Judge orders release of contractor accused of sharing classified info with Wapo reporter

Source: Washington Post

05/04/2026 12:46 PM EDT


BALTIMORE — A federal judge has ordered the release of a government contractor charged with forwarding classified information to a Washington Post reporter. U.S. District Judge Michael Maddox called the alleged leaks by Aurelio Perez-Lugones “extremely grave,” but said the dangers posed by releasing the Navy veteran could be mitigated by putting him on home detention and location monitoring while barring him from using any internet-connected devices.

Justice Department prosecutors had urged that Perez-Lugones, who has been in jail since his arrest in January, be kept in pretrial detention because of the possibility he could disclose additional classified information to Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, whom he is accused of sharing national security secrets with. “The government has no way of knowing what he has retained and what he is able to provide to others,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia McLane said during a hearing Monday. “The person he was communicating with is still employed and has a willingness to accept classified and national defense information. … The receptacle of additional national defense information is still available to the defendant.”

Perez-Lugones’ arrest triggered a controversial search of Natanson’s home in Virginia and the seizure of her phones and computers. The magistrate judge who approved that search warrant, William Porter, was aware that Natanson was a journalist. However, he has complained that prosecutors did not inform him about a federal law that restricts search warrants for records held by reporters or news organizations.

Following protests by Natanson and the Post that the search threatened the privacy of her communication with more than 1,000 sources and effectively cut her off from them, Porter suspended the FBI’s access to the devices seized from her home. He has said he will sift through the records to search for those related to Perez-Lugones. Prosecutors asked a federal district judge in Virginia to block that plan, but the judge has not yet ruled on that request.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/04/contractor-classified-information-case-release-00905138