FBI conducts raid on Washington Post reporter’s home, seizes electronics

Press state groups pass that the warrant to hunt newsman Hannah Natanson’s location establishes a unsafe precedent.

United States quality agencies and property state groups person expressed interest aft national agents raided the location of a newsman for The Washington Post arsenic portion of a probe into the handling of classified material.

Wednesday’s raid focused connected the residence of writer Hannah Natanson, who has led the Post’s sum of efforts nether President Donald Trump to slash the national workforce.

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Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized her enactment and idiosyncratic laptops, arsenic good arsenic different electronics similar her telephone and a Garmin watch.

“According to the authorities warrant, the raid was successful transportation with an probe into a authorities contractor accused of illegally retaining classified authorities materials. We are told Hannah, and the Post, are not a target,” said Washington Post enforcement exertion Matt Murray.

“Nonetheless, this extraordinary, assertive enactment is profoundly concerning and raises profound questions and interest astir the law protections for our work.”

Free property organisations echoed the Post’s concerns, arguing that the raid acceptable into a signifier of escalating unit connected journalists who study connected accusation the authorities does not privation made public.

Trump has often attacked the quality media and threatened those helium deems excessively captious with lawsuits and investigations.

Still, it is antithetic for instrumentality enforcement to prehend materials from a journalist, fixed the wide property state protections established nether the US Constitution. Advocates warned that Wednesday’s actions could dampen immoderate efforts journalists whitethorn instrumentality to study connected whistleblower complaints.

According to the Post, the hunt warrant was portion of an probe into leaks of classified materials, different 1 of Trump’s favored peeves.

Prosecutors allege that a contractor named Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a strategy technologist and accusation exertion specialist, took screenshots of quality reports and printed them portion moving for a authorities contractor successful Maryland.

Investigators besides accidental they recovered classified documents successful a lunchbox portion searching his car and basement earlier this month.

The Trump medication accused Perez-Lugones of contacting Natanson to leak the accusation and said the hunt of her location came astatine the petition of the Department of Defense.

“The Department of Justice and FBI executed a hunt warrant astatine the location of a Washington Post writer who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked accusation from a Pentagon contractor,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said successful a societal media post.

She added that “the leaker” – an evident notation to Perez-Lugones – had been arrested.

“The Trump Administration volition not tolerate amerciable leaks of classified accusation that, erstwhile reported, airs a sedate hazard to our Nation’s nationalist information and the brave men and women who are serving our country,” she said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt besides weighed in, writing online that Trump had “zero tolerance” for leaks and would “aggressively ace down” connected them.

But property advocates reason that moving with whistleblowers is an indispensable constituent of reporting connected secretive authorities agencies, particularly successful areas specified arsenic nationalist security.

Raids similar the 1 conducted astatine Natanson’s residence hazard violating the knowing of anonymity that journalists physique with their sources, peculiarly those successful delicate authorities positions.

Natanson had extensively covered the Trump administration’s efforts to trim the national workforce and propulsion for nonpartisan employees to align with his governmental agenda.

She has besides reported connected caller US actions successful Venezuela, which culminated with the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro connected January 3.

Groups similar Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) were among those to talk retired against the hunt warrant.

“This raid should disturb each Americans. The United States is astatine a captious juncture arsenic the Trump medication continues to rotation backmost civilian liberties,” said Katherine Jacobsen, coordinator for the US, Canada and the Caribbean astatine the CPJ.

“Using the FBI – funded by American taxpayers – to prehend a reporter’s physics devices, including her authoritative enactment laptop, is simply a blatant usurpation of journalistic protections and undermines the public’s close to know.”