Contractor who allegedly leaked information to Washington Post indicted on six counts
Contractor who allegedly leaked information to Washington Post indicted on six counts
A government contractor accused of leaking classified national security information to a Washington Post journalist was indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland on Thursday. He was charged with five counts of unlawfully transmitting and one count of unlawfully retaining classified national defense information.
Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, 61, allegedly illegally accessed classified national defense information on multiple occasions between October 2025 and January 2026. He proceeded to give the information to an unnamed journalist, identified as “Reporter 1,” the Department of Justice said. The reporter who received the unauthorized data then used it to write “at least five articles that contained classified information.” Perez-Lugones had served in a variety of roles as a federal contractor since 2002.
“On October 31, 2025, November 11, 2025, December 8, 2025, January 6, 2026, and January 9, 2026, Reporter 1 co-authored articles containing classified information from these reports, the Justice Department said in a press release.
According to the evidence collected, Perez-Lugones began illegally accessing federal databases in Oct. 2025 that contained classified information, including intelligence reports and other information categorized as “top secret,” according to the DOJ. He took screenshots of the information he viewed and then “pasted them in Microsoft Word documents and other applications” to hide his illegal activities and acquire the information.
On Jan. 8, he was witnessed by “authorities” accessing national defense information and printing it at his cubicle, the DOJ said. He was also seen illegally transmitting photographs of classified information. After being put under surveillance, Perez-Lugones communicated with the journalist, saying that he was “going quiet for a bit … just to see if anyone starts asking questions.”
The indictment was announced by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, along with Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox, FBI – Washington Field Office.
Attorney General Pam Bondi blasted the actions of Perez-Lugones, calling them “a grave crime against America” that threatened national security. Patel echoed her sentiments.
“Illegally disclosing classified defense information is a grave crime against America that puts both our national security and the lives of our military heroes at risk,” said Bond. “This Department of Justice will remain ever-vigilant in protecting the integrity of America’s classified intelligence.”
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“Perez-Lugones allegedly printed and removed classified documents from his workplace on multiple occasions, took them home, and later passed them to a reporter who used the information in news articles,” said Patel. “Protecting our country’s secrets is essential to the safety of our most sensitive intelligence, military, and law enforcement operations. The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate everyone who seeks to undermine our national security and hold them accountable.”
Hayes agreed with Bondi and Patel and said that such illegal activity that puts national security at risk is intolerable.
“The indictment charges that Perez-Lugones willfully transmitted national defense information to a news reporter, placing our national security at risk,” Hayes said. “Protecting sensitive national security information is a core responsibility of the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will pursue accountability when that trust is violated. Putting it simply, risking our national security cannot and will not be tolerated.”
Perez-Lugones faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each of his charges, the DOJ said.
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