FBI searches home of Washington Post reporter – JURIST

On Wednesday, the FBI searched the home and electronic devices of a Washington Post reporter and seized her phone, Garmin watch, and two laptops, one of which belongs to the newspaper.

According to the Post, the warrant said the search of reporter Hannah Natanson’s home was connected to the investigation of Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a systems engineer and administrator with top-secret clearance who was recently arrested for taking home classified intelligence reports in his lunch box. He has pleaded not guilty.

Agents told Natanson that she was not a target of the investigation into Perez-Lugones, and no charges have been filed against her. The affidavit does not accuse Perez-Lugones of leaking classified information.

However, FBI Director Kash Patel posted that the FBI and partners “executed a search warrant of an individual at the Washington Post who was found to allegedly be obtaining and reporting classified, sensitive military information from a government contractor—endangering our warfighters and compromising America’s national security.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi additionally posted, “Department of War, the Department of Justice and FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post journalist who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.”

Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray wrote, “This extraordinary, aggressive action is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work,” and the Washington Post Guild stated, “The extraordinary decision to execute a search warrant at a journalist’s home should shock and dismay everyone who cares about a free and independent press.”

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press called the search of Natanson’s home, “a tremendous escalation in the administration’s intrusions into the independence of the press.”