Judge blocks DOJ from searching Washington Post reporter's phone and laptop

A federal judge has blocked the Justice Department from searching through a Washington Post reporter's electronic devices after they were seized by the FBI last month, instead ruling that the court would conduct a search. In:

A federal judge has blocked the Justice Department from searching through a Washington Post reporter's electronic devices after they were seized by the FBI last month, instead ruling that the court would conduct a search.

The FBI seized reporter Hannah Natanson's phone, laptops, Garmin watch, and portable hard drives as part of an investigation into a government contractor who was later indicted for allegedly disseminating classified material. The move was highly unusual, and drew steep criticism and alarm from press groups. Attorney General Pam Bondi said it was aimed at catching a perpetrator of "illegal leaks" that "pose a grave risk to our Nation's national security."

The Post had asked the court to return Natanson's property and put any copies under seal, arguing a search could violate her First Amendment rights. The government, meanwhile, has argued that filter teams, or separate groups of Justice Department lawyers, could go through Natanson's devices and find any information relevant to the government's investigation.

But in a Tuesday night opinion, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Porter of Virginia rejected the government's push to conduct a search, instead deciding that the court "will conduct an independent judicial review of the seized materials."

Porter wrote that "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."