Award-winning reporter Catherine Herridge — who was fired by CBS News for refusing to disclose one of her sources — has shared new details on the network’s efforts to axe her reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal ahead of the 2020 Election.
In a bombshell revelation, Herridge revealed that she brought evidence to CBS News executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews and “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell in early October 2020 that the laptop contained material about “a million dollar retainer from a Chinese energy firm,” along with texts and emails from then-candidate Biden’s son. Later that month, Herridge expressed her shock and disbelief to see “60 Minutes” anchor Lesley Stahl state that the laptop “couldn’t be verified” during her heavily edited interview with then-President Trump.
Trump cited the network’s refusal to retract the blatant lie — which cited a thoroughly debunked letter from 51 intelligence officials claiming the laptop contained “hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign” — in refusing to sit for a primetime “60 Minutes” interview this year.
“As I watched the broadcast, I felt sick,” Herridge wrote in her brand new “Catherine Herridge Reports” newsletter. “I knew the laptop records could be vetted and confirmed.”
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“It took an additional two years for the network to broadcast a forensic review of the Hunter Biden laptop data. I advocated for the report which determined that both the data belonged to Hunter Biden and it had not been tampered with. Our report was broadcast in November 2022, after the midterm elections. I may have more to say about the delay in the future,” the veteran reporter continued.
Prior to Stahl’s interview with Trump, she was contacted by Ciprian-Matthews asking her if she had “confirmed reporting” on the laptop ahead of O’Donnell’s broadcast. Herridge assured the CBS executive that she had been “working the phones, reaching out to people on the Hunter Biden emails for corroboration and cross-referencing court records.”
“I told Ciprian-Matthews the vetted materials included a million dollar retainer from a Chinese energy firm, emails with Hunter Biden’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski as well as Hunter Biden text messages,” she said.
Despite her vetting efforts, her reporting never aired or factored into any of the network’s coverage of the scandal. She found it odd that CBS’ news division did not task its investigative unit with a further investigation of the laptop, something that should have been standard practice.
CBS News did not conduct a full forensic investigation of the laptop until well after the 2022 midterm elections, at which point Ciprian-Matthews had been promoted to president of the network’s news division.
Ciprian-Matthews abruptly stepped down from her position in August and moved to the role of senior adviser for coverage of the 2024 presidential election. She is set to exit the company after the election.
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