“The investigation of potential information leaks cannot result in actions that intimidate, criminalize, or inhibit journalistic work."
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Photo: Ron Cogswell
Miami (January 14, 2026) — The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expresses its deep concern over the search carried out today by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at the home of a Washington Post journalist, in the context of an investigation into the alleged leak of classified information. The hemispheric organization urges U.S. authorities to avoid setting precedents that could be used to justify undue pressure on the press.
The FBI executed a search warrant at the home of journalist Hannah Natanson, a Washington Post correspondent, in Virginia, as part of an investigation into the alleged unauthorized retention of classified documents by a Pentagon contractor. During the operation, personal and newsroom devices were seized, according to press reports. Federal authorities have defended the procedure on the grounds of national security and the fight against leaks of secret documents, according to media accounts.
IAPA President Pierre Manigault warned that “this type of measure, when it directly involves journalists in the exercise of their reporting duties, constitutes an extreme action that may violate fundamental principles of press freedom, particularly the protection of confidential sources, professional secrecy, and society’s right to be informed about matters of public interest.”
Manigault, Chairman at Evening Post Publishing Inc. of Charleston, South Carolina, United States, added that “the investigation of potential information leaks cannot result in actions that intimidate, criminalize, or inhibit journalistic work. The search of a journalist’s home and the seizure of work materials send a troubling message that may generate a chilling effect on both journalists and their sources.”
For her part, Martha Ramos, President of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, recalled that “in accordance with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Inter-American human rights standards, any state interference in the work of the press must strictly comply with the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality, and be accompanied by clear safeguards to prevent indiscriminate access to protected journalistic information.”
Ramos, Editorial director of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), emphasized that “the use of police or judicial tools against journalists, even under the argument of national security, requires particularly rigorous scrutiny. The protection of sources is an essential pillar of independent journalism, and it’s weakening directly affects democracy.”
Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), stated: “Physical searches of reporters’ devices, homes, and belongings are some of the most invasive investigative steps law enforcement can take. There are specific federal laws and policies at the Department of Justice that are meant to limit searches to the most extreme cases because they endanger confidential sources far beyond just one investigation and impair public interest reporting in general. While we won’t know the government’s arguments about overcoming these very steep hurdles until the affidavit is made public, this is a tremendous escalation in the administration’s intrusions into the independence of the press.”
In its most recent semiannual report on the state of press freedom in the United States, the IAPA documented: “in his second term as president, Donald Trump has launched direct attacks against “In his second term as President, Donald Trump and his administration have waged direct assaults on the national media, pressing a barrage of lawsuits and rhetorical attacks, and emboldening federal agencies.”
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.