Agents with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the home of a Washington Post reporter this week as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of leaking classified information, officials said. In a post on X, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said agents had searched the home of a journalist who allegedly “was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor”. Bondi said the contractor had been arrested. The Washington Post identified the reporter to the BBC as Hannah Natanson, who has covered how President Donald Trump’s administration has drastically reduced and reshaped the federal workforce. Natanson was at her home in Virginia on Wednesday when federal agents came to search her home, according to the Washington Post. They took her phone, a work and personal computer and a Garmin watch, the outlet said. Natanson was told she was not the focus of the probe, according to the Washington Post, which reported that officials were investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland with top-secret security clearance. According to an FBI affidavit, Perez-Lugones – a systems engineer and information technology specialist on contract for the government since 2002 – accessed and printed classified intelligence reports. Officials said they found classified information in a lunch box while searching Perez-Lugones’ car, according to court filings. The filing does not mention Perez-Lugones disseminating the information. The court filings say Perez-Lugones has been charged with unlawful retention of national defence information. He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. Bondi said the Trump administration would “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 co …
