Washington Post workers livid as Jeff Bezos stays silent after FBI raids reporter’s home: ‘nauseating and irresponsible’

Washington Post staffers are reportedly mad at the newspaper’s billionaire proprietor Jeff Bezos for retaining mum on the FBI raid that focused one of their colleagues, with one journo calling the Amazon mogul’s silence “nauseating and irresponsible.”

He’s yet to publicly converse out since federal brokers raided a WaPo reporter’s home in reference to a probe of a authorities contractor who allegedly retained labeled supplies illegally. The feds seized two laptops, a phone and a smartwatch from Hannah Natanson, who covers the federal authorities.

One staffer told the Status newsletter it was “nauseating and irresponsible to have our owner remain silent given this unprecedented event.”

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire Amazon founder and proprietor of the Washington Post, has not said something publicly about an FBI raid on the home of one of the newspaper’s reporters. AP

Another said they had been “disappointed” however “not surprised” by the lack of public help from Bezos.

A 3rd told Status: “If there is a moment to stand up for our journalistic values, this would be it.”

Statements so far from the paper’s management haven’t been vigorous enough, disgruntled staffers said.

Executive Editor Matt Murray circulated an inside memo, writing: “This extraordinary, aggressive action is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work.”

“The Washington Post has a long history of zealous support for robust press freedoms. The entire institution stands by those freedoms and our work.”

Some 12 hours after the raid, the paper’s editorial board published a statement condemning the search as “an aggressive attack on the press freedom of all journalists.”

FBI brokers on Wednesday seized laptops and a cellular phone from Natanson’s home. Facebook / Hannah Natanson

Publisher and CEO Will Lewis later issued a assertion praising Natanson as one of the newspaper’s “finest reporters” and calling the search warrant “outrageous.”

Murray also met privately with Natanson for about half-hour, according to Status.

Still, a WaPo insider told Status: “There’s some growing frustration that there hasn’t been a robust public response from current leadership.”

Washington Post staffers had been reportedly outraged over the raid on Natanson’s home. Facebook / Hannah Natanson

The FBI’s investigation facilities on a contractor named Aurelio Perez-Lugones, who was arrested last week and charged with illegal retention of labeled national protection data under the Espionage Act.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the search of Natanson’s home was carried out at the request of the Department of War and that the reporter had been “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.”

Natanson will not be a goal of the investigation, according to the Trump administration.

“Leaking classified information puts America’s national security and the safety of our military heroes in serious jeopardy,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a put up on X. “President Trump has zero tolerance for it and will continue to aggressively crack down on these illegal acts moving forward.”

Matt Murray, the newspaper’s government editor, circulated an inside memo condemning the FBI raid. The Washington Post through Getty Images

Bezos took a principally hands-off method in the years after shopping for the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million. But since Trump’s reelection in 2024, Bezos has personally intervened in editorial selections.

In October of that 12 months, he ordered the paper to desert its long-standing follow of presidential endorsements, killing a ready endorsement of then-Vice President Kamala Harris just days before the election — a transfer that shocked the newsroom and triggered resignations, protests by workers and a wave of subscription cancellations.

Last 12 months, Bezos imposed a new ideological mandate on the opinion part, saying it ought to give attention to “personal liberties and free markets.” As right-leaning journalist Adam O’Neal executed the overhaul, a senior opinion management made for the exits.

The Post has sought remark from the Justice Department and Perez-Lugones. A Washington Post spokesperson was not instantly obtainable for remark.

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