WaPo reports:
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WaPo reports:
"The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at a Washington Post reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials."
"The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her home in Virginia at the time of the search. Federal agents searched her home and her devices, seizing her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. One of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a Washington Post-issued laptop."
"It is exceptionally rare for law enforcement officials to conduct searches at reporters’ homes. Federal regulations intended to protect a free press are designed to make it difficult to use aggressive law enforcement tactics against reporters to obtain the identities of their sources or information."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/14/washington-post-reporter-search/
Guardian piece: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/14/fbi-raid-washington-post-hannah-natanson
From the Guardian story:
“Physical searches of reporters’ devices, homes and belongings are some of the most invasive investigative steps law enforcement can take,” Bruce D Brown, president of the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press, said in a statement.
“There are specific federal laws and policies at the Department of Justice that are meant to limit searches to the most extreme cases because they endanger confidential sources far beyond just one investigation and impair public interest reporting in general.
“While we won’t know the government’s arguments about overcoming these very steep hurdles until the affidavit is made public, this is a tremendous escalation in the administration’s intrusions into the independence of the press.”
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, demanded a public explanation from the justice department “why it believes this search was necessary and legally permissible”.
In a statement, Jaffer said: “Any search targeting a journalist warrants intense scrutiny because these kinds of searches can deter and impede reporting that is vital to our democracy.
“Attorney General Bondi has weakened guidelines that were intended to protect the freedom of the press, but there are still important legal limits, including constitutional ones, on the government’s authority to use subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to obtain information from journalists.
“Searches of newsrooms and journalists are hallmarks of illiberal regimes, and we must ensure that these practices are not normalized here.”
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WaPo reports:
"The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at a Washington Post reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials."
"The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her home in Virginia at the time of the search. Federal agents searched her home and her devices, seizing her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. One of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a Washington Post-issued laptop."
"It is exceptionally rare for law enforcement officials to conduct searches at reporters’ homes. Federal regulations intended to protect a free press are designed to make it difficult to use aggressive law enforcement tactics against reporters to obtain the identities of their sources or information."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/14/washington-post-reporter-search/
Guardian piece: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/14/fbi-raid-washington-post-hannah-natanson
@briankrebs I said even during the last Trump administration - if I wanted to leak sensitive shit, I'd do it to reporters who aren't in the US on the condition that my info NEVER touches our borders.
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From the Guardian story:
“Physical searches of reporters’ devices, homes and belongings are some of the most invasive investigative steps law enforcement can take,” Bruce D Brown, president of the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press, said in a statement.
“There are specific federal laws and policies at the Department of Justice that are meant to limit searches to the most extreme cases because they endanger confidential sources far beyond just one investigation and impair public interest reporting in general.
“While we won’t know the government’s arguments about overcoming these very steep hurdles until the affidavit is made public, this is a tremendous escalation in the administration’s intrusions into the independence of the press.”
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, demanded a public explanation from the justice department “why it believes this search was necessary and legally permissible”.
In a statement, Jaffer said: “Any search targeting a journalist warrants intense scrutiny because these kinds of searches can deter and impede reporting that is vital to our democracy.
“Attorney General Bondi has weakened guidelines that were intended to protect the freedom of the press, but there are still important legal limits, including constitutional ones, on the government’s authority to use subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to obtain information from journalists.
“Searches of newsrooms and journalists are hallmarks of illiberal regimes, and we must ensure that these practices are not normalized here.”
Unfortunately, my impression is that previous restrictions on searches of reporters was based more on norms and mutable internal DOJ policies than anything based in law. There are no shield laws at the federal level. Grand juries presented with requests from federal prosecutors for warrants to search reporters supported by probable cause might be hard-pressed to deny them.
Given the current threat model, reporters are going to have to up their game when it comes to protecting their sources, and consider very carefully how far they're willing to go to protect those sources if served with court orders. Because unfortunately no one is coming to protect them.
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From the Guardian story:
“Physical searches of reporters’ devices, homes and belongings are some of the most invasive investigative steps law enforcement can take,” Bruce D Brown, president of the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press, said in a statement.
“There are specific federal laws and policies at the Department of Justice that are meant to limit searches to the most extreme cases because they endanger confidential sources far beyond just one investigation and impair public interest reporting in general.
“While we won’t know the government’s arguments about overcoming these very steep hurdles until the affidavit is made public, this is a tremendous escalation in the administration’s intrusions into the independence of the press.”
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, demanded a public explanation from the justice department “why it believes this search was necessary and legally permissible”.
In a statement, Jaffer said: “Any search targeting a journalist warrants intense scrutiny because these kinds of searches can deter and impede reporting that is vital to our democracy.
“Attorney General Bondi has weakened guidelines that were intended to protect the freedom of the press, but there are still important legal limits, including constitutional ones, on the government’s authority to use subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to obtain information from journalists.
“Searches of newsrooms and journalists are hallmarks of illiberal regimes, and we must ensure that these practices are not normalized here.”
@briankrebs@infosec.exchange
God I hope she practiced decent opsec for the sake of her sources. -
WaPo reports:
"The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at a Washington Post reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials."
"The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her home in Virginia at the time of the search. Federal agents searched her home and her devices, seizing her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. One of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a Washington Post-issued laptop."
"It is exceptionally rare for law enforcement officials to conduct searches at reporters’ homes. Federal regulations intended to protect a free press are designed to make it difficult to use aggressive law enforcement tactics against reporters to obtain the identities of their sources or information."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/14/washington-post-reporter-search/
Guardian piece: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/14/fbi-raid-washington-post-hannah-natanson
This would appear to be related to the probe into the alleged leaker ( h/t @ncweaver )
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299.1.1.pdf
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This would appear to be related to the probe into the alleged leaker ( h/t @ncweaver )
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299.1.1.pdf
It would also be related to the intimidation of all journalism.
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It would also be related to the intimidation of all journalism.
@huntingdon @briankrebs @ncweaver Really, only journalism that isn't willing to just repeat their lies.
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WaPo reports:
"The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at a Washington Post reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials."
"The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her home in Virginia at the time of the search. Federal agents searched her home and her devices, seizing her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. One of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a Washington Post-issued laptop."
"It is exceptionally rare for law enforcement officials to conduct searches at reporters’ homes. Federal regulations intended to protect a free press are designed to make it difficult to use aggressive law enforcement tactics against reporters to obtain the identities of their sources or information."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/14/washington-post-reporter-search/
Guardian piece: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/14/fbi-raid-washington-post-hannah-natanson
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This would appear to be related to the probe into the alleged leaker ( h/t @ncweaver )
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299.1.1.pdf
@briankrebs @ncweaver One wonder what the material was.
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WaPo reports:
"The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at a Washington Post reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials."
"The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her home in Virginia at the time of the search. Federal agents searched her home and her devices, seizing her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. One of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a Washington Post-issued laptop."
"It is exceptionally rare for law enforcement officials to conduct searches at reporters’ homes. Federal regulations intended to protect a free press are designed to make it difficult to use aggressive law enforcement tactics against reporters to obtain the identities of their sources or information."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/14/washington-post-reporter-search/
Guardian piece: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/14/fbi-raid-washington-post-hannah-natanson
@briankrebs So someone in the Trumpton regime has seen - and not been so drunk/such a moron that they forgot - The film 'All The Presidents Men'?
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