Contractor Indicted On Classified Leak Charges Tied To Search Of Washington Post Reporter’s Home

MLN -23 JAN 2026U.S: A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a government contractor accused of leaking classified information in a case connected to the FBI’s search of a Washington Post reporter’s home, according to the Department of Justice.

Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones was charged with five counts of unlawfully transmitting classified national defense information and one count of unlawfully retaining such material, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Prosecutors allege Perez-Lugones repeatedly accessed classified reports and removed them from a sensitive compartmented information facility, then shared the material with a reporter. The department said he had previously been charged in a related case involving the retention of national defense information.

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“Illegally disclosing classified defense information is a grave crime against America that puts both our national security and the lives of our military heroes at risk,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the statement, adding that the department would continue to protect classified intelligence.

The indictment follows an FBI search of the Virginia home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson. Federal agents seized several items, including two phones, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive and a Garmin watch, according to the newspaper.

Natanson has reported on the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce government spending by shrinking the federal workforce. The Justice Department did not allege that the reporter committed a crime.