Fired CBS reporter Catherine Herridge reveals how network killed Hunter Biden's story: 'It made me sick'

CBS News went to great lengths to suppress correspondent Catherine Herridge's reporting on Hunter Biden's laptop just weeks before the 2020 election, the award-winning investigative journalist claimed.

In her bombshell accusation, Herridge revealed that in early October 2020, she provided evidence to CBS News executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews and “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O'Donnell that the laptop contained material about “an advance of one million dollars from a Chinese energy company”. ” along with business texts and emails from the son of Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

But later that month, Herridge wrote that she was shocked when “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl said the laptop “could not be verified” during a tense interview with then-President Donald Trump.

“Watching the show made me sick,” Herridge, who was controversially fired from the Tiffany Network in February, wrote in her recently published newsletter Sunday night.

“I knew the laptop records could be checked and confirmed.”

She added that she was surprised that “60 Minutes” – which came under fire last month for allegedly editing comments from Vice President Kamala Harris to avoid a “word salad” response on the Middle East conflict – did not communicate with the news division had worked together to confirm their reporting.

There is such a “separation” between the two entities, she said.

Before Stahl's segment aired, she was contacted by Ciprian-Matthews and asked if she had “confirmed” coverage of the Hunter Biden story for O'Donnell's show.

Herridge assured the executive that her extensive reporting included “working the phones, contacting people in Hunter Biden's emails for confirmation and comparing court filings.”

“I told Ciprian-Matthews that the materials reviewed included a multi-million dollar advance from a Chinese energy company, emails with Hunter Biden's former business partner Tony Bobulinski, and text messages from Hunter Biden,” she said.

“When Ciprian-Matthews asked if there was a 'Hunter connection,' I replied, 'Yes, all of them,'” she wrote.

Herridge said she then shared some of the reviewed records directly with Ciprian-Matthews.

However, their reporting was never broadcast.

“I don’t know what happened at this point,” Herridge said.

The journalist noted that, based on her experience at the network, she found it strange that CBS News did not task the investigative unit in October 2020 with developing more reporting on the laptop.

“That would have been standard practice,” Herridge wrote.

The Post was the only mainstream publication at the time to report that the laptop belonged to Hunter Biden – leading to the story being banned by social media giants Facebook and Twitter.

It took another two years for CBS to air a forensic review of Hunter Biden's laptop data. By then, Ciprian-Matthews had already been named president of CBS News.

Herridge said she continues to advocate for her report on the laptop, which “found that both the data belonged to Hunter Biden and had not been tampered with.”

“Our report aired in November 2022, after the midterm elections,” Herridge said.

The post has reached out to CBS News for comment.

Herridge was ousted earlier this year amid sweeping cuts at the network and parent company Paramount Global. CBS News confiscated Herridge's reporting materials after her firing.

Sources familiar with the situation claimed that the decision to preserve her files was made by Ciprian-Matthews. The files were returned days later under pressure from the union representing Herridge.

Earlier this year, The Post revealed that Ciprian-Matthews was accused of sidelining white journalists and blocking Herridge's reporting on Hunter Biden's laptop.

The managing director stepped back abruptly in August and previously moved into the role of senior adviser for 2024 presidential election coverage. She is expected to leave the company after the election.