FBI searches home of Washington Post journalist for classified documents, Bondi says

The FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post reporter this week as part of an investigation into a federal employee who is suspected of mishandling classified information, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

In a statement, Bondi said the warrant was executed at the request of the Pentagon.

"The leaker is currently behind bars," she said. "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."

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed on social media that law enforcement executed the search warrant Wednesday and alleged the journalist had received "classified, sensitive military information from a government contractor — endangering our warfighters and compromising America's national security. The alleged leaker was arrested this week and is in custody. As this is an ongoing investigation, we will have no further comment."

The decision to execute a search warrant at the home of a journalist is highly unusual, and could escalate the already tense relationship between the media and the Trump administration. 

It was unclear why the Justice Department felt the need to search the home of a reporter even though the target of the investigation has already been charged and detained.

Historically in Espionage Act investigations into leaks of classified information, the department has pursued the leakers, but not the journalists who receive the classified information.

In April 2025, Bondi issued a memo that made it easier for prosecutors investigating leaks to the news media to subpoena records and testimony from journalists, rescinding a prior policy under former Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Under those regulations, prosecutors in criminal investigations are allowed to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to compel "production of information and testimony by and relating to members of the news media," the memo stated at the time.

The Biden administration had previously imposed new restrictions that made it much harder to seize reporters' phones and email records, after the department faced criticism in Trump's first term for secretly serving subpoenas on both journalists and congressional staff members in connection with leak investigations.

The FBI conducted the search at the Alexandria, Virginia, home of reporter Hannah Natanson, who writes about the federal workforce for the newspaper, according to the Washington Post.

The Washington Post said that federal agents searched her home and her devices, seizing her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. 

Natanson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Justice Department official told CBS News in a statement that the search of her home is "consistent with the law."

According to The Washington Post, the warrant shows the investigation is targeting Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who holds a top secret security clearance. 

Perez-Lugones, a government contractor in Annapolis, Maryland, and former member of the U.S. Navy, was already charged on Jan. 8 in a criminal complaint with violating the Espionage Act for unlawfully retaining national defense information.

Perez-Lugones, who holds a top secret security clearance, is accused of accessing a classified report related to an unnamed foreign country, taking a screen shot and printing it. 

He also allegedly accessed another report related to a government operational activity and took notes on a yellow notepad.

During a search of his Laurel, Maryland, home and car that same day, the FBI found a document marked as "secret" in his lunchbox, the criminal complaint says. More documents marked as "secret" were also discovered in his basement, the complaint said.

A hearing in Perez-Lugones' case has been scheduled for Thursday in Baltimore. 

A Justice Department official told CBS News that the Washington Post reporter had been communicating with Perez-Lugones.

"This is about the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, and we will hold him accountable for his extremely serious crimes. At the time of his arrest, Perez-Lugones was actively communicating with the reporter on his mobile device, and in this chat, there was classified information," the official added.

A spokesperson for the Post said that the paper is reviewing and monitoring the situation. 

Several former Justice Department officials told CBS that the decision to search a reporter's home, particularly in a case where the alleged leaker has already been charged, raises First Amendment concerns and appears to be a possible effort to intimidate the news media.