‘Government whisperer’: FBI searches home of WaPo reporter who allegedly obtained classified info from accused leaker



The FBI searched the home of a Washington Post reporter, reportedly seizing a couple of her electronic devices.

The news outlet claimed that federal agents on Wednesday morning searched the home of Hannah Natanson, a Washington, D.C.-based reporter. Natanson has been responsible for “high-profile and sensitive coverage” of the federal government during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, according to the Post.

'The alleged leaker was arrested this week and is in custody.'

The FBI reportedly searched Natanson’s electronic devices, seizing her phone and Garmin watch.

The Post alleged that the recent raid was a part of an ongoing investigation into Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a government contractor.

Perez-Lugones, a Maryland resident, is accused of unlawfully retaining national defense information, according to court records. He previously served in the U.S. Navy and held a Top Secret security clearance. Since leaving the military in 2002, he has worked as a government contractor in various capacities.

A January 9 affidavit described Perez-Lugones as currently working as a systems engineer and information technology specialist for a government contracting company based in Annapolis Junction, Maryland. His role allows him to maintain a Top Secret security clearance with access to information related to “intelligence sources, methods, and analytical processes,” which he has maintained since at least 2000, the court document read.

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Photo by Andrew Leyden/Getty Images

In October, Perez-Lugones allegedly took screenshots of a Top Secret report, pasted the images into a Microsoft Word document, and printed it. He was also accused of writing classified information on a yellow notepad and taking the sheets of paper home on January 7. The following day, authorities searched Perez-Lugones’ home, allegedly discovering multiple documents that were marked as Secret, including a document found in his lunch box.

“One or more of these documents are related to national defense,” the affidavit read.

However, the criminal complaint did not accuse Perez-Lugones of disseminating any classified information to a reporter.

Perez-Lugones’ attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

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Kash Patel. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

In December, Natanson published a report at the Post titled, “I am The Post’s ‘federal government whisperer.’ It’s been brutal,” in which she described receiving messages from more than 1,000 current or former federal government workers eager to share how Trump's leadership had negatively impacted workplace policies.

“People inside government agencies weren’t supposed to tell me about any of that,” Natanson wrote in the report, referring to articles in the Post that originated from tips she received from government workers.

When reached for comment, the FBI referred Blaze News to Director Kash Patel’s X post addressing the Wednesday search.

“This morning the @FBI and partners executed a search warrant of an individual at the Washington Post who was found to allegedly be obtaining and reporting classified, sensitive military information from a government contractor — endangering our warfighters and compromising America’s national security. The alleged leaker was arrested this week and is in custody. As this is an ongoing investigation, we will have no further comment,” Patel wrote.

— (@)

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John Bolton, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, is reportedly under investigation for allegedly mishandling classified information. If held to his own standard, then his days as a free man might be numbered.

Nearly a year after the FBI's 2022 raid of Trump's Palm Beach residence, Jack Smith — the special counsel illegally appointed by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland — charged Trump with supposedly mishandling classified information.

'Bolton likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreements.'

Bolton was among those who rushed to attack the president, happily touring liberal newsrooms with smears and speculation. He told Biden press secretary turned MSNBC talking head Jen Psaki, for instance, that he was "pretty confident" the allegations in the Trump indictment were true.

While admittedly oblivious to the contents of the documents that Trump supposedly retained, Bolton told CNN, "They did go to absolute, the most important secrets that the United States has, directly affecting national security, directly affecting the lives and safety of our service members and our civilian population. If he has anything like what … the indictment alleges, and of course the government will have to prove it, then he has committed very serious crimes."

"This really is a rifle shot," Bolton said in reference to the indictment, "and I think it should be the end of Donald Trump’s political career."

While Trump's case was ultimately dismissed, Bolton's troubles with the law are apparently beginning to snowball.

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FBI conducts authorized search of Bolton's house on Aug. 22. Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

The FBI raided Bolton's home in Bethesda, Maryland, on the morning of Aug. 22 on FBI Director Kash Patel's orders. Later in the day, federal agents searched Bolton's Washington, D.C., office.

A top U.S. official told the New York Post that the raid was in connection with a resurrected probe involving Bolton's alleged use of a private email server to send classified national security documents to family members from his work desk prior to his September 2019 dismissal by Trump.

The official told the Post, "While Bolton was a national security adviser, he was literally stealing classified information, utilizing his family as a cutout."

'Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail.'

In Trump's first term, the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into whether Bolton disclosed classified information in his book, "The Room Where It Happened," after first proving unable to stop the publication of the book with a lawsuit.

The Trump administration failed to secure an injunction because Bolton's book had already made its way into the hands of booksellers.

"Bolton likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreements," wrote U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. "The government sufficiently alleges that Bolton disclosed information without confirming that the information was unclassified."

Lamberth noted further that while "Bolton may indeed have caused the country irreparable harm," "with hundreds of thousands of copies around the globe — many in newsrooms — the damage is done."

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Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump noted in June 2020, "Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information."

The case was referred to the DOJ by then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, but the resulting investigation was torpedoed by President Joe Biden's administration for "political reasons," according a top U.S. official.

The probe has been reopened — and it appears that the stakes are higher than previously acknowledged, as Bolton's alleged carelessness was exploited by a foreign regime.

Individuals said to be familiar with the investigation but speaking on the condition of anonymity recently told the New York Times that the U.S. gathered data from an adversarial country's spy service and found emails containing sensitive information that Bolton allegedly sent to individuals "close to him" on an unclassified system while still working for the Trump administration.

It is presently unclear which adversarial nation obtained the emails.

The individuals familiar with the probe indicated that the emails contained information apparently taken from classified documents Bolton had seen while serving as Trump's national security adviser.

Bolton is evidently taking the investigation seriously, having reportedly had discussions with Abbe Lowell, the high-profile criminal defense attorney who has represented pardoned felon Hunter Biden, New York state Attorney General Letitia James, and ex-Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook.

The White House referred Blaze News to the DOJ for comment, which declined to comment when pressed by the Times. Bolton also reportedly declined to comment.

On his first day back in office, Trump revoked any security clearances Bolton might have held.

Trump noted that the publication of Bolton's memoir "created a grave risk that classified material was publicly exposed" and "undermined the ability of future presidents to request and obtain candid advice on matters of national security from their staff."

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'NO ONE is above the law': FBI raids former national security adviser John Bolton's home



Within minutes of FBI Director Kash Patel tweeting on Friday morning, "NO ONE is above the law... FBI agents on mission," federal agents raided the D.C.-area home of John Bolton, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser.

A Trump administration official told the New York Post that federal agents stormed Bolton's Bethesda, Maryland, house at 7 a.m. on Patel's orders.

The raid is in connection to a probe reportedly involving classified documents that was launched years ago but torpedoed by President Joe Biden's administration for "political reasons," according a top U.S. official.

The Department of Justice during Trump's first term opened a criminal investigation in 2020 into whether Bolton disclosed classified information in his book, "The Room Where It Happened," after first proving unable to stop the publication of the book with a lawsuit.

The case was referred to the DOJ by then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.

Trump noted in June 2020, "Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information. Remember what they did to the young submarine sailor, but did nothing to Crooked Hillary. I ended up pardoning him — It wasn’t fair!"

In his book and during various media appearances since its publication, Bolton has viciously attacked the president, suggesting, for instance, that Trump is "unfit to be president" and claiming, "Trump really cares only about retribution for himself, and it will consume much of a second term."

Shortly after the raid commenced, a tweet — which may have been pre-scheduled — appeared on Bolton's X account, stating, "Russia has not changed its goal: drag Ukraine into a new Russian Empire. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede territory it already holds and the remainder of Donetsk, which it has been unable to conquer. Zelensky will never do so. Meanwhile, meetings will continue because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don't see these talks making any progress."

This is a developing story.

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The real spyware threat could be in your pocket



U.S. intelligence agencies are on high alert after CNN reported that Iran is actively preparing cyberattacks aimed at critical government and military infrastructure. But the real threat may already be inside the wire — not from foreign hackers at a keyboard, but from mobile phones unknowingly or deliberately carried into the nation’s most sensitive facilities.

The devices we carry every day are now among our greatest national security vulnerabilities.

In 2025, secrets aren’t stolen with a crowbar. They’re stolen with an app.

Despite years of post-9/11 investments in hardened infrastructure, the federal government has been remiss in investing in a sensor network to keep pace with the risks of wireless technology now embedded in daily life.

When the first iPhone was introduced in 2007, it ushered in a new era of hyper-connected mobility. Since then, innovation has continued to explode, bringing countless benefits but also exposing serious vulnerabilities.

Our most secure government facilities are wide open to wireless threats.

Today, up to 90% of secure government facilities rely on little more than the honor system and self-reporting to keep unauthorized wireless devices — mobile phones, smartwatches, rogue transmitters — out of sensitive compartmented information facilities, special access program facilities, and other high-security zones. In an era of Pegasus spyware and remote malware, this should be viewed as a national security malpractice.

Portable security risks

The modern smartphone is a traitor’s dream — portable, powerful, and everywhere. It records audio and video, it transmits data instantaneously via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular networks, and it connects to everything — from commercial clouds to encrypted chat apps. And yet these devices are routinely brought into facilities housing classified intelligence data, most often undetected and without consequence.

Take the case of Asif W. Rahman, a former CIA analyst who held a top-secret security clearance and was recently sentenced to three years in federal prison for photographing classified information and transmitting it to unauthorized recipients, who then posted the material to social media. Snapping and sharing photos of classified government documents using a smartphone is stunningly simple, with no high-tech espionage or daring break-ins required.

Every week offers new examples like this. People inside the Department of Defense and State Department have been caught photographing screens, copying documents, and walking classified data right out the door. These are crimes of opportunity, enabled by lax enforcement and outdated security measures.

If a wireless intrusion detection system were in place, the device would have triggered an alert and stopped these breaches before they became major national security failures.

Exploiting our weaknesses

Now, with Iran probing for cyber vulnerabilities, the risk of insiders being exploited or coerced into facilitating digital breaches through personal devices has never been higher. And it can happen without a trace if the right wireless defenses aren’t in place.

In 2023, the secretary of defense issued a memo directing all Defense Department offices to install wireless intrusion detection systems to monitor unauthorized devices. The technology works. It detects any device that emits a wireless signal — such as phones, smartwatches, or even printers with Wi-Fi — inside a restricted area. Yet the directive remains largely unfunded and unenforced.

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Gwengoat via iStock/Getty Images

Near-peer adversaries, terrorist groups, and criminal syndicates are exploiting wireless threats to their advantage. They don’t need sophisticated tradecraft and specialized technologies. They simply need to compromise and leverage someone with access and a phone. And with thousands of secure facilities across the country, that opportunity presents itself every day.

In light of the latest intelligence warnings, we need to fund wireless intrusion detection across all SCIFs and SAPFs and educate agency leaders on the vulnerabilities posed by modern smartphones.

We need to hold bad actors accountable — not retroactively or as part of a congressional committee hearing, but by making sure they never have the opportunity to compromise the integrity of national security in the first place.

Protecting digital secrets

The U.S. government has spent billions building concrete walls, locking doors, and implementing network-specific defenses to protect its secrets. But in 2025, secrets aren’t stolen with a crowbar; they’re stolen with an app.

Until we treat the wireless threat with the same seriousness, those secrets will remain just one text message or compromised phone away from unauthorized disclosure of highly classified information.

You can’t protect your most sensitive state secrets if you are blind to the threat. Without action, these vulnerabilities will only grow more dangerous — and more missions and lives may be put at risk.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.