The Washington Post’s executive editor Matt Murray told his staff on Wednesday that the FBI’s search of reporter Hannah Natanson‘s home was “deeply concerning” and raised “profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work.”
“The Washington Post has a long history of zealous support for robust press freedoms,” he told staff in a memo on Wednesday obtained by TheWrap. “The entire institution stands by those freedoms and our work.”
The statement came hours after FBI agents searched Natanson’s home and seized multiple devices, including a Post-issued laptop, as part of an investigation into a government contractor who allegedly illegally retained classified government documents.
Murray affirmed to staff that Natanson and the Post were not targets of the investigation. He said the paper has been in close contact with Natanson, authorities and attorneys as it seeks to learn more.
“In the meantime, the best thing all of us can do is to continue to vigorously exercise those freedoms as we do every day,” he wrote.
Natanson covers the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce for the Post, including the culling of thousands of career workers across the federal bureaucracy. Her coverage has produced a trove of scoops, including how the U.S postal service was aiding in the administration’s mass deportation efforts and the ouster of more than a dozen inspectors general across federal agencies.
Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed on X that Natanson was “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor” and that the “leaker is currently behind bars.” FBI Director Kash Patel later affirmed Bondi’s characterization in his own X post.
The Post reported that the FBI affidavit said the agency was investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland with a “top secret” security clearance who was charged last week after he allegedly was found with classified documents in his lunchbox and his basement.
Officials accused Perez-Lugones of accessing a classified system, taking notes of his findings and bringing those notes home, according to the Baltimore Sun. He also allegedly took a screenshot of a classified intelligence report about a foreign country.
Post Guild, the paper’s union, said in a statement on X it was “alarmed and appalled” by the search and “will continue to fight for our members’ safety and independence so that they can continue their critical work.”
“Hannah is a valued member of our union whose work covering the federal workforce has been essential in understanding the impact of the Trump administration’s policies,” it wrote. “The extraordinary decision to execute a search warrant at a journalist’s home should shock and dismay everyone who cares about a free and independent press.”
The Washington-Baltimore News Guild, its parent union, also said it “unequivocally condemns” the search and stood “in solidarity with reporters and newsroom workers defending the First Amendment and the essential public service they provide.”
“Such actions represent a dangerous escalation that threatens press freedom and the fundamental role of journalists in holding power accountable,” it said in a statement. “We condemn any government practice that chills investigative reporting or undermines the confidentiality of newsgathering. Journalists must be free to pursue stories in the public interest without fear of intimidation or surveillance.”
