(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced that it filed on December 9, 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard being targeted for surveillance under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) “Quiet Skies” terrorist watch program (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:24-cv-03427)). The Transportation Security Administration is a component of the Department of Homeland Security. As noted in the December 11 court order, Judicial Watch seeks to expedite the lawsuit.
On August 4, 2024, it was reported that “several Federal Air Marshal whistleblowers have come forward with information showing that former U.S. Representative and Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is currently enrolled in the Quiet Skies program.”
On August 23, 2024, the House Oversight Committee wrote to David P. Pekoske, the administrator for the Transportation Security Administration, that Gabbard was added “to the Quiet Skies program on July 23, 2024 – one day after she criticized the Biden administration in an interview.”
Gabbard, who on Novebmer 13, 2024, was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next director of national intelligence, subsequently confirmed the reports, asserting in a video she posted on X that she had learned that three air marshals were assigned to watch her every time she “traveled in the airport and on the flight.” Gabbard added, “TSA deployed explosive canine detection teams and a TSA explosion specialist.”
Judicial Watch sued after Homeland Security failed to respond to three August 5, 2024, FOIA requests for records of Homeland Security Department and Transportation Security Administration officials regarding both Gabbard and its “Quiet Skies” program.
According to the DHS web site, “Quiet Skies” is a “tool that allows the Federal Air Marshal Service to more efficiently deploy law enforcement resources to focus on travelers who may present an elevated risk to aviation security.”
“The Biden administration’s decision to place Tulsi Gabbard on a terrorist watchlist is abusive on its face,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Given her pending nomination to director of national intelligence, this issue should quickly be cleared up, and those responsible be held accountable.”
Judicial Watch recently reported that the Transportation Security Administration, a federal agency created after 9/11 to protect the nation’s transportation system, has no idea how aviation security was impacted when:
[I]t plucked Federal Air Marshal Service agents from their critical duties to help with the Mexican border crisis. Air Marshals operate under the Transportation Security Administration, and in the last few years the agency has forced the highly trained aviation security specialists to assist Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with the onslaught of illegal immigrants entering the country under Biden’s disastrous open border policies.”
