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2w ago

FBI Seizes Washington Post Reporter’s Devices in Pentagon Leak Investigation

Officials cast the search as a national-security step linked to a Pentagon contractor following DOJ’s rollback of limits on obtaining journalists’ records.

Una persona entra al edificio donde están las oficinas del periódico Washington Post, en Washington, el 21 de junio del 2024. (AP foto/Alex Brandon)
Hannah Natanson, periodista del Washington Post.
Agentes del FBI procedieron a catear la vivienda de Hannah Natanson, periodista del Washington Post que investigaba a un contratista del gobierno de Donald Trump, que declaró que "no tolerará filtraciones ilegales de información clasificada". |AP
El edificio de la sede del periódico The Washington Post se ve en K Street en Washington DC, el 16 de mayo de 2019. (Eric BARADAT / AFP)

Overview

  • Agents executed a warrant at Hannah Natanson’s Virginia home on Jan. 14 and took her phone, two laptops and a smartwatch.
  • The Justice Department says the search relates to contractor Aurelio Perez-Lugones, accused of illegally retaining defense documents, with investigators finding files marked “SECRET,” including one in a lunchbox, and authorities say the leaker is in custody.
  • The Washington Post says neither Natanson nor the newsroom is a target, and its editor called the search an extraordinary, aggressive step that raises constitutional concerns.
  • Press-freedom groups and First Amendment experts say raids on journalists’ homes are rare and could chill sources and investigative reporting.
  • Officials said the operation followed a Pentagon request and it comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded Biden-era limits on seeking journalists’ records in leak probes.