FBI raids home of Washington Post journalist, seizes devices

1 hour ago 1

Washington: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the home of a newspaper journalist who covers the federal government, seizing laptops and a phone in a highly unusual move as part of an investigation into illegal retention of classified information.

Attorney-General Pam Bondi said on social media the FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a reporter “who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor”.

Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson.

The Washington Post identified that reporter as its Hannah Natanson, who covers the reshaping of the federal government under the Trump administration. She recently wrote about the deluge of tips she received over the past year from aggrieved government workers.

The Post reported that federal agents seized Natanson’s phone, personal and work-issued laptops and a watch, and that she was told she was not the target of the investigation. It identified that person as Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator accused of taking home classified reports.

Perez-Lugones was arrested and charged last week. A 10-page criminal complaint against him does not mention leaking or disseminating the information. But in a document opposing bail, the government said the defendant was alleged to have “disclosed sensitive information, and is capable of disclosing more if released”.

FBI director Kash Patel also confirmed the search of the reporter’s home, claiming she was “endangering our warfighters and compromising America’s national security” by obtaining and publishing sensitive military information.

The Washington Post office in Washington, DC.

“The alleged leaker was arrested this week and is in custody. As this is an ongoing investigation, we will have no further comment,” Patel said.

While it is a crime to leak classified information, and it is commonplace for the FBI to investigate such leaks, it is not a crime for a journalist to obtain and report on such information. It is considered highly aggressive for a reporter’s home to be raided.

Katherine Jacobsen, North America co-ordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the raid should disturb all Americans, with the US at a “critical juncture” as the Trump administration eroded civil liberties.

“Using the FBI – funded by American taxpayers – to seize a reporter’s electronic devices, including her official work laptop, is a blatant violation of journalistic protections and undermines the public’s right to know,” she said.

“Without assurances that journalists can protect their reporting materials, accountability journalism will suffer a major setback, eroding yet another mechanism for government accountability.”

CNN reported that the raid was conducted at the request of the Pentagon and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth.

Bondi and Hegseth appeared to confirm that in their social media posts, with Bondi saying she was “proud to work alongside Secretary Hegseth on this effort”. Hegseth thanked Bondi “for having the back of our warfighters”.

Hegseth was embroiled in controversy last year when he shared sensitive military operational information in a Signal group chat that, unbeknownst to him, included a high-profile journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.

The FBI raided the home of a Washington Post journalist in a highly unusual and aggressive move.

The Pentagon’s watchdog later found Hegseth put the lives of personnel at risk and violated policy.

Hegseth has also presided over a new Pentagon media policy which led almost all Pentagon-based media outlets to withdraw their reporters from the building. They were replaced with Trump-supporting podcasters and activists.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt endorsed the FBI investigation and Wednesday morning’s raid.

“Leaking classified information puts America’s national security and the safety of our military heroes in serious jeopardy,” she said.

“President Trump has zero tolerance for it and will continue to aggressively crack down on these illegal acts moving forward.”

Natanson was contacted for comment. Last month she wrote a first-person account of her year as the “federal government whisperer”, receiving tips from almost 1200 government workers about how their workplaces or missions were being upended by the Trump administration.