Billionaire owner Jeff Bezos’ silence after the FBI’s raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home has infuriated the paper’s newsroom, Status reports.
Hannah Natanson, described as the Post’s “federal government whisperer,” was in her Alexandria, Virginia, home when it was stormed by FBI Director Kash Patel’s agents. They walked out with her personal computer and one belonging to the Amazon founder’s newspaper.
The raid early Wednesday stemmed from a probe not centered on the 29-year-old Harvard graduate but on Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a Maryland-based systems administrator with top secret security clearance who is accused of improperly accessing classified intelligence reports and removing them from secure facilities.
Hours after news of the raid broke, Matt Murray, the executive editor of the Post, wrote to staff decrying “this extraordinary, aggressive action,” which he said “is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concerns around the constitutional protections for our work.”
It was crickets from Bezos, though. It is no secret that the 62-year-old has tried to ingratiate himself with President Donald Trump, pulling the paper’s Kamala Harris endorsement in the run-up to the 2024 election, attending Trump’s inauguration, making fluffy statements about his “optimism” going into Trump 2.0, and altering the Post’s editorial direction.
“Jeff Bezos is trying to do a real job with The Washington Post, and that wasn’t happening before,” came the praise from Trump.
Staff, though, still expected more from their boss’ boss in the wake of what they see as an affront to journalism, according to Status.
They were rankled, too, by the conspicuous silence of publisher and chief executive Will Lewis and the Post’s editorial board. These came later, but Bezos has remained tight-lipped.
One journalist told Status it was “nauseating and irresponsible to have our owner remain silent given this unprecedented event.”
Another said they were “disappointed,” though “not surprised.” A third said, “If there is a moment to stand up for our journalistic values, this would be it.”
And plenty more privately vented but asked not to be quoted, Status added.
When the editorial board got around to commenting, hours after the raid, it bemoaned the “aggressive attack on the press freedom of all journalists.”
Beating its proverbial chest, the board added: “Yet anyone who believes the raid will deter reporters from doing their jobs is sorely mistaken.” Lewis called the saga “outrageous.”
After outcry from other publications (The New York Times said the incident “makes the government less accountable”) Murray reportedly sent an additional memo.
He reiterated management’s concern over the raid and provided additional guidance for staff to protect themselves in the future. He also encouraged the newsroom to bring any concerns to the standards and legal teams.
Bezos didn’t escape Post readers’ ire. “Happy now, Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post? You hastened the death of Democracy. It is very dark….” one commenter, with more than 500 upvotes, wrote.
The Daily Beast has reached out to The Washington Post for comment.
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