Overview
- Federal prosecutors charged Aurelio Perez-Lugones with five counts of unlawfully transmitting classified national security information and one count of unlawful retention, alleging he provided documents to a reporter.
- U.S. Magistrate Judge William B. Porter ordered the government to preserve but not review data taken from Natanson’s devices, set a Jan. 28 deadline for a DOJ response, and scheduled a hearing for early February.
- The Washington Post asked the court to order the immediate return of two phones, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive, and a Garmin watch, arguing the seizure swept up years of reporting and confidential source communications.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Defense Department requested the search; officials have said Natanson is not a target, and the Post says talks broke down on Jan. 20 after the government refused to pause any review.
- Press-freedom groups called the home search unprecedented in a national security leak probe, and the Post disclosed that prosecutors also served the paper with a grand jury subpoena seeking related records.