WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked federal prosecutors from reviewing material seized during an FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s home last week as part of an investigation into the alleged sharing of secret government information. 

The Washington Post and the reporter, Hannah Natanson, asked a judge to order the return of all seized property, arguing the January 14 search violated free press and speech protections under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Porter directed federal prosecutors not to examine any of the information seized at least until early next month, when he scheduled a hearing on the request. Porter said the ruling would preserve the status quo until the Justice Department has an opportunity to respond to the Post’s legal filing.

FBI agents searched Natanson’s Virginia home as part of what Justice Department officials described as an investigation into the leak of classified information. The search was tied to a criminal case against a Pentagon contractor, who is charged with illegally retaining national defense information, officials said.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department and the Washington Post did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the court’s order.

Free press groups said the search of a journalist’s home marked an escalation of the Trump administration’s actions against the news media and could chill newsgathering activity. Natanson has covered President Donald Trump’s campaign to fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers and shift remaining workers to implementing his agenda.

“The outrageous seizure of our reporter’s confidential newsgathering materials chills speech, cripples reporting, and inflicts irreparable harm every day the government keeps its hands on these materials,” the Washington Post said in a statement announcing its legal challenge.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said last week that federal agents executed the search at the request of the Defense Department to protect U.S. national security. Trump’s Justice Department last year reversed a policy that had barred prosecutors from seizing records from reporters in most circumstances.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward. Additional reporting by Helen Coster; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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