The Justice Department (DOJ) is asking a federal judge in Virginia to allow it to conduct its own search of a Washington Post reporter’s seized electronic devices, rather than have the court do the review.
Federal prosecutors urged U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in a March 31 court filing to overturn a lower court ruling that prohibited the DOJ from using a “filter team” to search reporter Hannah Natanson’s phone and laptop as part of an FBI investigation into a government contractor accused of leaking classified material.
Magistrate Judge William Porter ordered in February that the government could not “open, access, review, or otherwise examine” any of Natanson’s “seized data,” instead authorizing an independent judicial review.
“Given the documented reporting on government leak investigations and the government’s well-chronicled efforts to stop them, allowing the government’s filter team to search a reporter’s work product—most of which consists of unrelated information from confidential sources—is the equivalent of leaving the government’s fox in charge of the Washington Post’s henhouse,” Porter wrote.
Federal prosecutors have pushed back, arguing that Porter’s order infringes on the separation of powers by shifting an executive branch function into a judicial one.
They also asserted that it could compromise the neutrality courts are meant to maintain in overseeing search warrants and related proceedings.
“That principle is even more important here because the search authorized by this warrant involves the identification and seizure of classified national defense information, a responsibility the law entrusts to the Executive’s expertise,” federal prosecutors wrote.
The case stems from an FBI search of Natanson’s home in January, in which agents took two laptops, a cellphone and a Garmin watch belonging to the journalist, who had been reporting on the Trump administration’s effort to trim government spending and cuts to the federal workforce.
The search was conducted in connection with a government system administrator in Maryland, who is now behind bars, according to the DOJ.
Attorneys for the Post have contended that the warrant and subsequent search were an example of federal overreach and violated First Amendment press protections.
“The government should not receive permission to rummage through a reporter’s professional universe,” Simon Latcovich said during a Thursday hearing, according to The Post.
The newspaper reported that Trenga, appointed by former President George W. Bush, said he would “get a decision shortly” but seemed skeptical that Porter’s ruling would hamper the DOJ’s ability to build its case against the contractor.
