Paul, Grassley question TSA in alleged targeting of Tulsi Gabbard, others for their political views

Sens. Rand Paul and Chuck Grassley are raising concerns that the Transportation Security Administration may be improperly using watchlists and screening procedures to target individuals for their political views.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Transportation Security Administrator David P. Pekoske, Mr. Paul cited two examples of concern as he asked for documents related to the agency’s management of passenger watchlists and screening programs.

“Among the troubling allegations is the claim that former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard was subjected to heightened surveillance after she was added to the Quiet Skies list following her public criticism of the current administration,” wrote the Kentucky Republican who is the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee.

He also cited “an equally concerning case” in which a federal air marshal whistleblower disclosed that TSA labeled his wife as a “domestic terrorist” for inaccurately claiming she unlawfully entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The marshal’s wife, who has a documented mobility disability, was in Washington that day but never went to the Capitol.

“Despite her physical limitations making it impossible for her to engage in the alleged activities, and with no criminal charges against her, TSA has kept her on a watchlist for more than three years,” Mr. Paul wrote. “To  compound matters, TSA later assigned a Federal Air Marshal, who was diverted from a high-risk international mission, to monitor her on a flight, even though she was traveling with her husband, who is also a Federal Air Marshal.”  

Mr. Grassley, Iowa Republican, separately sent a letter to Mr. Pekoske on Tuesday regarding the TSA’s targeting of Ms. Gabbard, noting that whistleblowers disclosed to his office that she has been subjected to “heavy scrutiny” on at least eight flights. 

“The Biden-Harris administration appears to have given surveilling Lt. Col. Gabbard more effort and focus than stopping terrorists from entering our Southern Border,” he said. “TSA must explain why it’s using taxpayer resources in this manner at a time when the FBI has stated that threats from international terrorism, domestic terrorism, and state-sponsored terrorism are all simultaneously elevated.”

Mr. Paul noted that the incidents follow a 2020 Department of Homeland Security inspector general report detailing management issues with the Quiet Skies program, which TSA uses to deploy enhanced screening procedures for higher-risk passengers as flagged from watchlists and other pre-screening data checks. The inspector general found that TSA did not have adequate safeguards to protect against the misuse of passenger data or an oversight process to determine if the program was working as intended.

“Taken together, these incidents seem to be part of a broader pattern in which TSA has repurposed Quiet Skies to surveil individuals based on their political activities, even when there is no evidence of wrongdoing,” Mr. Paul said.

He asked the TSA by Sept. 4 to turn over documents detailing its procedures for selecting individuals for passenger watchlists and enhanced screening procedures and information and communications related to the incidents involving Ms. Gabbard and the federal air marshal’s wife, among other data.