Court forces reporter to pay $800 a day for refusing to identify source

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New York, June 24, 2026 — A D.C. appeals court declined yesterday to pause an $800-per-day fine against investigative reporter Catherine Herridge for refusing to identify her confidential sources in response to a civil subpoena. Herridge was held in contempt of court in 2024 for refusing to divulge sources for her reporting at Fox News on an investigation of a scientist and university president with alleged ties to the Chinese military. She asked for a pause of the daily fine while she petitions the Supreme Court to review the appeals court’s recent ruling against her, but her request was denied in yesterday’s one-sentence order . The following can be attributed to Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern: “Every journalist who depends on c…