In a move that has sparked immediate controversy and alarm, FBI agents conducted a search of a Washington Post journalist's home on Wednesday. The Justice Department stated the action was part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of leaking classified information.
An "Unusual and Aggressive" Seizure
The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was informed she is not a target of the probe. Despite this assurance, federal agents seized her personal laptop, her Washington Post-issued laptop, her phone, and a Garmin watch. The newspaper described the law enforcement act as "highly unusual and aggressive."
Natanson covers the impact of the Trump administration on the federal government. In December, she co-authored an in-depth report based on interviews with more than 1,200 current and former federal workers, examining how the Department of Government Efficiency and the White House had "broken the federal government."
Legal Context and Escalating Tensions
The raid follows a significant policy shift by Attorney General Pam Bondi. In April, she overturned a rule from the Biden era that had prohibited federal prosecutors from seizing reporters' phone and email records to identify leakers. This action is part of a broader pattern where the administration has banned journalists from press pools and filed lawsuits against major news organizations.
Federal law, specifically the 1980 Privacy Protection Act, generally bars the government from searching and seizing reporters' work materials unless the journalist is suspected of a crime. It remains unclear how the Justice Department justified Wednesday's search under this law.
Attorney General Bondi stated the Department of Justice carried out the search on behalf of the Defense Department. The Pentagon alleges a contractor leaked information to Natanson, and Bondi added that the suspected leaker "is currently behind bars."
Reactions and Calls for Legislative Action
The search warrant identified the investigation's target as Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator for an undisclosed Maryland contractor. Prosecutors allege he accessed a classified system containing information he "had no need to know" and took notes home on a notepad.
Marty Baron, former executive editor of The Post, condemned the search as "a clear and appalling sign that this administration will set no limits on its acts of aggression against an independent press."
The American Civil Liberties Union decried the move as an attack on the press's ability to hold the government accountable. Senior policy counsel Jenna Leventoff called it "deeply alarming" and stated, "Intimidating journalists for source information undermines the fundamental principle that the press should be free to hold the government accountable." The ACLU urged Congress to reintroduce and pass the PRESS Act, which would protect journalist-source confidentiality.
This incident occurs as Reporters Without Borders, an international nonprofit, has declared the president is "on track to join ranks of world’s worst press freedom predators."
