On Capitol Hill, there were urgent warnings about the erosion of the First Amendment. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government, expressed concern about executive interference discouraging whistleblowers from coming forward with crucial information. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, emphasized the pivotal nature of First Amendment rights.
Witness Sharyl Attkisson, host of Sinclair’s Full Measure and former CBS News employee, recounted how her computer was hacked by external parties with government-controlled IP addresses. The hackers monitored her work in real-time, accessed her files, infiltrated the larger CBS system, planted classified documents in her operating system, and activated Skype audio to listen in.
Former CBS News investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge, recently fired by the network, spoke about her documents being seized on her termination day. She described this as an attack on investigative journalism and likened the experience to a “journalistic rape.” Herridge is currently engaged in a legal battle to protect her sources after being held in civil contempt for refusing to divulge them.
Herridge expressed hope that the “Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying” or PRESS Act, a legislation passed in the House, could help. The act aims to limit what journalists would be compelled to disclose to the government. However, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Penn., noted that despite repeated bipartisan support in the House for some form of reporter shield legislation, the Senate has yet to act.
Some Democrats on the committee argued that the hearing’s purpose was not to protect free speech, but to further the narrative of a biased mainstream media, an assessment Republicans reject.
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