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Nets Mildly Protesting FBI Raid of WashPost Reporter’s Home, For Now
Earlier today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson pursuant to a warrant related to a classified documents case. Coverage on the broadcast network evening news was muted, at best.
Watch ABC’s report in its entirety, as aired on World News Tonight on Wednesday, January 14th, 2025:
ABC frames raid at Washington Post reporter in Venezuela classified docs case as "rare", cites "threat to the free press" pic.twitter.com/Rruky4CKzK
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 15, 2026
DAVID MUIR: Tonight we have learned the FBI has executed a rare search warrant at the home of a Washington Post reporter seizing her cell phone, laptops and other devices. Here’s Pierre Thomas.
PIERRE THOMAS: Tonight, members of the media expressing deep concern after the FBI took the rare step of going to the home of a Washington Post reporter and confiscating her phone and other electronic devices. After an early morning FBI search at the residence of reporter Hannah Natanson, the POST issuing an urgent message to the staff, quote: “This, extraordinary aggressive action is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work.” But tonight DoJ officials pushing back, claiming that the search was necessary because the reporter had received classified information from a government contractor who was arrested last week for the unlawful retention of national defense information. A Justice Department official telling ABC News at the time of his arrest, Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones was communicating with the Washington Post reporter on his mobile device and in the chat there was classified information.
David, Washington Post leaders say they were told that the newspaper and reporter were not targets of the investigation. But, David, this action is so rare that a number of media experts are calling it an aggressive escalation to a threat to the free press.
MUIR: Pierre Thomas will continue to follow this for us. Thank you, Pierre.
ABC’s report was framed off of the novel nature of the warrant, and built on the Post’s statement in reaction to the warrant. However, there was very little contained within the report about either the warrant or the underlying charges.
NBC’s report delved further into these issues, and spent less time on reaction to the warrant. Watch the report in its entirety as aired on the NBC Nightly News on Wednesday, January 14th, 2025:
NBC Nightly News reports on the FBI raid of a Washington Post reporter in the Venezuela leak case: frames as "highly unusual" pic.twitter.com/zuA2nlUeio
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 15, 2026
TOM LLAMAS: Okay, now to the highly unusual move from the FBI, searching the home of a Washington Post reporter today. Two federal law enforcement sources say that search was part of an investigation into a government contractor’s handling of classified information about Venezuela. I'm joined tonight by Kelly O’Donnell, who’s tracking this for us. And Kelly, the Post is slamming that move?
KELLY O’DONNELL: And here’s why, Tom. This is a rare and remarkable action by the FBI. A surprise search warrant at the home of a Washington Post reporter. The Post says the reporter, Hannah Natanson, was told she and the paper are not under investigation. Despite that, the FBI director posted that the reporter was found to be allegedly obtaining and reporting classified and sensitive military information. Attorney General Bondi says the search is related to a Pentagon contractor, he is Aurelio Perez Lugones, who is charged with unlawfully retaining military secrets. Natanson is not accused of any wrongdoing in the case. The executive editor of The Washington Post called the search an extraordinary aggressive action that raises profound questions about the constitutional protections. Tom.
LLAMAS: Okay Kelly, thank you.
More substance from NBC, but not much more, but not as much emphasis on reaction to the case. The tidbit about classified information on the chat is wild. Remind me again how many news cycles and demands for accountability the Elitist Media devoted to Signalgate versus what we saw tonight or can expect going forward. It is also fair game to compare coverage of this raid to coverage of the actual attacks on freedom of the press that happened during the Obama Era, a season during which many bit their tongues.
The CBS Evening News did NOT run any sort of report on the leaks or the raid, which makes for an interesting omission. We’ll see whether this holds, or if they are after additional reporting before coming out with something of their own.
All in all and despite the appearance of early protestations, the media appear to be in a wait-and-see mode- at least on the broadcast networks. We’ll be watching what happens as further details of this story are made public.
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