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The Washington Post demanded on Wednesday that federal law enforcement officials return electronic devices that were seized last week when the FBI executed a search warrant on reporter Hannah Natanson's home. A federal judge agreed and said the devices cannot be examined until further notice.
Natanson was at her Virginia home on Jan. 14 when it was searched as part of a probe into "a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials." Federal agents seized two phones, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive and a Garmin watch, according to the Post.
The Washington Post filed two motions with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday, writing that the search "flouts the First Amendment and ignores federal statutory safeguards for journalists."
WASHINGTON POST REPORTER’S HOME SEARCHED BY FBI
The FBI last week executed a search warrant on Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's home. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo)
The Post, which has covered the story itself, reported that government officials said the seized data was still being processed and hasn’t been reviewed yet. The first public filing related to the search said that "almost none" of the seized items were relevant to the warrant, according to the Post.
"The outrageous seizure of our reporter’s confidential newsgathering materials chills speech, cripples reporting, and inflicts irreparable harm every day the government keeps its hands on these materials. We have asked the court to order the immediate return of all seized materials and prevent their use. Anything less would license future newsroom raids and normalize censorship by search warrant," a Washington Post spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William B. Porter issued a ruling shortly afterward.
The judge ruled that the government "must preserve but must not review" any of the materials that law enforcement seized pursuant to search warrants the Court issued under case numbers "until the Court authorizes review of the materials by further order."
The judge gave the government until Jan. 28 to respond. An oral argument is scheduled for Feb. 6.
The warrant used to search the reporter’s home stated law enforcement was investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who has a top secret security clearance and has been accused of accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports that were found in his lunchbox and his basement.
The Washington Post building in D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Perez-Lugones is an American citizen who was born in Miami and now resides in Laurel, Maryland, according to a criminal complaint. He has been a government contractor since 2002 and possesses a top secret security clearance.
His current role is "administrative," according to the complaint. He works as a systems engineer and information technology specialist for a government contracting company whose primary customer is a government agency. His workplace is in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, according to the complaint. Perez-Lugones is accused of using databases and repositories to search for, access and view a classified intelligence report related to a foreign country. He is accused of taking a screenshot of the report and printing it.
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The FBI executed a search warrant on reporter Hannah Natanson's home on Jan. 14. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
The complaint states that at least one document marked "secret" that was found in Perez-Lugones’ basement was related to national defense.
Natanson covers "the Trump administration's reshaping of the government and its effects," according to her X bio. She penned a story last month headlined, "I am The Post’s ‘federal government whisperer.’ It’s been brutal," that detailed her experiences talking to government employees and its effects on her personal and work life as she fielded thousands of messages.
The paper has firmly stood by Natanson.
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The article was updated with a recent ruling from the judge.
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