A federal judge for the District of Maryland ordered that the government contractor accused of transmitting classified defense information to a Washington Post journalist be released from pretrial detention, Politico reported Monday.
U.S. District Judge Michael Maddox, while describing the alleged leaks as “extremely grave,” ruled that supervised home detention without any internet connectivity for the accused, Aurelio Perez-Lugones, could prevent the alleged risk of further leaks, according to the report.
BREAKING: Judge orders release of govt contractor Aurelio Perez-Lugones, accused of leaking classified docs to WaPo’s Hannah Natanson. Prosecutor says Perez shared info on military movements related to Venezuela https://t.co/SNAJUUPuGo
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) May 4, 2026
Perez-Lugones, 61, of Laurel, Maryland, was arrested Jan. 8 on suspicion of mishandling classified information by leaking the documents to a reporter unauthorized to access the information, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) of the District of Maryland press release.
The USAO did not name the reporter. Politico identified the reporter as the Washington Post’s Hannah Natanson.
Prosecutors had argued in favor of continued pretrial detention for Perez-Lugones because they suspected that he had retained some of the classified information and might transmit additional national security secrets to Natanson, who Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia McLane alleged remained willing to accept such information.
McLane alleged at a Monday hearing that what Perez-Lugones had divulged to Natanson was “current information regarding military movement in the Caribbean, in the Gulf and specifically with Venezuela,” accusing Perez-Lugones of attempting to “get back at the administration.”
Defense attorney Courtney Francik counterargued that Perez-Lugones could not be said to have “a historical Rolodex of classified information in his head,” the outlet noted.
“Mr. Perez-Lugones has lost his job. He’s lost his clearance. He doesn’t have any access to any classified system,” Francik added.
Perez-Lugones, a Navy veteran, had been a government contractor since 2002, allegedly began unauthorized searches for classified information since around October 2025, and then allegedly passed them on to the reporter Jan. 8, according to the USAO press release.
Authorized searches of his properties yielded documents marked as “SECRET,” federal prosecutors alleged.
An authorized search of Natanson’s home followed, with federal agents seizing Natanson’s devices, but the judge who authorized the search suspended the agents’ access to the devices after protests from Natanson and the Post, according to Politico. (RELATED: Trump Vows To Find ‘Sick Person’ In Iran Rescue Leak, Warns Media Could Face Jail For Not Divulging)
The judge who authorized the search reportedly had been aware of Natanson’s job as a journalist before approving the search warrant but later accused federal prosecutors of not informing him of a federal law restricting search warrants for information held by reporters and the media. The Privacy Protection Act of 1980 restricts such search warrants.