FBI agents searched the home of the Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, on Wednesday, 14 January, as part of an investigation into the alleged sharing of classified government information.
Natanson has covered U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to fire large numbers of federal workers and reorient the civil service towards his policy agenda.
However, according to media, during the search of Natanson's Virginia home, the investigators told her she was not the target of the probe.
The investigation was linked to the case against Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a technology specialist for a U.S. government contractor, the Washington Post reported.
Perez-Lugones was charged last week with unlawful retention of national defence information. Prosecutors allege he took screenshots of classified intelligence reports and printed them, according to a criminal complaint.
Investigators later found documents marked “secret” in a lunchbox in his car and in his basement, an FBI document said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the search was carried out at the request of the Defence Department.
Bondi defended the investigation, saying on X that the administration “will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information” that pose a threat to national security.
The probe comes after the Justice Department's 2025 decision to reverse a longstanding policy that largely barred prosecutors from seizing journalists’ records.
Press-freedom advocates criticised the search as an escalation in pressure on the media.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, said searches involving journalists were “hallmarks of illiberal regimes” and warned against allowing such practices to become normalised.
U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently clashed with major news organisations and is currently pursuing lawsuits against several outlets, including the BBC, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
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The U.S. and Iran have agreed to 'stand down' and resume technical talks, allowing vessels allowed to move freely under the interim peace deal, a U.S. official said.
Residents of Caracas woke on Monday (29 June) to a magnitude 4.6 aftershock as rescue teams entered a fourth day of intensive search operations following last week's powerful earthquakes in Venezuela.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz held a phone call on Monday to discuss bilateral relations, regional developments and wider global issues, according to Türkiye’s Communications Directorate.
The Czech government has agreed, under pressure from the country's Constitutional Court, to allow President Petr Pavel to attend next week's NATO summit in Türkiye, but has insisted he will not lead the national delegation.
A tanker reported being struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, Britain's maritime security agency said, after the United States and Iran each launched strikes in the worst escalation since they signed their interim peace deal.
Fourteen people were killed on Sunday after a helicopter belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco crashed in Ras Tanura, according to Saudi state media.
Rescue teams raced on Sunday to find more survivors of the two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela this week, with signs of life bringing occasional relief to a grim quest to whittle down a list of tens of thousands missing.
Eleven people were killed when a small plane carrying skydivers crashed near Nancy in eastern France on Sunday, local officials said.
The United States and Iran have agreed to halt strikes against each other, in a potential breakthrough after weeks of escalating tensions. The two sides are expected to meet in Doha on Tuesday to address their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz.
Residents of Caracas woke on Monday (29 June) to a magnitude 4.6 aftershock as rescue teams entered a fourth day of intensive search operations following last week's powerful earthquakes in Venezuela.
The Czech government has agreed, under pressure from the country's Constitutional Court, to allow President Petr Pavel to attend next week's NATO summit in Türkiye, but has insisted he will not lead the national delegation.
A high-level summit in Berlin has brought together policymakers, academics and industry leaders to examine how Europe can deepen ties with the Caucasus and Central Asia as shifting geopolitical realities reshape long-standing regional partnerships.
A coalition of Georgian former ministers, diplomats and security experts has issued an urgent warning to the international community: Russia is not merely occupying Georgia's breakaway regions - it is absorbing them, and the window for a meaningful response is rapidly closing.
Six adults were killed in a shooting at a youth welfare facility in northern Germany on Monday, with police detaining two people, including the suspected gunman.
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