January 15, 2026 | 05:58 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Washington Post newspaper reported on Wednesday that FBI agents had searched the Virginia home of one of its reporters, Hannah Natanson.
Attorney General Pam Bondi subsequently also commented on the search, saying it had been conducted at the request of the recently-rebranded Department of War, probably still better known as the Department of Defense.
Bondi described Natanson as a "journalist who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor."
The suspected leaker was "currently behind bars," she said, alleging that the leaks of this kind "pose a grave risk to our Nation's national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country."
Who is Hannah Natanson?
Natanson has been covering U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign to fire or otherwise dismiss thousands of federal workers and shift remaining workers to implementing his agenda.
She wrote in a story in December about her personal experience covering the effort titled "I am The Post's 'federal government whisperer.' It's been brutal." She detailed the high frequency of calls and messages she had been receiving from frustrated government employees amid the wholesale changes.
The Washington Post said on X that investigators had told Natanson that she was not a focus of the investigation.
It said that she was present in the Virginia home during the search, and that investigators searched her devices and seized a phone and a Garmin smartwatch.
The investigation was linked to the case against a technology specialist for a U.S. government contractor who was charged last week with unlawful retention of national defense information, the paper reported.
Search follows changes to guidelines on when journalists can be targeted
Wednesday's news follows revisions to the Justice Department guidelines on how it responds to leaks to news media.
In April 2025, Bondi issued new guidelines saying prosecutors would again have the authority to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to hunt for government officials who make "unauthorized disclosures" to journalists. These rescinded alterations were made during the previous Joe Biden administration that largely protected journalists from having their phone records seized.
Press freedom advocates criticized both Bondi's changes and Wednesday's news of the search at Natanson's home.
"Searches of newsrooms and journalists are hallmarks of illiberal regimes, and we must ensure that these practices are not normalized here," said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, named after the US constitutional amendment assuring free expression.
Trump has often adopted an antagonistic approach towards news media, as evidenced by ongoing lawsuits against the BBC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and a newspaper in Iowa. Other major outlets, including CBS and ABC, have paid millions to settle out of court.
The Washington Post is now owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, a Trump donor.
Read: Minnesota Sues Trump Admin Over Immigration Crackdown
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