The newspaper says that the FBI searched the home of a Washington Post reporter

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI agents searched the home of a Washington Post reporter Wednesday as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of taking government secrets into the home, the newspaper reported.

The newspaper said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched journalist Hannah Natanson’s devices and confiscated a phone and a Garmin watch from her home in Virginia. Natanson covers the Trump administration’s transformation of the federal government, and recently published an article describing how she acquired hundreds of new sources, prompting one colleague to call her “the federal government whisperer.”

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While investigations into classified documents are not unusual, the search of a journalist’s home represents an escalation in government efforts to crack down on leaks.

An affidavit said the search was related to an investigation into a Maryland system official who authorities allege took confidential reports home, the newspaper reported. The system’s administrator, Aurelio Perez Lugones, was charged earlier this month with illegally retaining national defense information, according to court papers.

Perez Lugones, who holds a top-secret security clearance, is accused of printing confidential and sensitive reports at work. In a search of his home and car in Maryland this month, authorities found documents marked “confidential,” including one in a lunch box, according to court papers.

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An FBI spokesman declined to comment on Wednesday. Justice Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post said on Wednesday that it was monitoring and reviewing the situation. An email seeking comment was sent to Perez Lugones’ attorney.

Over the years, the Department of Justice has developed and revised internal guidelines governing how it responds to news media leaks.

In April, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued new guidelines stating that prosecutors will once again have the authority to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to go after government officials who provide “unauthorized information” to journalists.

The moves overturn a Biden administration policy that protected journalists from secretly seizing their phone records during leak investigations — a practice long denounced by news organizations and press freedom groups.