A federal judge ordered a Pentagon contractor accused of unlawfully retaining classified national defense information to remain in federal custody Thursday, days after the FBI executed a search warrant at the Virginia home of a Washington Post reporter as part of the same investigation.
Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, a systems engineer with top-secret clearance, was arrested last week on criminal charges alleging he took classified documents — including material involving foreign national security matters — from his workplace and stored them at his residence in Maryland. Prosecutors have said the conduct poses a threat to national security.
At a hearing in Baltimore, U.S. District Chief Judge George Levi Russell III agreed to keep Perez-Lugones, a former U.S. Navy service member and an IT specialist, jailed pending further proceedings after defense counsel acknowledged they were not prepared to proceed. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
“The leaker has been found and is in jail right now — and that’s the leaker on Venezuela. A very bad leaker,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
Federal agents also executed a search warrant Jan. 14 at the home of Washington Post journalist Hannah Natanson in suburban Alexandria, Va., seizing electronic devices and other property, according to statements from the Justice Department and the newspaper. The search was part of the broader probe into the classified materials.
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the warrant was issued at the request of the Department of Defense and related to investigative efforts to identify the source of unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information. She said the leaker identified in the investigation is in custody but did not specify whether Natanson’s devices contained classified material.
“The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country,” she said this week, per the New York Post.
Federal prosecutors sought to keep Perez-Lugones locked up because he “poses a danger to the community,” the complaint said.
“The Defendant has held a security clearance for over 25 years and the Government cannot ensure the safety of the country and US military personnel without detention,” prosecutors wrote in their Jan. 13 filing.
“Only detention would provide the government a way to monitor whether the Defendant uses any of his knowledge to threaten national security,” the filing added.
Earlier, a magistrate judge had crafted terms for the suspect’s conditional release.
As a systems engineer at a government contractor in Maryland, Perez-Lugones possesses a top-secret security clearance. According to an FBI special agent’s affidavit included with the complaint, he allegedly printed screenshots of a classified intelligence report concerning a foreign country on October 28, 2025.
The government contractor also took notes on a yellow legal pad that he stashed in a black bag and took home between Jan. 5 and 7, alleged the affidavit.
The Post said Natanson — who covers federal government operations — has not been charged with a crime and was informed that neither she nor the newspaper is a target of the investigation. Executive Editor Matt Murray described the raid as “extraordinary” and raised concerns about its implications for press freedom.
In a statement following the search of Natanson’s residence, Washington Post publisher Will Lewis released this statement: “Hannah is one of our finest reporters, who works tirelessly to inform our readers about what is actually happening in government.”
Press freedom groups and journalists have criticized the search as a potential threat to First Amendment protections, arguing that such actions could deter sources from providing information. Federal law generally restricts searches of journalists’ work materials absent evidence the journalist has committed a crime.
The case follows broader changes in Justice Department policies governing leak investigations, including the administration’s withdrawal of prior limits on seizing reporters’ communications during such probes.
