Here was Catherine Herridge's full opening statement at the House @JudiciaryGOP hearing, her first on-camera comments since being laid off by CBS News and having her records seized:
“I’m here today with a deep sense of gratitude and humility. I appreciate the subcommittee taking the time to focus again on the importance of protecting reporter sources and the vital safeguards provided by the PRESS Act. As you know, in February, I was held in contempt of court for refusing to dispose my confidential sources for national security story. I think my current situation can help put the important of PRESS Act into context.
"One of our children recently asked me if I would go to jail, if we would lose our house, and if we would lose our family’s savings to protect my reporting sources. I wanted to answer that, in this United States where we say we value democracy and the role of a vibrant and free press, that it was impossible, but I could not offer that assurance. The bipartisan PRESS Act, which came out of this House Committee, would put it into the sort of legal jeopardy that I had experienced firsthand in the federal courts. And without the legislation, more journalists will run into the uncertainty of the contempt gauntlet in the future. This legislation will provide protections for every working journalist in the United States, now and for the next generation.
"The legislation provides strong protections at the federal level for reporters and their sources. It would block litigants and federal governments from prying into reporters files, except when there’s imminent threat of violence, including terrorism and in defamation cases. At the state level, similar rules are already in place at the state level to protect press freedom. It is my sincere hope the passage of the PRESS Act will provide similar protections at the federal level. ... "
https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1778442518666879070
