The Justice Department is asking a federal judge in Virginia to allow it to conduct its own search of a Washington Post reporter's seized electronic devices rather than having the court review. This follows a lower court ruling that prohibited the DOJ from using a "filter team" to search reporter Hannah Natanson's phone and laptop as part of an FBI investigation into a government contractor accused of leaking classified material. Magistrate Judge William Porter had previously ordered that the government could not access, review, or otherwise examine any of Natanson’s seized data. Federal prosecutors argue that this shift in power infringes on the separation of powers and could compromise the neutrality courts are meant to maintain in overseeing search warrants.