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When reporters from the Post tried to reach her, a man answering the door simply said, “We can’t talk.”
Patel described the raid as part of a broader investigation into a serious security breach. “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,” he wrote. “The alleged leaker was arrested this week and is in custody. As this is an ongoing investigation, we will have no further comment.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi also confirmed the actions, emphasizing the Trump Administration’s hard stance on 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,” Bondi wrote on X.
“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.”
The investigation centers on Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a Maryland-based systems administrator with top-secret clearance who worked for a government subcontractor in Annapolis Junction.
According to a criminal complaint filed Jan. 9, Perez-Lugones accessed secure government systems without authorization to view classified intelligence related to a foreign nation. He allegedly took screenshots and printed documents on Oct. 28, 2025, despite having “no need to know” the material.
Authorities claim he reviewed additional classified files between Jan. 5 and 7, taking handwritten notes on a yellow legal pad that he brought home. A search of his Laurel, Maryland residence on Jan. 8 uncovered “multiple documents that were marked SECRET,” the affidavit stated.
“One or more of these documents are related to national defense,” FBI Special Agent Keith Starr wrote in the filing.
Perez-Lugones faces up to 10 years in prison for unlawful retention of national defense information.
Prosecutors have requested that he remain in custody, warning that he represents a serious national security risk. “The Defendant is charged with a serious national security violation,” federal prosecutors wrote in a Jan. 13 court filing. “Agents seized documents containing national defense information from the Defendant’s car and home. However, the Government cannot seize everything in his head.”
They further stressed that “only detention would provide the government a way to monitor whether the Defendant uses any of his knowledge to threaten national security.”
U.S. District Judge George Levi Russell III is scheduled to review Perez-Lugones’ pretrial release status at a hearing in Baltimore on Thursday.
His attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
