Judge bars FBI from probing Washington Post reporter’s electronics
A federal magistrate judge temporarily barred the FBI from examining electronics seized from Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, though the agency may retain the items. U.S. Magistrate Judge William B. Porter, in the Eastern District of Virginia, allowed the FBI to keep two phones, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive, and a garmin watch but ordered that they not be searched until a hearing scheduled for early next month. the devices were seized under a search warrant in an examination of Pentagon contractor Aurelio Perez-Lugones, who is accused of unlawfully retaining classified materials; prosecutors say he was messaging Natanson around the time of his arrest. The Washington Post asked the court to force return of the equipment, arguing the seizure infringes First Amendment protections and journalist safeguards; the DOJ was ordered to respond by Jan. 28. Attorney General Pam Bondi publicly asserted the reporter had been obtaining and reporting classified details from the contractor. The FBI did not comment for the article.
Judge bars FBI from reviewing seized Washington Post reporter’s electronics
A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily declined to allow the FBI to examine electronics it seized from a Washington Post reporter’s home.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William B. Porter ruled the agency is permitted to keep Hannah Natanson’s two phones, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive, and a Garmin watch that it seized from her residence last week. However, the FBI is not allowed to review the items, Porter wrote in a two-page ruling filed in federal district court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The FBI is not permitted to investigate the electronics until at least early next month, when a hearing is scheduled on the case. The agency obtained them last week by executing a search warrant. It sought to investigate the items as part of an inquiry into a Pentagon contractor accused of illegally retaining classified documents.
But the Washington Post swiftly filed a court motion asking Porter to force the FBI to return the electronics to Natanson. The outlet warned that the seizure “flouts the First Amendment and ignores federal statutory safeguards for journalists.” It was that motion that Porter weighed in on during his ruling Wednesday. The judge ordered the Department of Justice to respond to the Washington Post’s filings by Jan. 28.
The case began after the DOJ accused Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who has a top-secret security clearance, of retaining classified national defense materials. A DOJ official said the suspect was messaging Natanson when he was arrested earlier this month, according to the Washington Post, which also reported that Natanson said she communicated with Perez-Lugones through Signal and phone.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has accused Natanson of reporting on classified information she garnered from Perez-Lugones.
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“The Department of Justice and FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post journalist who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor,” Bondi said in a post to X. “The leaker is currently behind bars. I am proud to work alongside Secretary Hegseth on this effort. The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the FBI for comment but did not receive a reply.
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