WASHINGTON – The FBI searched the home of a Washington Post reporter Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of unlawfully hoarding federal secrets.
Agents searched journalist Hannah Natanson’s home in suburban Alexandria, Va., a source familiar with the matter told The Post.
Natanson covers the federal workforce for the newspaper and described herself as “the federal government whisperer” in a Dec. 24 first-person piece about her time reporting on President Trump’s attempts to downsize DC.
“We can’t talk,” a man who answered the door of Natanson’s home told the Post Wednesday.
Agents seized Natanson’s phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch, according to the Washington Post.
One of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a Washington Post-issued laptop.
The target of the investigation is Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a Maryland system administrator who has a top-secret security clearance, the newspaper reported. Perez-Lugones is accused of taking home classified intelligence reports.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on X the leaker “is currently behind bars.”
“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,” she added.
“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.”