A federal judge has blocked the US Department of Justice from searching electronic devices seized from Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, ruling that the court itself will conduct the search for documents related to a national security investigation.
Magistrate Judge William Porter criticised the Trump administration for omitting relevant case law in its original search warrant application, but acknowledged that the potential presence of classified national security information complicated the matter. The FBI raided Natanson's home on 14 January as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified materials.
Natanson, who describes herself as a 'federal government whisperer', has built a network of nearly 1,200 confidential sources across 120 government agencies and reported on federal employees laid off by the Trump administration during Elon Musk's Doge cuts. Agents seized her phone, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive and a Garmin watch.
In his order, Porter noted that the government failed to include and analyse the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, which protects journalists' First Amendment rights. 'This omission has seriously undermined the court's confidence in the government's disclosures in this proceeding,' he wrote. However, he added that an unrestricted government search could violate Natanson's rights, stating: 'The court will conduct the review itself.'
The Washington Post called the ruling a 'victory', warning that allowing the government to search her phone would risk revealing her sources and have a chilling effect on future whistleblowers.
