(Washington) A US federal judge on Wednesday barred Donald Trump’s government from examining electronic devices seized last week from the home of a Washington Post journalist.
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“The government must retain, but must not examine, devices seized by law enforcement … until the court authorizes their examination,” Justice William Porter wrote in his ruling, referring to ongoing litigation over the search.
The journalist from Washington PostHannah Natanson, was the subject of a rare search last week at her home on the outskirts of the capital, as part of an investigation into leaks of national security information.
While it is not unusual for FBI agents to attempt to identify the source of leaks to journalists publishing sensitive information, it is on the other hand “very unusual and aggressive on the part of law enforcement to conduct a search of a journalist’s home,” noted the prestigious daily.
The journalist’s phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch were seized, according to the Washington Post.
The newspaper “asked the court to order the immediate return of all the devices and to prevent their use,” according to a press release from the daily.
“Any other decision would encourage future searches against editorial offices and normalize censorship by search warrant,” added the American newspaper.
Hannah Natanson covers federal government officials, particularly shaken by the first year of Donald Trump’s second term.
The agents told her that she was not the target of their investigation, which targets Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator at a Maryland company accused of having consulted and taken home classified intelligence reports, underlines the daily.
