FBI agents carried out a dramatic early-morning raid on the Virginia home of Washington Post national security reporter Hannah Natanson this week, seizing electronic devices as part of a widening federal investigation into the handling and disclosure of classified government information.
According to law enforcement officials, FBI agents executed a court-approved search warrant and confiscated Hannah Natanson’s cellphone, two laptops, and a smartwatch tied to an investigation into a government contractor accused of unlawfully retaining and sharing sensitive intelligence. The Washington Post reporter was at home during the raid but was not arrested, and authorities said she is not a target of the criminal case.
The Washington Post called the action “highly unusual and aggressive,” expressing concern about its implications for press freedom and source confidentiality. Marty Baron, the Post’s former executive editor, decried the search as “a clear and appalling sign that this administration will set no limits on its acts of aggression against an independent press,” The Washington Post is reviewing legal options as the investigation continues.
BREAKING!
WaPo reporter home is raided and devices seized by the FBI and the media isn’t making this headline news???
Hannah Natanson’s home was raided today. According to X posts, a MD contractor Aurelio Perez-Lugone, obtained classified information and put it in his… pic.twitter.com/kR2fo0EvvT
— Santa Surfing (@SantaSurfing) January 14, 2026
Investigators told the Washington Post journalist she is not the target of the probe, which is centered on Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a Maryland-based systems administrator with top-secret security clearance. Federal authorities say Perez-Lugones is accused of illegally removing classified material from secure government systems and retaining it at his home.
According to court records, Perez-Lugones was charged just days ago after FBI agents searched his residence in Laurel, roughly 20 miles from Annapolis, and discovered classified intelligence reports hidden inside a lunchbox in the basement. Prosecutors allege the documents included sensitive national security material that should never have left a secure facility.
The FBI affidavit further alleges that Perez-Lugones repeatedly accessed a classified database and took handwritten notes over the course of a week, recording sensitive information on a notepad before removing the pages and taking them home. Investigators also say the 61-year-old Navy veteran logged into the system again last fall and captured a screenshot of a classified intelligence report concerning a foreign country.
FBI authorities argue the pattern of access and removal demonstrates intentional mishandling of protected material, forming the foundation of the criminal case that ultimately led agents to seek evidence from individuals who may have had contact with the accused.
Federal officials defended the move, saying the warrant for the Washington Post journalist was granted after other investigative avenues were exhausted and stressing that the probe is focused on national security and classified material, not journalism. One senior Justice Department official said the actions are necessary to protect sensitive information and uphold the rule of law.
The FBI raid comes as President Donald Trump moves to fulfill a long-standing campaign promise to crack down on government leaks and the unauthorized dissemination of classified information. Throughout his campaign and into his current term, Trump has argued that leaks, especially those involving national security matters, threaten American interests and must be prosecuted vigorously. “This administration will not tolerate the theft and distribution of classified material,” Trump said in recent statements, tying such disclosures to broader concerns about governance and national safety.
Critics of Trump’s approach say aggressive enforcement risks undermining press freedoms. Some argue that federal crackdowns on leaks and journalists’ records could chill the press’s ability to hold government accountable. Fresh concerns arise amid broader policy changes reversing protections put in place during prior administrations, such as limits on searching reporters’ phone and email records, a policy rescinded last year under Attorney General Pam Bondi. Media advocates warned the shift could endanger confidential sources and investigative reporting.
This past week, at the request of the Department of War, 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. The leaker is…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 14, 2026
That tension echoes similar controversies during the Obama administration. Under President Barack Obama, federal authorities aggressively pursued leak investigations using the Espionage Act more than any prior administration, according to media reports and legal analysis. Obama’s Department of Justice secretly obtained phone records for more than 20 Associated Press news lines as part of a probe into a leaked terror report.
Journalists’ personal and work phone records were gathered without prior notice, prompting strong pushback from the news agency and constitutional law advocates who said such actions threatened First Amendment protections. The Obama Justice Department also targeted Fox News correspondent James Rosen in a leak probe, obtaining a search warrant for his personal emails and tracking his movements at the State Department, even naming him as a possible co-conspirator in connection with classified leaks.
Hannah Natanson: FBI Raids Home of Reporter Investigating the Trump Admin https://t.co/uG7n2OeGDs
— @CTGJR (@CtgjrJr) January 14, 2026
For supporters of Trump’s crackdown, the focus remains on deterring leaks that could jeopardize national security or federal operations. For journalists, the raid of the Washington Post reporter underscores a deepening conflict between government authorities seeking to enforce classified information laws and news organizations defending the independence of the press and the confidentiality of sources.
