Federal judge said reporter Hannah Natanson ‘has basically been deprived of her life’s work’ after January raid

A federal judge in Virginia on Friday declined to immediately rule on the Washington Post’s request for the government to return devices seized from reporter Hannah Natanson in a January raid of her home.

But the judge, William B Porter of the eastern district of Virginia, acknowledged the enormity and significance of the seizure during the afternoon hearing. “Ms Natanson has basically been deprived of her life’s work,” he said.

In the latest development in a case that has worried first amendment advocates and put newsrooms around the country on high alert, the judge seemed disinclined to let the government rifle through the files and determine what is relevant to an investigation into a government contractor accused of possessing classified materials – and suggested that he understood the broader stakes of the case.