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Pentagon Contractor Charged in Classified Leak Case
A Pentagon contractor has been indicted for allegedly leaking classified defense information to a journalist, a case that has sparked press freedom concerns after federal agents searched a Washington Post reporter’s home.
photo of grey, logo, usa, and symbol in Washington, United States by David Trinks (@dtrinksrph)
A Pentagon contractor was indicted Thursday on charges that he illegally removed and shared classified national defense information with a journalist, a case that has drawn national attention after federal agents searched a reporter’s home as part of the investigation.
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The Justice Department said Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones was charged with five counts of unlawfully transmitting classified national defense information and one count of unlawfully retaining such information. The case has been linked to last week’s search of the Virginia home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, an action that has intensified scrutiny from press freedom advocates who say it reflects a more aggressive Justice Department posture toward leak investigations involving journalists.
According to authorities, Perez-Lugones removed printouts of classified documents from his workplace and later provided them to a reporter. FBI Director Kash Patel said Perez-Lugones took the materials home and shared them unlawfully. A Justice Department news release did not identify the reporter or the reporter’s employer, and the indictment itself was not immediately made public. Authorities said the reporter co-wrote and contributed to at least five articles that contained classified information allegedly provided by Perez-Lugones.
Investigators said they found phone messages between Perez-Lugones and the reporter discussing the information that was shared. After sending one of the documents, Perez-Lugones wrote, “I’m going quiet for a bit ... just to see if anyone starts asking questions,” according to the Justice Department. The exchange underscored the deliberate nature of the alleged disclosures, suggesting an awareness of potential scrutiny and the moment when it might be “time to bounce,” as investigators closed in.
“Illegally disclosing classified defense information is a grave crime against America that puts both our national security and the lives of our military heroes at risk,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
Attorneys for Perez-Lugones did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Perez-Lugones, 61, of Laurel, Maryland, has remained jailed since his Jan. 8 arrest. He held a top secret security clearance and worked as a systems engineer and information technology specialist for a government contractor. Authorities allege that he printed and retained classified and sensitive reports from his workplace without authorization.
An FBI agent’s affidavit states that in October, Perez-Lugones took a screenshot of a classified intelligence report involving an unspecified foreign country, pasted the image into a Microsoft Word document and printed it. When authorities searched his home and car earlier this month, they found documents marked “SECRET,” including one stored inside a lunchbox, according to court records.
The investigation has also drawn attention to the government’s treatment of journalists. On Wednesday, the Washington Post sought a court order requiring authorities to return electronic devices seized from Natanson’s home during last week’s search. Federal agents confiscated a phone, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive and a Garmin smartwatch, court filings show.
A federal magistrate judge in Alexandria, Virginia, temporarily barred the government from reviewing any material from the seized devices and scheduled a Feb. 6 hearing on the newspaper’s request.
“The outrageous seizure of our reporter’s confidential newsgathering materials chills speech, cripples reporting, and inflicts irreparable harm every day the government keeps its hands on these materials,” the Post said in a statement.
Natanson has been reporting on Republican President Donald Trump’s transformation of the federal government. The Post recently published an article in which she described gaining hundreds of new sources across the federal workforce, prompting a colleague to call her “the federal government whisperer.”
Editor’s Note:
This report is based on information released by the U.S. Justice Department, court filings, and statements from involved parties. The case remains ongoing, and all individuals mentioned are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
