TSA gets all butt-hurt, subpoenas bloggers
 

TSA subpoenas bloggers, demands names of sources
By The Associated Press
December 30, 2009, 8:38PM

As the government reviews how an alleged terrorist was able to bring a bomb onto a U.S.-bound plane and try to blow it up on Christmas Day, the Transportation Security Administration is going after bloggers who wrote about a directive to increase security after the incident.

TSA special agents served subpoenas to travel bloggers Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott, demanding that they reveal who leaked the security directive to them. The government says the directive was not supposed to be disclosed to the public.

Frischling said he met with two TSA special agents Tuesday night at his Connecticut home for about three hours and again on Wednesday morning when he was forced to hand over his lap top computer. Frischling said the agents threatened to interfere with his contract to write a blog for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines if he didn't cooperate and provide the name of the person who leaked the memo.

"It literally showed up in my box," Frischling told The Associated Press. "I do not know who it came from." He said he provided the agents a signed statement to that effect.

In a Dec. 29 posting on his blog, Elliott said he had told the TSA agents at his house that he would call his lawyer and get back to them. Elliott said late Wednesday he could not comment until the legal issues had been resolved.

The TSA declined to say how many people were subpoenaed.

The directive was dated Dec. 25 and was issued after a 23-year-old Nigerian man was charged with attempting to bomb a Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam. The bomb, which allegedly was hidden in Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's underwear, malfunctioned and no one was killed. Authorities said the device included a syringe and a condom-like bag filled with powder that the FBI determined to be PETN, a common explosive.

The near-miss attack has prompted President Barack Obama to order a review of what intelligence information the government had about Abdulmutallab and why it wasn't shared with the appropriate agencies. He also ordered a review of U.S. aviation security. The government has spent billions of dollars and undergone massive reorganizations since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

The TSA directive outlined new screening measures that went into effect the same day as the airliner incident. It included many procedures that would be apparent to the traveling public, such as screening at boarding gates, patting down the upper legs and torso, physically inspecting all travelers' belongings, looking carefully at syringes with powders and liquids, requiring that passengers remain in their seats one hour before landing, and disabling all onboard communications systems, including what is provided by the airline. (talk about stupid ideas :td:)

It also listed people who would be exempted from these screening procedures such as heads of state and their families. (are you serious :lmao: )

This is the second time in a month that the TSA has found some of its sensitive airline security documents on the Internet. (waaaaa waaaaa...:rolleyes:....maybe if they wouldn't create such ridiculous & unnecessary rules, people wouldn't leak the details)

Maybe if they were good at their job, they could keep a memo secured.


And these are the people in charge of your safety..

As ridiculous as their rules may be, I'd be more pissed if they weren't looking for the source of that leak.

Since when is it Ok to leak classified information, just because you don't agree with it?

Fuck that, somebody needs firing.

JC

I doubt it had a very high level of classification, since it was what they were planning on dictating to the public pretty soon anyway.

They just don't like it because the leak forced them to rethink it a little, because everyone saw how stupid their ideas were.

Every single day I see information in the press that was leaked from a government source saying "interviewed on condition of anonomity"..........and nothing is done. How is this different? It's like they only take action if they get embarrased and don't like it.

The level of classification is not the point.

In military terms, you have "Classified", "Secret" and "Top Secret". I realize the TSA is not a part of the military, but I would assume they use a similar classification system.

In short, information is either classified or it isn't. It's not even close to being the same as general information that gets leaked out of other offices.

Someone could go to jail for this, if indeed the information was deemed classified, and "Well, they were going to find out anyway" is not much of a legal defense.

JC

:lol: true

I think the fucking TSA should be replaced with Walmart Greeters. From what I've seen, they look like a sharper lot.

I'm sure this will be fixed once the government runs the internet...lol

Yeah lets fucking blame the public citizen who has in the information instead of blaming the one who leaked it. Gotta always cover shit up and pass blame. Government FTL.

Blame? I don't see them blaming them. I see them trying to force information about where they got the information, which shouldn't have been publicly disclosed. If employees feel free to disclose information that could put the public at risk, then those employees need to be found and charged.

I'd just like to point out that there's no such thing as a TSA "special agent." TSA employees like to call themselves "agents" because they recently got issued real badges instead of sew-ons, but you won't find TSA employees at FLETC.* They are mall cops at airports.


*Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where government agents from various agencies under the DHS are trained.

Maybe they should be. OK, no maybe about it.

Do their responsibilities justify such a high level of training?

I say yes.

I would disagree. Compare their responsibilities and risks to an FBI or DEA agent.

The odds that a TSA "agent" would run into a situation where he/she needs to use what they teach at the federal law enforcement school fatbuck mentioned is..........next to zero.

Sending all 50,000 of them to that school? Hell no.

Certainly not all, but some fraction of them have a fairly high level of responsibility. I see no reason why, say, the top 10% of them should not be trained to a high level; perhaps the supervisors and senior officers. Either that or you need FBI/DEA in positions where they can be readily called upon, on-site.

Air marshalls, supervisors, and other arresting officers should have some kind of qualifications. The average baggage screener needs a 2 day class where they learn how to read xrays, pat down people and actually understand security procedures, the law, and what they are and arnet allowed to do.

If you want to make believe you can save the world at least try