Pentagon Leak Journalism Under Threat US Politics Media Rights Washington Post National Security Donald Trump — Federal agents outside a journalist’s home as press freedom and national security concerns collide in Washington.

FBI searches journalist’s home over alleged Pentagon leak

FBI searches Washington Post journalist’s home in Pentagon leak probe as press freedom concerns grow under tighter US media rules.

By Fahad On Jan 15, 2026

FBI – (Special Correspondent / Web Desk) – FBI on Wednesday searched the home of a Washington Post reporter who has covered recent US federal job cuts, a move the newspaper called “highly unusual and aggressive.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the action was linked to an investigation into an alleged Pentagon leak, amid tighter media rules introduced under President Donald Trump.

According to Bondi, the journalist had obtained and reported classified information that was illegally leaked by a Pentagon contractor, prompting the Defence Department to request a search warrant.

The Washington Post identified the reporter as Hannah Natanson and said agents seized her work laptop, personal laptop, phone, and a watch from her Virginia home near Washington.

Agents told Natanson she is not the focus of the probe.

The paper reported that law enforcement was investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator with top-level security clearance who is accused of taking home intelligence documents found in his lunchbox and his basement.

Perez-Lugones, who served in the US Navy before working as a Pentagon contractor, was arrested last week in Maryland, according to court documents that do not mention any contact with journalists.

“The leaker is currently behind bars,” Bondi said on social media. “The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security.”

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In December, Natanson wrote how she posted her secure phone number on an online forum for government workers and many contacted her about their experiences of radical cutbacks and policy changes in Trump’s second term.

The Defense Department last year restricted media access inside the Pentagon, forced some outlets to vacate offices in the building and drastically reduced the number of briefings for journalists.

US and international news outlets including The New York Times, AP, AFP and Fox News declined to sign the new media rules and were stripped of their press access credentials.