You may recall that both the Washington Post and New York Times knew about the military’s plans to arrest of Maduro and his wife shortly before the January 3 raid. Both papers declined to use the story.
President Trump told reporters on Wednesday, “And another piece of information that I think is very important is that a leaker has been found and is in jail right now.
“And that’s the leaker on Venezuela. We had a very bad leaker. There could be some others. We’re hot on their trail but the leaker has been found and the leaker’s in jail and will probably be in jail for a long time.”
So how did the press handle the news?
The Jeff Bezos Post initially reported, “FBI executes search warrant at Washington Post reporter’s home.
“The reporter, Hannah Natanson, covers the federal workforce and has been part of The Post’s most high-profile and sensitive coverage of the first year of the second Trump administration.”
The story began:
“The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at a Washington Post reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials.
The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her home in Virginia at the time of the search. Federal agents searched her home and her devices, seizing her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. One of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a Post-issued laptop.
The Post also received a subpoena Wednesday morning seeking information related to the same government contractor, according to a person familiar with the law enforcement action. The subpoena asked the Post to hand over any communications between the contractor and other employees.
It is exceptionally rare for law enforcement officials to conduct searches at reporters’ homes. Federal regulations intended to protect a free press are designed to make it difficult to use aggressive law enforcement tactics against reporters to obtain the identities of their sources or information.”
The Post left out the part where the leaker was Aurelio Perez-Lugones, who was charged last week under the Espionage Act.
Later versions of the story acknowledged his existence by saying, “Investigators told Natanson that she is not the focus of the probe. The warrant said that law enforcement was investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who has a top-secret security clearance and has been accused of accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports that were found in his lunchbox and his basement, according to an FBI affidavit.”
The FBI raided the home of a Washington Post reporter who obtained classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.
Feds executed a search warrant at the Alexandria, Virginia, home of WaPo reporter Hannah Natanson on Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into a Maryland system administrator who has a top security clearance.
The FBI seized Natanson’s cell phone, two laptops (one personal and one work-related), and a Garmin watch.
Natanson is not the subject of the investigation.
According to The Washington Post, Natanson was at home at the time of the raid.
The contractor who stashed the classified documents at his home, Aurelio Perez-Lugones, is currently in jail.
FBI agents reportedly found classified intelligence reports in Perez-Lugones’ lunchbox and basement.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the search was conducted at the Pentagon’s request.
Bondi also said that the Trump Administration will not tolerate any leaks.
“This past week, at the request of the Department of War, the Department of Justice and FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post journalist who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
“The leaker is currently behind bars. I am proud to work alongside Secretary Hegseth on this effort,” she said.
“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,” Bondi said.
FBI Director Kash Patel released a statement on the raid:
This morning the FBI and partners executed a search warrant of an individual at the Washington Post who was found to allegedly be obtaining and reporting classified, sensitive military information from a government contractor – endangering our warfighters and compromising America’s national security. The alleged leaker was arrested this week and is in custody. As this is an ongoing investigation, we will have no further comment.
Natanson boasted about accepting information she knew she shouldn’t have.
When the NSA collected meta data on millions of Americans, the WaPo didn’t bat an eye.
Sounds like the DOJ “staffer” who leaked information is pissed because the Trump administration is actually enforcing the law and deporting the illegal aliens and foreign criminals.
The federal workers who ‘contemplated suicide’ over the reforms of the fraud, waste, and abuse in government agencies, shouldn’t be anywhere near a government position.
“Doing what’s right for the country” doesn’t include leaking classified information for political reasons. There’s a difference between being a whistleblower and a traitor; the distinction is motive. If your purpose is to expose unlawful, unconstitutional abuse of powers, then by all means, raise hell. If you’re a whiny little crapweasel like Perez-Lugones, who commits espionage because you don’t like the capture of a Venezuelan despot who armed cartels, then you deserve the death penalty for the American lives you endangered.
For her part, Natanson belongs in jail.
Related post:
https://sfcmac.com/venezuelas-drug-lord-despot-nicolas-maduro-captured-by-us-army-delta-force/