A press freedom advocacy group has formally urged Virginia’s attorney licensing authority to discipline a federal prosecutor who last month applied for a warrant to search the home of a Washington Post reporter.
In a Feb. 6 letter to the Virginia State Bar, the Freedom of the Press Foundation contended that prosecutor Gordon D. Kromberg likely failed to disclose crucial legal authority to the magistrate judge who approved the warrant as part of a leak investigation. The foundation said the omission involved the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, a federal law that restricts searches for materials held by reporters.
The complaint filed by the foundation asserts that Kromberg was likely "well aware of applicable law, but deliberately chose not to mention it," and that his conduct ran afoul of a state ethics rule requiring lawyers to disclose to judges legal authorities "adverse to the position of the client." The filing asks the bar to pursue appropriate disciplinary measures up to and including disbarment, and to accelerate any proceedings because of what the group described as "dire consequences for First Amendment freedoms" if newsroom raids and seizures of journalists’ work product occur without proper oversight.
The Justice Department did not immediately provide a response to requests for comment on the complaint.
The reporter at the center of the search, Hannah Natanson, has covered topics including U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismiss large numbers of federal employees and to redirect remaining staff toward implementing his agenda. Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray said in a note to staff that FBI agents executed a search at Natanson’s home and seized electronic devices.
Murray added that neither Natanson nor the newspaper are targets of the probe. The search is linked to an investigation involving a government contractor who federal authorities allege unlawfully retained classified materials.
Prosecutors say the contractor, Aurelio Perez-Lugones, captured screenshots of classified intelligence reports and printed those materials, according to a criminal complaint. Investigators also reported finding documents marked "secret" in a lunchbox inside Perez-Lugones’ car and in his basement, as detailed in an FBI affidavit.
Commenting publicly in January on the broader effort to stop unauthorized disclosures of classified information, U.S. Attorney General Bondi said on X that "The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security."
Context and implications
The complaint raises questions about the legal and ethical obligations of prosecutors when seeking court authorization to search locations connected to journalists. It highlights the interplay between criminal investigations into alleged mishandling of classified materials and statutory protections intended to shield newsgathering materials from routine law enforcement searches. The dispute centers on whether the magistrate judge received a complete presentation of the governing law when deciding whether to approve the warrant.
At issue are the competing priorities of enforcing laws related to the protection of classified information and upholding statutory and constitutional safeguards for press freedom. The complaint requests swift disciplinary action by the Virginia State Bar, reflecting the foundation’s view that unresolved questions about the propriety of the search pose wider risks to journalistic activity.
No determination has been reported from the State Bar, and the Justice Department has not issued an immediate comment on the allegations in the foundation’s letter.