Government contractor indicted for allegedly leaking classified info to Washington Post reporter

The government contractor who allegedly leaked classified information to a Washington Post reporter has been indicted by a federal grand jury. 

The contractor, Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, 61, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Maryland on five counts of unlawfully transmitting and one count of unlawfully retaining national defense information, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Maryland, according to POLITICO.

The charges are in connection with Perez-Lugones allegedly sharing national security secrets with Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, Justice Department officials say.

Last week, the FBI searched Natanson's home in suburban Virginia and seized several electronic devices to find evidence of her contact with Perez-Lugones, an information technology contractor and Navy veteran.

On Wednesday, a magistrate judge in Alexandria, Virginia, ordered federal investigators to halt any review of Natanson’s devices until the court rules on a request from her and her employer to return them. A hearing is scheduled for early February.

The DOJ alleges that Perez-Lugones starting in October 2025 “repeatedly accessed classified reports, printed or copied the information in these classified reports, and then removed this classified information from the sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) where he worked.”

“Perez-Lugones transmitted the classified national defense information to a reporter … who was not authorized to receive it. In turn, [the reporter] co-authored and contributed to at least five articles that contained classified information Perez-Lugones provided, resulting in the dissemination of the information to the public,” the DOJ statement said.

Natanson has not been charged.

According to the DOJ, when the FBI searched Perez-Lugones’ home in Laurel, Md., he wrote to Natanson on an encrypted app, “I’m going quiet for a bit ... just to see if anyone starts asking questions.”

Perez-Lugones could face a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if convicted on all charges.

A magistrate judge last week ordered Perez-Lugones to be released pending trial, but prosecutors appealed that ruling, and his attorneys later withdrew his request for release.

“Illegally disclosing classified defense information is a grave crime against America that puts both our national security and the lives of our military heroes at risk,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “This Department of Justice will remain ever-vigilant in protecting the integrity of America’s classified intelligence.”

A spokesperson for the Washington Post did not immediately respond to POLITICO's request for comment.