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By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — The federal authorities is asking a court docket to “run roughshod” over the First Modification after seizing digital units from a Washington Submit reporter’s Virginia house final month, an lawyer for the newspaper argued Friday.
U.S. Justice of the Peace Decide William Porter didn’t rule from the bench on the newspaper’s request for an order requiring authorities to return the units taken from the Virginia house of Submit reporter Hannah Natanson. Porter had approved the search by FBI brokers investigating allegations {that a} Pentagon contractor illegally leaked labeled info to Natanson.
Porter stated he intends to concern a call earlier than a follow-up listening to scheduled for March 4.
“I’ve a fairly good sense of what I’m going to do right here,” the Justice of the Peace stated with out elaborating.
Pentagon contractor Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones was arrested on Jan. 8 and charged with unauthorized removing and retention of labeled paperwork. Perez-Lugones is accused of taking house printouts of labeled paperwork from his office and later passing them to Natanson.
Federal brokers seized a cellphone, two laptops, a recorder, a conveyable onerous drive and a Garmin good watch once they searched Natanson’s house in Alexandria, Virginia, on Jan. 14. Final month, Porter agreed to quickly bar the federal government from reviewing any materials from Natanson’s units.
Submit lawyer Simon Latcovich stated the knowledge contained on Natanson’s units might expose a whole lot of confidential sources who routinely supplied her with dozens, if not a whole lot, of ideas daily.
“For the reason that seizure, these sources have dried up,” he stated.
If Porter intends to privately assessment the fabric contained on Natanson’s units earlier than deciding what may be proven to the federal government, Latcovich requested him to permit attorneys for the Submit and the reporter to see it first to allow them to argue for holding at the least a few of it beneath wraps.
Justice Division lawyer Christian Dibblee stated the federal government acknowledges that Porter didn’t authorize a “fishing expedition.”
“The federal government does take that severely,” he stated.
The newspaper’s attorneys accused authorities of violating authorized safeguards for journalists and trampling on Natanson’s First Modification free speech rights.
Justice Division attorneys argued that the federal government is entitled to maintain the seized materials as a result of it accommodates proof in an ongoing investigation with nationwide safety implications.
The case has drawn nationwide consideration and scrutiny from press freedom advocates who say it displays a extra aggressive posture by the Justice Division towards leak investigations involving journalists.
“There’s a sample right here, your honor, that this is part of,” Latcovich stated.
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