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United States of America v. Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones[1] is a federal court case related to a government contractor, Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, allegedly removing classified information and divulging it to Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson. The judge in the case is U.S. magistrate judge William Porter,[2] and it is taking place at the U.S. District Court of Maryland.[3] He is charged with five counts of unlawful retention of national defense information, which is part of the Espionage Act.[1][4][5]

Allegations

Perez-Lugones, a Navy veteran[6] and a resident of Maryland,[1] worked as a systems administrator for a government contractor.[5] He possessed a TS/SCI security clearance.[5]

The court case alleges that he accessed classified intelligence reports on a foreign country starting on October 28, 2025, and continuing through January 7, 2026.[5] A search warrant was executed against Perez-Lugones on January 8, which discovered printed materials marked as “secret”.[5] His first court date was January 9.[5]

One method used to detect the leak was the use of software that saves images of everything printed on a particular printer.[7]

There is speculation that the contents of the classified documents relate to Venezuela.[5]

Search and seizure of Natanson’s devices

Main article: Hannah Natanson FBI raid

The Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant on Natanson’s home and devices on January 14, 2026,[5] which is an unusual action to take against a reporter; newspaper articles have described seizing a reporter’s devices as “exceedingly rare”[8] and “unprecedented”.[9] The devices seized were a smart watch, a telephone, a portable hard drive, a recorder, and two laptops.[2] Natanson previously stated that she had over 1,000 government sources.[10]

Judge Porter later ruled that Natanson’s devices could only be checked for information specifically related to the leak, and must be checked independently (not by a Department of Justice filter team), with the intent of protecting Natanson’s first amendment rights.[2][6][9][11][4] Authorities stated that Natanson was the author or co-author of five Washington Post articles containing the leaked classified information.[2]

Seizure of Natanson’s devices may violate the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 (PPA), which affords journalists extra rights against searches and seizures.[6] Judge Porter reprimanded the prosecution for not reminding the court of the act when it applied for its search warrant.[6]

Politico argues that the search and seizure of a journalist’s devices is part of a broader pattern of the Trump Administration targeting the press.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299.1.1.pdf
  2. ^ a b c d “Judge bars government from ‘wholesale’ search of Washington Post reporter’s seized devices”. AP News. 2026-02-25. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  3. ^ Dickstein, Ryan (2026-01-14). “Maryland U.S. Navy Vet turned contractor accused of stealing secret national defense information”. WMAR 2 News Baltimore. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  4. ^ a b Cole, Devan (2026-02-25). “Judge bars Justice Department from searching through devices seized from Washington Post reporter as part of leak probe | CNN Politics”. CNN. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Burgess, Christopher (2026-01-15). “From SCIF to Lunchbox: FBI Details Unauthorized Removal of Classified Intelligence”. ClearanceJobs. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  6. ^ a b c d “Judge blocks Trump DOJ from reviewing Washington Post reporter’s seized data”. NBC News. 2026-02-25. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  7. ^ Mazurov, Nikita (2026-01-21). “FBI’s Washington Post Investigation Shows How Your Printer Can Snitch on You”. The Intercept. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  8. ^ Voytek, Devan Cole, Katelyn Polantz, Clay (2026-01-23). “Justice Department charges ex-government contractor with leaking to Washington Post reporter | CNN Politics”. CNN. Retrieved 2026-02-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ a b “Judge says government may not search devices seized from Post reporter”. The Washington Post. 2026-02-24. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  10. ^ Mazurov, Nikita (2026-01-21). “FBI’s Washington Post Investigation Shows How Your Printer Can Snitch on You”. The Intercept. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  11. ^ a b “Federal judge rejects government’s request to search Washington Post reporter’s devices”. POLITICO. 2026-02-24. Retrieved 2026-02-25.