NW Kentucky News

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has initiated an investigation into the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) following allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers who reported waste and abuse within the agency. In a letter to TSA Administrator David Pekoske, Chairman Comer requested documents, communications, and a staff-level briefing to gain insight into TSA's resource management and potential retaliatory actions against whistleblowers.

“I write with deep concern that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials are continuing a pattern of retaliation against whistleblowers attempting to expose waste and abuse at the agency,” stated Chairman Comer. “Most recently, Federal Air Marshals Service (FAMS) employees made protected whistleblower disclosures revealing that FAMS wasted resources and abused its authority by assigning air marshals to surveil the spouse of a Federal Air Marshal and a former U.S. Member of Congress, Tulsi Gabbard. 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.”

In July 2021, a FAMS whistleblower disclosed to Congress that his wife had been improperly labeled a domestic terrorist and targeted for attending President Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech in Washington, D.C. More recently, FAMS whistleblowers revealed that TSA had also improperly targeted former U.S. Representative and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard under the “Quiet Skies” program.

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, TSA is struggling to fulfill its mission. From FAMs being forced to detail on the southwest border to process and provide services to illegal border crossers, to tailing American citizens and public figures, to retaliating against whistleblowers for their protected disclosures, there is something wrong at TSA under the Biden-Harris Administration,” continued Chairman Comer.“To assist the Committee in its investigation of TSA’s use of resources in FAMS and possible retaliation by TSA against whistleblowers, please provide the following documents and information, covering the time period January 6, 2021, to the present unless otherwise indicated, as soon as possible but no later than September 6, 2024."

Read the letter to TSA Administrator Pekoske here.