WASHINGTON — A Pentagon contractor arrested for allegedly taking categorized intelligence — together with some delicate supplies a few international nation — and hoarding it at his Maryland house will stay in custody in the interim, in keeping with a report.
US District Chief Decide George Levi Russell III ordered the alleged leaker Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones to stay in custody after considered one of his protection attorneys acknowledged they weren’t “ready to maneuver ahead” with the listening to in a Baltimore federal courtroom, Politico reported.
The IT specialist and former US Navy service member was recognized as an alleged leaker in a felony criticism unsealed Wednesday, following an FBI raid on the house of a Washington Publish reporter who has promoted herself as “the federal authorities whisperer.”
Washington Publish journalist Hannah Natanson’s house in suburban Alexandria, Va., was searched by the FBI as a part of an investigation right into a authorities contractor accused of retaining nationwide protection data unlawfully, sources instructed her outlet.
Brokers seized her telephone, a private laptop computer, a piece laptop computer and a Garmin watch, the outlet famous.
Officers haven’t stated whether or not Perez-Lugones had in reality leaked data to Natanson.
“We are able to’t discuss,” stated a person who later answered the door of Natanson’s house — and matches the looks of a person in her X account’s banner image — when The Publish got here knocking Wednesday.
Natanson wrote in her private piece about reporting on President Trump’s makes an attempt to downsize the DC forms that 1,169 new sources reached out to her.
On Wednesday, the president instructed reporters: “The leaker has been discovered and is in jail proper now — and that’s the leaker on Venezuela. A really unhealthy leaker.”
Perez-Lugones has been detained since brokers additionally executed a search warrant on his Laurel, Md., residence on Jan. 8 and located “a number of paperwork that have been marked SECRET,” in keeping with the criticism, which was filed the day after.
“The Trump Administration is not going to tolerate unlawful leaks of categorized data that, when reported, pose a grave danger to our Nation’s nationwide safety and the courageous women and men who’re serving our nation,” Legal professional Common Pam Bondi added in a press release Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors had been looking for to detain him pending prices as a result of he “poses a hazard to the neighborhood,” courtroom filings present.
“The Defendant has held a safety clearance for over 25 years and the Authorities can’t guarantee the protection of the nation and US army personnel with out detention,” prosecutors wrote in a Jan. 13 submitting.
“Solely detention would supply the federal government a option to monitor whether or not the Defendant makes use of any of his data to threaten nationwide safety.”
A Justice of the Peace decide had initially drafted phrases of conditional launch.
An affidavit accompanying the criticism alleged he had unlawfully retained nationwide protection data — a depend that might earn him as much as 10 years in federal jail.
As a methods engineer at a authorities contractor in Maryland, Perez-Lugones holds a top-secret safety clearance and allegedly printed out screenshots of “a categorized intelligence report associated to a international nation” on Oct. 28, 2025, an FBI particular agent wrote in an affidavit appended to the criticism.
The federal government contractor additionally took notes on a yellow authorized pad that he stashed in a black bag and took house between Jan. 5 and seven, alleged the affidavit.
Perez-Lugones’ public defenders Francisco Carriedo and Courtney Francik didn’t reply to requests for remark.
In a press release following the search of Natanson’s residence, Washington Publish writer Will Lewis put out a press release: “Hannah is considered one of our best reporters, who works tirelessly to tell our readers about what is definitely occurring in authorities.”
“Unsurprisingly, her spirit is just not dimmed by the outrageous motion that was taken in opposition to her at 6am this morning at her house,” Lewis stated.
“Even along with her laptops and telephone taken, what did she most need to do as we speak? Get again to work and file some new hard-hitting tales — thus exemplifying the indomitable spirit of The Washington Publish. In any case, that is what we do.”
The paper has a venerable historical past of standing up for journalists reporting on delicate US protection data; most notably by means of the reporting of the Pentagon Papers concerning the Vietnam Conflict.
The FBI below then-President Richard Nixon investigated the Washington Publish journalist Ben Bagdikian for writing concerning the leaked categorized information on American involvement within the Southeast Asian nation.
