Justice Kavanaugh noted support for stay
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to intervene in a case that could force former Fox News investigative reporter Catherine Herridge to pay $800 per day in fines for refusing to reveal a confidential source. The high court rejected Herridge’s emergency appeal to stay a civil contempt order, according to an announcement from the court.
Chief Justice John Roberts had previously placed a short-term hold on the fine while the full court considered the appeal. In Thursday’s order, the court said it was denying Herridge’s bid to stay the fine. Justice Brett Kavanaugh supported granting the application for a stay, the court noted.
Herridge has been held in civil contempt as part of a lawsuit that scientist Yanping Chen filed against the government over the leak of information about an FBI investigation. Chen, a Chinese American scientist, was investigated by the FBI but never charged. Herridge published a series of reports for Fox News in 2017 that examined Chen’s ties to the Chinese military and raised questions about whether Chen was using a professional school she founded in Virginia to help the Chinese government obtain information about American servicemembers.
A judge ordered the $800-a-day fine, the court announcement said. Roberts had previously placed a short-term hold on the fine while the court considered the appeal. Herridge has refused to identify the source who provided information about the investigation.