Judge bars Justice Department from searching through devices seized from Washington Post reporter as part of leak probe
CNN • • general
Key Points:
- A federal judge ruled that the Justice Department may not search the contents of devices seized from Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson in a classified leak investigation, criticizing the government's broad approach.
- Magistrate Judge William Porter expressed concern that investigators might improperly access unrelated reporter data, calling such a search an "unlawful general warrant" and rejecting requests to let either party filter the data, instead assigning that role to the court.
- Porter highlighted that Natanson's First Amendment rights were restrained by the seizure, noting the unfairness of requiring her to replace all devices and start over, but expressed hope the search targeted only evidence related to a single criminal case.
- The judge reprimanded Justice Department lawyers for not informing him about the Privacy Protection Act
