Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) confirmed that the Biden-era Transportation Security Administration (TSA) surveilled Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
“I commend you and the Trump administration for ending all government-sponsored censorship using DHS personnel,” he said during a hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “Just last night, I received the first set of records from the department regarding Tulsi Gabbard’s placement on the TSA Quiet Skies watchlist.”
“These documents confirm our suspicions. Federal air marshals surveilled the now-director of national intelligence during domestic flights in 2024, reporting back information related to her appearance and even how many electronics she was observed using. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case,” Paul added.
“I’m horrified by the idea that we took a former congresswoman and we’re surveilling her and riding on jets with her,” he stated, going on to note other instances of Americans undergoing surveillance.
“I want repercussions to come from this,” Paul added.
Last year, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) demanded that TSA provide documents relating to its surveillance of Tulsi Gabbard through the Quiet Skies program.
“According to whistleblowers from the Federal Air Marshals, the TSA began to surveil Representative Gabbard through its Quiet Skies Program on July 23, 2024, one day after she criticized the Biden-Harris Administration in a televised interview,” he wrote to then-TSA Administrator David Pekoske. The whistleblowers claimed there were “abnormalities” in Gabbard’s surveillance, including that its basis and duration were “unusually long.”
Ahead of Gabbard’s confirmation as DNI, Paul said the former congresswoman has been an “invaluable partner in the fight to safeguard our civil liberties and protect Americans from government overreach,” adding that she has “proven herself to be committed to upholding the Constitution and standing against unchecked government power.”
