Home of Washington Post reporter searched by FBI as part of classified documents probe
The home of a Washington Post reporter was searched by the FBI as part of an investigation by the bureau into the leaking of classified documents tied to President Trump’s efforts to trim the size of the federal government.
The search, which was first reported by The New York Times and the Post itself, came at the home of journalist Hannah Natanson, who has spent the first year of Trump’s second term in the White House reporting on cuts by his administration to the federal workforce and its effort to trim government spending.
The Post confirmed the search to The Hill on Wednesday and said the outlet was monitoring the situation, but declined to provide further comment.
Natanson was home at the time of the search, the Post reported, and the FBI seized her two laptops, cell phone and a Garmin watch during the operation.
A warrant tied to the search noted the investigation was focused on a government 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 outlet reported.
In a statement on Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the search at Natanson’s home, saying she was “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.”
“The leaker is currently behind bars,” Bondi 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.”
It is extremely rare for federal officers to conduct a search at the home of a journalist in the United States, even in cases regarding classified documents or national security.
However, the Trump team has previously sought to access journalist records. Under the first Trump administration, the Justice Department sought gag orders to block notification of reporters whose phone and email communications had been subpoenaed.
Those gag orders remained in place for the first few months of the Biden administration, which later notified CNN, The New York Times, and The Post of the subpoena. The Biden Justice Department then published new guidelines that largely barred search of journalist records.
In April, however, Attorney General Pam Bondi signed a new memo allowing the seizure of journalist records in leak investigations.
Natanson late last year published a first-person narrative laying out her experience in receiving information from frustrated government workers about Trump’s efforts to trim the size of the federal government.
“The stories came fast, the tips even faster,” she wrote. “I kept worrying: What if I got something wrong? What if I got someone in trouble?”
It is considered vitally important for professional journalists to protect sources when reporting on high-level security matters, and news outlets have routinely used extraordinary measures to conceal a source’s identity or connection to a sensitive topic when reporting on such issues.
The Justice Department in the past has not pursued charges against journalists for obtaining classified records.
However, charges related to improperly retaining classified documents carry stiff penalties, both for those with clearances and anyone they share the records with.
President Trump previously faced charges for improperly retaining more than 300 documents with classified marking after he left office, though the Espionage Act charges were dropped once he was reelected.
The Post has faced scrutiny from the Trump administration over its reporting on intelligence matters in recent months. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard attacked reporter Ellen Nakashima in July over her coverage of ODNI, accusing her of “actively harassing,” staff at the department.
Matt Murray, the Post’s executive editor, defended Nakashima at the time, reiterating the outlet’s commitment to “report on government officials and hold power to account, without fear or favor and regardless of party.”
Updated at 10:36 a.m.