Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii said “everything changed” since she was placed on a domestic watch list following her criticism of the Biden administration.
Speaking to Fox News's Brian Kilmeade about the ordeal, Gabbard said the hardest part is knowing that she will always need to look over her shoulder, "wondering if and how my government is surveilling me."
Gabbard was added to the "Quiet Skies" watch list a day after speaking critically about the Biden administration during an interview with Fox News's Laura Ingraham.
ACLJ said it is launching a “multipronged legal effort” to defend Gabbard and defeat the weaponization of the federal government against its political foes.
Several Federal Air Marshal whistleblowers have come forward alleging that she is currently enrolled in the TSA’s “Quiet Skies” program. “Quiet Skies” is a TSA surveillance program with its own compartmentalized suspected terrorist watchlist. In the name of national security, “an individual is enrolled in the program without knowledge. Teams of Federal Air Marshals are assigned to individuals, following and tracking them from when they enter the airport and then on all their flights and transits until they reach their destination.”
Under this program, which is supposed to be used for potential terrorist threats, these whistleblowers allege that she has two Explosive Detection Canine Teams, one Transportation Security Specialist (explosives), one plainclothes TSA Supervisor, and three Federal Air Marshals on every flight she boards. Tulsi Gabbard has also been subjected to extensive additional searches every time she flies, had her bags searched, and had TSA agents intrusively go through her clothes – including being subjected to Quad S advanced screenings on all flights. (ACLJ)
Gabbard told Kilmeade she now has to constantly wonder what the government is looking for.
"Are they reading my emails and text messages? Listening to my phone calls?" she questioned. "Losing that sense of freedoms that every one of us Americans is guaranteed. And violating my Fourth amendment constitutional rights.
"What they’re doing is completely unconstitutional and it has a chilling effect, both on me and my family," she continued, noting that her husband is being treated similarly. "If I say this, what retaliatory measure are they going to take, how are they going to intrude on my life and my family’s life and liberty?"
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) is also demanding answers from TSA Administrator David Pekoske about Gabbard being placed on the Quiet Skies watch list.
"I find this profoundly troubling for a number of reasons," Burchett said in his letter to Pekoske.
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