Posted on 02/02/2026 6:27:01 PM PST by 11th_VA
WASHINGTON — A Pentagon contractor arrested for allegedly taking classified intelligence — including some sensitive materials about a foreign country — and hoarding it at his Maryland home will remain in custody for the time being, according to a report.
US District Chief Judge George Levi Russell III ordered the alleged leaker Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones to remain in custody after one of his defense attorneys acknowledged they weren’t “prepared to move forward” with the hearing in a Baltimore federal courtroom, Politico reported.
The IT specialist and former US Navy service member was identified as an alleged leaker in a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, following an FBI raid on the home of a Washington Post reporter who has promoted herself as “the federal government whisperer.”
Washington Post journalist Hannah Natanson’s home in suburban Alexandria, Va., was searched by the FBI as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of retaining national defense information unlawfully, sources told her outlet.
Agents seized her phone, a personal laptop, a work laptop and a Garmin watch, the outlet noted.
Natanson wrote in her personal piece about reporting on President Trump’s attempts to downsize the DC bureaucracy that 1,169 new sources reached out to her.
On Wednesday, the president told reporters: “The leaker has been found and is in jail right now — and that’s the leaker on Venezuela. A very bad leaker.”
Perez-Lugones has been detained since agents also executed a search warrant on his Laurel, Md., residence on Jan. 8 and found “multiple documents that were marked SECRET,” according to the complaint, which was filed the day after.
…
An affidavit accompanying the complaint alleged he had unlawfully retained national defense information — a count that could earn him up to 10 years in federal prison.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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I wonder if the Post reporter feels bad this guy could do 10 years in jail …
I hate it when so-called Americans do this but when a Mex refugee does it, it really pisses me off.
“the alleged leaker Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones”
I guess the Pentagon is now hiring Illegals.
Why, he’s just a Maryland dad !
I am curious what contractor company he worked for.
The guy was “a Pentagon contractor” and “IT specialist and former US Navy service member”. Sounds like he was a spook who sold out!
As much of a despicable prick as the leaker Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones certainly is-and he deserves prosecution-he is apparently not a ‘Mex refugee”-according to the article-you live in Texas-you know that many/most of us who are Hispanic were born here, into American citizen families-not in Mexico. Like many others, my ancestors were living in Texas before 1800-no refugees...
The article says: “The IT specialist and former US Navy service member was identified as an alleged leaker in a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday” and “The Defendant has held a security clearance for over 25 years and the Government cannot ensure the safety of the country and US military personnel without detention.”
This leaker is disgusting enough without our side throwing in unfounded assumptions, like the left does to us. He has held a security clearance for 25 years-so not likely a foreign citizen. I’m more interested in who put him up to stealing that info, paid him, and how much-it was probably not that reporter...
Yeah, but the most damaging spies in American history - Robert Hanssen, Aldrich Ames, John Walker, and the Rosenbergs, were natural-born Americans.
Ay, por favor-having a Spanish surname does not mean you are a citizen of another country-and that European formal naming style is still used by some old families of both French and Spanish ancestry...
That’s what they want us to believe...
I will admit that creepy Vindeman guy was the 1st person I thought of when I read the article...
One credit I will give Latinos: (many non-citizens included) serve and many have died. This must be a “Biden refugee,” which obviously precludes many norms.
What nonsense-it is just a personal preference-like any other. Some of my family members have used that European naming style for kids in the last 20 years-we are Hispanic and Americans for over 200 years...
That’s strange because he doesn’t act like an American. I wouldn’t want the SOB for a neighbor.
Neither would I-but there are traitorous people of British, French, Italian, etc ancestry who don’t act like Americans, either-not nice people. And I wouldn’t want a deranged democrat, or KKK member for a neighbor, either-bad and dangerous comes in all colors and disguises...
So is this one apparently.
Hildebeeste had stuff with much higher markings on her home computer ... Joe Biden had stuff with much higher markings, left over from his Senate days, in his garage ... they both walk free.
Justice is not blind.
Thank your for adding some much-needed reality to this thread.
A fool can spot blemish the size of sesame seeds in others, but can’t see faults of his own the size of a melon.
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