The FBI raided Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home Wednesday morning to seize her personal and work-related devices in the latest horrifying development in the Trump administration’s war on the truth.
Natanson has been reporting on President Donald Trump's decimation of the federal government. During the raid, agents reportedly took her cellphone, personal and work laptops, and smartwatch.
"This past week, at the request of the Department of War, the Department of Justice and FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post journalist who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor," Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X. "The leaker is currently behind bars. I am proud to work alongside Secretary Hegseth on this effort. The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country."
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks to reporters while President Donald Trump stands beside her in June 2025.
The raid is a clear escalation of Trump’s war on the press.
Already, Trump barred The Associated Press from the White House because it refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” He’s also launched multiple baseless lawsuits against major media outlets, resulting in them bribing and paying him off.
What’s more, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced Pentagon reporters to sign a pledge vowing not to publish anything that he hasn’t personally signed off on. After multiple reporters staged a walkout in protest, the Pentagon is now filled with pro-Trump outlets.
Similarly, job applicants for the government-owned Stars and Stripes military outlet are now being asked during interviews how they would support Trump’s policy priorities—a move that has left reporters at the outlet fearful that its congressionally granted independence is at risk.
But raiding a journalist's home and taking her personal devices goes a step further; it’s a clear effort to scare federal employees out of speaking to reporters and to stop reporters from publishing sensitive or classified information out of fear of being prosecuted.
“This extraordinary, aggressive action is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work,” the Post’s Executive Editor Matt Murray said in a statement. “The Washington Post has a long history of zealous support for robust press freedoms. The entire institution stands by those freedoms and our work."
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Of course, federal law clearly states that journalists can legally publish classified information.
According to the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, it is "unlawful for a government officer or employee, in connection with the investigation or prosecution of a criminal offense, to search for or seize any work product materials possessed by a person reasonably believed to have a purpose to disseminate to the public a newspaper, book, broadcast, or other similar form of public communication."
But that didn't stop Bondi and the FBI from seizing Natanson's work—something that past administrations refused to do.
"I, personally, had to sign off on any investigative step involving a reporter when I was at DOJ. But there were very strict guidelines: we would not subpoena reporters for their sources. Period," former President Joe Biden’s DOJ Office of Public Affairs Director Xochitl Hinojosa wrote on X. "The Department in modern history has never charged a journalist for unlawfully publishing or receiving classified information, and it’s scary to think that this might change."
A cartoon by Nick Anderson.
Bondi rescinded that Biden-era policy in April, saying that the DOJ would subpoena journalists' records—but only after other investigative efforts had failed.
But according to the Post, "the search warrant and seizures appeared to be Natanson’s first interaction with investigators,” meaning that Bondi appears to have violated her own policy.
“That is really astonishing,” Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland told Politico. "And over the line. Normally, even in a criminal investigation, you would just start with touching base with the lawyer, and asking for, like a document production to jump straight to a search warrant is really dramatic. And for the media—a reporter—I just think that’s outrageous. That’s crazy.”
Even more despicable is the fact that the raid of Natanson’s home could be an effort by Bondi to get back into Trump’s good graces, following reports that Trump may be turning on her. Given Trump’s penchant for attacking the media, a good raid on a reporter’s home could be a great way to make him happy.
But no matter the reason, the seizure of Natanson's devices is just the latest example of the United States' quickening descent into autocracy.
