Judge blocks DoJ from searching Washington Post reporter’s seized devices

Court itself to search devices for documents related to national security inquiry as newspaper calls ruling victory'

A federal judge has prohibited the justice department from searching electronic devices it seized from a Washington Post reporter, ruling that the court will search the devices for documents related to a national security investigation itself.

In his ruling, magistrate judge William Porter criticized the Trump administration for omitting relevant case law in its application for a search warrant to seize the devices in the first place, but acknowledged the possibility that classified national security information may be among the seized material" complicated the matter.