridge was laid off in a major layoff at CBS News' parent company, Paramount Global. The reporter said he was shocked to find his head on the cutting board because he was always digging out shovels.
The investigative reporter said the timing raised eyebrows, noting that when she was fired, she looked at the metadata on the sheet that said the termination letter was created on February 9. He pointed out that this was the day after Mr. Herridge reported on Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation and final report. To President Biden.
“I reported the fact of the investigation that the president was described as a good young man who was very critical and had a poor memory, and for that reason could not be prosecuted.Therefore, internally it was very difficult.'' In addition to the fact that I was given such a unique assignment, I knew that the timing was very important, but I was fully committed to it and did everything in my power to make unpopular stories a priority for CBS. among many people within that network,” she said.
CBS News confiscated press materials upon Herridge's departure.
Sources close to the situation claimed that the decision to keep her file was made by Cyprian-Matthews. The network did not comment on the details.
The files were returned several days later under pressure from the union representing Herridge.
Earlier this year, the Post reported that Cyprian-Matthews was accused of sidelining a white journalist and interfering with Herridge's reporting using Hunter Biden's laptop.
executives suddenly resigned He took over in August, before moving to senior adviser for 2024 presidential election coverage. She is no longer on the network.
