Republican Rep. James Comer is joining his colleague Jim Jordan in demanding information from the Transportation and Security Administration over the alleged "weaponization" of its faculties.
Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter expressing "deep concern" about the possibility that officials are "continuing a pattern of retaliation against whistleblowers attempting to expose waste and abuse at the agency."
He was making reference to the allegation that TSA was surveilling former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard through its "Quiet Skies" program after she openly criticized the Biden administration, and apparent retaliation against the whistleblowers that ensued.
"These alleged assignments are coming at a time of heightened concerns of potential terrorist attacks against the United States. Instead of holding officials accountable for this misconduct, it now appears that the whistleblowers have been targets of a 'retaliatory investigation' by leadership at TSA for their protected disclosures. The Committee requests TSA provide documents and communications and staff-level briefing to better understand TSA's use of resources and whether it is retaliating against whistleblowers," reads a passage of the letter.
🚨 Chairman Comer is investigating a pattern of retaliation against TSA whistleblowers, including a recent revelation that the Federal Air Marshals Service wasted resources and abused its authority by assigning air marshals to surveil Tulsi Gabbard. https://t.co/e0FXLPCqVp
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) August 23, 2024
The request comes just days after Jordan began a formal investigation through the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government regarding the allegations made by Gabbard.
Jordan gave TSA head David Pekoske a hard deadline to submit documentation showing whether Gabbard is being surveilled through its "Quiet Skies" program as a result of criticism uttered in a televised interview in later July.
"The very next day, TSA allegedly placed her under Quiet Skies surveillance," and on "eight flights since, 'two Explosive Detection Canine Teams, one Transportation Security Specialist (explosives), one plainclothes TSA Supervisor, and three Federal Air Marshals' have surveilled Representative Gabbard," the letter claims.
According to the whistleblowers quoted by Jordan, the surveillance was filled with "abnormalities," with one Air Marshal calling a hotline because he didn't understand the reason for his task. "It didn't pass the smell test," one of them said.
In this context, Jordan is asking the TSA head "all documents and communications between and among TSA or other executive branch agencies or officials referring to surveillance of former Representative Tulsi Gabbard or other federal elected or appointed officials for the period January 20, 2021 to the present." The hard deadline is September 4 at 5 p.m.
Comer also demanded a briefing with Committee staff before August 30, with the hard deadline on the documents being September 6.
Gabbard has been echoing criticism against the alleged practice. On August 10, she issued a message herself, saying on X: "RETALIATION. A few weeks ago, I had the audacity to tell the truth: that Kamala Harris would essentially be a mouthpiece and puppet of the Military Industrial Complex and National Security State. The next day, July 23, they retaliated. Sadly this is what we can expect from the "Harris" Administration."
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