A clash between press freedom advocates and the U.S. Justice Department has erupted after a federal official requested a warrant to search the home of a Washington Post reporter during a leak investigation.
A media rights group has asked Virginia’s attorney-licensing authority to discipline Gordon D. Kromberg, a Justice Department official who sought judicial approval last month to search the reporter’s residence. In a formal complaint, the Freedom of the Press Foundation argued that critical legal safeguards protecting journalists were not fully disclosed to the judge who authorized the search.
According to the filing, the request failed to clearly flag the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, a statute designed to restrict government searches aimed at obtaining reporting materials. The organization contends that omitting this information may have misled the court and crossed ethical lines requiring full disclosure of relevant law—even when it undermines the government’s position.
The complaint urges swift disciplinary action, warning that unchecked searches of journalists’ homes and work materials could erode First Amendment protections. It calls the situation a high-stakes test for press freedom at a time when reporting on government activity is already under intense pressure.
The Justice Department has not publicly commented on the complaint.
The reporter at the center of the search, Hannah Natanson, has been covering efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to overhaul the federal workforce, including plans to dismiss large numbers of employees and realign agencies around his agenda. Washington Post leadership has said she and the newspaper are not targets of the investigation.
According to internal communications shared with staff, federal agents searched Natanson’s home and seized electronic devices as part of an inquiry tied to a government contractor accused of mishandling classified information. Authorities allege the contractor retained sensitive intelligence materials, including printed reports and documents labeled “secret,” some of which were allegedly stored in unusual locations.
The administration has framed the investigation as part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized disclosures of classified information, arguing that such leaks pose serious national security risks. Press advocates, however, say the methods used in this case threaten to blur the line between pursuing leaks and intimidating the journalists who report on them.
