{"id":15659,"date":"2026-04-11T13:58:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T05:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15659"},"modified":"2026-04-11T13:58:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T05:58:30","slug":"doj-asks-judge-to-allow-search-of-washington-post-reporters-phone-laptops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15659","title":{"rendered":"DOJ asks judge to allow search of Washington Post reporter\u2019s phone, laptops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"448\" src=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15660\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4-1.jpg 700w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4-1-300x192.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Justice Department (DOJ) is asking a federal judge in Virginia to allow it to conduct its own search of a Washington Post reporter\u2019s seized electronic devices, rather than have the court do the review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 \u201cfilter team\u201d to search reporter Hannah Natanson\u2019s phone and laptop as part of an FBI investigation into a government contractor accused of leaking classified material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Magistrate Judge William Porter ordered in February that the government could not \u201copen, access, review, or otherwise examine\u201d any of Natanson\u2019s \u201cseized data,\u201d instead authorizing an independent judicial review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGiven the documented reporting on government leak investigations and the government\u2019s well-chronicled efforts to stop them, allowing the government\u2019s filter team to search a reporter\u2019s work product\u2014most of which consists of unrelated information from confidential sources\u2014is the equivalent of leaving the government\u2019s fox in charge of the Washington Post\u2019s henhouse,\u201d Porter wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Federal prosecutors have pushed back, arguing that Porter\u2019s order infringes on the separation of powers by shifting an executive branch function into a judicial one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also asserted that it could compromise the neutrality courts are meant to maintain in overseeing search warrants and related proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat 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\u2019s expertise,\u201d federal prosecutors wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The case stems from an FBI search of Natanson\u2019s 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\u2019s effort to trim government spending and cuts to the federal workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The search was conducted in connection with a government system administrator in Maryland, who is now behind bars, according to the DOJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Attorneys for the Post have contended that the warrant and subsequent search were an example of federal overreach and violated First Amendment press protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe government should not receive permission to rummage through a reporter\u2019s professional universe,\u201d Simon Latcovich said during a Thursday hearing, according to The Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The newspaper reported that Trenga, appointed by former President George W. Bush, said he would \u201cget a decision shortly\u201d but seemed skeptical that Porter\u2019s ruling would hamper the DOJ\u2019s ability to build its case against the contractor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Justice Department (DOJ) is asking a federal judge in Virginia to allow it to conduct its own search of a Washington Post reporter\u2019s 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1744,1964,3507],"class_list":["post-15659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-federal","tag-government","tag-search"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>DOJ asks judge to allow search of Washington Post reporter\u2019s phone, laptops - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15659\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ asks judge to allow search of Washington Post reporter\u2019s phone, laptops - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Justice Department (DOJ) is asking a federal judge in Virginia to allow it to conduct its own search of a Washington Post reporter\u2019s seized electronic devices, rather than have the court do the review. 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