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BREAKING

FBI executes search warrant at Post reporter's home

At the end of December, Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson penned an outstanding first-person piece about her long year as "the federal government whisperer." She described being inundated with tips from federal workers impacted by Trump's governmental wrecking ball — 1,169 new Signal contacts who "decided to trust me with their stories."

This morning, FBI agents arrived at Natanson's home with a search warrant — an exceedingly unusual move that immediately set off alarms among press freedom advocates.

The NYT broke the news about the search just an hour ago, so this story will surely be developing all day long, and we'll be posting updates at this CNN.com link.

But the early indication is that Natanson is not the target of the investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. 

According to the Post's own story, the warrant "said that law enforcement was investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who has a top secret security clearance and has been accused of accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports that were found in his lunchbox and his basement, according to an FBI affidavit."

Perez-Lugones was charged last week with illegally retaining classified documents, as the Baltimore Sun reported here.

Of course, reporters can't help but wonder whether this is also a fishing expedition, with the Trump administration eager to identify those 1,169 contacts in Natanson's phone...

Source protection is everything

Natanson was transparent in her year-end column about using Signal, the encrypted messaging app, to protect her sources. But is that enough? "We're all scrambling to figure out what additional precautions we need to take," a Post reporter told me this morning.

Another Postie said, "We're horrified for Hannah, who's a wonderful reporter, and scared for ourselves, trying to think through how best to further protect sources and secure our reporting and devices."

A staffer pointed out to me that Natanson was a standout at the Post last year — "a symbol of how, amid all the turnover and questions, the paper would still break news, still cover the Trump administration aggressively and still mint new stars."

On X and Bluesky, Post colleagues urged people to read her work, including a December piece titled "The year Trump broke the federal government."

 >> One more thing: Several staffers told me they're wondering what, if anything, owner Jeff Bezos will do to defend Natanson and the Post from this aggressive government action.

What Post readers are saying

One of the cool things about the Post website is how it provides AI-generated summaries of the comments on its articles. So far, with 700+ comments in the past hour, here's what Post readers are saying about the FBI search:

"The comments express strong disapproval and concern over the FBI executing a search warrant at a reporter's home, viewing it as an attack on press freedom and a step towards authoritarianism. Many comments liken the situation to actions taken by fascist regimes, with some specifically criticizing the Trump administration for undermining the First Amendment. There is a pervasive sense of alarm about the erosion of democratic principles and the rise of a police state."

IN OTHER NEWS...

'CBS Evening News' ratings are in

"Hang in there," CNBC's Joe Kernen wrote to Tony Dokoupil this morning. "You have many fans."

That sentiment, from a pro-Trump TV host, kinda sums up the state of play with the "CBS Evening News." Politically engaged people who perceive liberal bias in other newscasts are rooting for this latest reboot to succeed. Members of the media are watching with curiosity (and sometimes adding I-told-you-sos). And most other people... don't really care. 

The ratings for Dokoupil's first week show that all the promotional efforts had basically no effect. Viewership "was off 23%" from the same week last year, Variety's Brian Steinberg reported here. And "Dokoupil lost ground on every night he hosted," slipping under 4 million viewers by Friday, Oliver Darcy added at Status.

CBS News PR pointed out that the newscast was up slightly from its season-to-date average...

Twelve minutes with Trump

Dokoupil got 12 minutes with Trump yesterday, and it was... okay. The anchor asked important questions about Iran, Fed chair Jerome Powell, and the ICE shooting. But, of course, Trump steamrolled, dodged and weaved. "In the end, the only news from CBS's interview with Trump was that CBS interviewed Trump. That's it," Poynter's Tom Jones opined this morning. "They talked to him. They got him on camera. But there wasn't much to it."

 >> The part that got the most attention was when Trump told Dokoupil that if Kamala Harris had won the 2024 election, "you wouldn't have a job right now." Seemingly referring to Paramount CEO David Ellison, he said, "Your boss, who is an amazing guy, might be bust" if Harris had won. (You'll recall that Trump vocally complained about Ellison just a few weeks ago. Now he's an "amazing guy.") 

 >> Dokoupil circled back at the end: "For the record, I do think I'd have this job even if the other guys won." Trump said, "Yeah, but at a lesser salary." Here's the transcript.

Lucky or good? TMZ landed this video 

Arguably the most newsworthy moment during the president's trip to Detroit was not the CBS chat, it was the video clip — obtained by TMZ — of Trump flipping someone off for calling him a "pedophile protector."

The NYT's Shawn McCreesh, who was in the press pool, wrote on Instagram, "We went to a Ford factory. We saw some trucks. We lost sight of [Trump] for about five minutes during the tour and in those five minutes he gave somebody the middle finger and told them to fuck off. Really can't take your eye off this guy for a second."

 >> The heckler told The Washington Post that he's been suspended from work and has "no regrets whatsoever."

Playing dumb?

Earlier this week, the WSJ editorial board ridiculed the decision by federal prosecutors to subpoena the Fed chair. "President Trump would do himself and the country a big favor by firing those responsible for this fiasco," the board wrote.

"Those responsible?" The WSJ's newsroom seems savvier about how the Trump White House actually works. Journal reporters Sadie Gurman, C. Ryan Barber and Josh Dawsey scooped yesterday that "Trump criticized a group of U.S. attorneys at a White House event last week, calling them weak and complaining they weren't moving fast enough to prosecute his favored targets."

Netflix may adjust WBD deal terms

Netflix "is working on revised terms for its Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition and has discussed making its offer all cash for the purchase of the company's studios and streaming businesses, according to people familiar with the discussions,” Bloomberg's Josh Sisco and Lucas Shaw scooped yesterday.

Netflix declined to comment. Shares of both Netflix and WBD popped on the news. The Paramount execs who are waging a hostile takeover bid for WBD "believe Netflix's deal still contains too many variables, even now with an all-cash proposal," per Charlie Gasparino...

The Atlantic sues Google

The Atlantic is suing Google and its parent company Alphabet, "alleging the tech giant's model of serving ads to publishers has become a monopoly and that it has falsely claimed its ad serving practices would serve the Atlantic’s interest — only to enrich itself instead," TheWrap's Corbin Bolies reports.

If this sounds familiar, it's because we flagged a similar lawsuit filed by Penske Media Group in yesterday's newsletter. The same attorneys are representing both media plaintiffs...

Congress allocates $$ for VOA 

I missed this the other day, but WaPo's Scott Nover didn't: A draft of a bipartisan spending bill has budgeted $643 million for Voice of America and its parent, the US Agency for Global Media, plus specific outlets like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, even though the Trump admin has made very clear that it doesn't want to support the broadcasters much anymore.

The bill still has a long way to go, but Kari Lake has already issued a statement saying, "I am disappointed that Congress is proposing half a billion dollars more in funding than we requested." 

'Gourmet' is back on the menu

"We are bringing Gourmet back from the dead," a "collective of writers, editors and designers" announced yesterday. "Condé Nast, in its monied magnificence, failed to renew its trademark for the magazine. Now it is ours—and yours too if you subscribe." The NYT's Jessica Testa has more on the reboot here...

Briefly...

 >> "Three men have been found guilty of harassing a BBC journalist who presented the podcast series and documentary 'A Very British Cult.'" (BBC)

 >> The Eagles' ugly loss to the 49ers (😢) averaged 41 million viewers for Fox, making it "the most-watched Wild Card game on any network since 2022." (The Athletic)

 >> Speaking of NFL #s, "the Bears-Packers game on Amazon set a record — and showed us just how mainstream streaming has become," Peter Kafka writes. (Business Insider)

 >> SiriusXM "has rehired Chris Cuomo to host a live weekday program." (THR)

 >> Right-wing publisher Brave Books removed former Elon Musk girlfriend Ashley St. Clair as author of a 2021 book after she publicly renounced her past transphobia. (X)

There's no red line (except for the one right above this box)

"If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists," Charlie Warzel and Matteo Wong write in their latest for The Atlantic, titled "Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This." But... he is getting away with it.

This morning Musk posted a partial defense on X, saying he's "not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero." CNN's Hadas Gold observed that Musk "seems to be threading a delicate needle. There were definitely requests for images of children to be undressed/in underwear/ etc. and researchers found some really disturbing request Grok complied with..."

More of today's tech talk

 >> "Matthew McConaughey is taking a novel legal approach to combat unauthorized AI fakes: trademarking himself." Ben Fritz has the details. (WSJ)

>> Rockstar Games "has banned user-created missions in its 'Grant Theft Auto Online' game that recreated the assassination of Charlie Kirk." (Variety)

 >> “Just days after launching, Roblox's much-hyped AI-powered age verification system is a complete mess,” David Gilbert reports. (WIRED)

 >> "Keir Starmer has told MPs he is open to the idea of an Australian-style ban on social media for young people." (The Guardian)

Hollywood headlines

 >> Sunday's Golden Globes on CBS "suffered a ratings setback with an audience decline of 7% compared with last year’s show." (LAT)

 >> Trevor Noah "will host the upcoming Grammy Awards for the sixth year in a row," and it will be Noah's last time hosting the ceremony. (THR)

 >> BTS has announced dates for the group's much-anticipated tour. (CNN)

 >> Zoe Saldaña "is officially the highest-grossing actor of all time, thanks to 'Avatar: Fire and Ash.'" Here's what that means. (Variety)

This edition of Reliable Sources was edited by Andrew Kirell and produced with Liam Reilly. Email us your feedback and tips here.