Trump RAID Instantly COLLAPSES in Court

Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian break down the fallout from the FBI's January 14, 2026 raid on Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's home, where federal agents seized her phone, two laptops, a recorder, a hard drive, and a smartwatch. The pretext: Natanson had allegedly received classified information from Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, a government contractor under indictment. But the DOJ itself admitted Natanson was not a suspect or target — she was "solely the recipient." That matters because the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 only allows seizure of a reporter's materials if the reporter themselves committed a crime or if immediate seizure is necessary to prevent death or serious injury. Neither applies here. When Magistrate Judge William B. Porter held a hearing on February 20, he revealed he had rejected multiple earlier versions of the warrant — and that prosecutors never once mentioned the Privacy Protection Act. The judge demanded to know: did you hide it intentionally, or did you just not know? The DOJ admitted they knew about the law but unilaterally decided it didn't apply — directly contradicting their earlier statement that Natanson wasn't a target. The judge has blocked the government from reviewing the seized materials, the raid has already frozen Natanson's reporting and spooked over 1,200 confidential sources, and a follow-up hearing is set for March 4. Kabateck LLP: Call 1-844-74-CIVIL for a free case evaluation or visit us at https://www.kbklawyers.com/ Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@LegalAFMTN?sub_confirmation=1 Become a member of Legal AF YouTube community: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgZJZZbnLFPr5GJdCuIwpA/join Become a member of the Legal AF Substack: https://michaelpopok.substack.com/20off Follow Legal AF on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/legalafmtn.bsky.social Follow Michael Popok on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mspopok.bsky.social Subscribe to the Legal AF podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legal-af-by-meidastouch/id1580828595 Subscribe to the Intersection with Michael Popok podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-intersection-with-michael-popok/id1818863274 Subscribe to Unprecedented with Michael Popok and Dina Doll podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unprecedented-by-legal-af/id1867023089 Subscribe to Court of History with Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-court-of-history/id1867022920