{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.paul.senate.gov/flash-report-bidens-tsa-targeted-veterans-lawmakers-and-air-marshals-wife/", "Flash Report: Biden\u2019s TSA Targeted Veterans, Lawmakers, and Air Marshal\u2019s Wife", "2025-09-29", "2025", "2025-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nSeptember 29th, 2025\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee opened an investigation into TSA\u2019s Quiet Skies program in 2024 after reports it was weaponized against Americans. Today, Dr. Paul released a flash report of his findings, exposing how TSA\u2019s Quiet Skies program, and related watch lists, were twisted into political surveillance tools under the Biden administration.\n\nThe release comes ahead of tomorrow\u2019s hearing, Examining the Weaponization of the Quiet Skies Program, scheduled for 10:00 AM. A Whistleblower, a Federal Air Marshal first mentioned in Senator Paul\u2019s recent op-ed in The American Conservative, will testify before the Committee.\n\nThe report reveals Tulsi Gabbard, a combat veteran and former congresswoman, now serving as Director of National Intelligence, was surveilled on at least five flights in 2024.This surveillance began only one day after she publicly criticized Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.\n\nThree Republican lawmakers were matched to TSA\u2019s Silent Partner and/or Quiet Skies Rules right after engaging in some kind of political activity, including opposing the Biden administration. At least two dozen Americans were placed on watch lists for protesting mask mandates or removing a mask on an aircraft. Following January 6, 2021, TSA issued a directive authorizing the watch listing of individuals based solely on suspected travel to Washington, D.C., without any specific evidence of unlawful conduct.\n\nThe most shocking revelation is that the wife of a Federal Air Marshal was branded a domestic terrorist and subjected to invasive monitoring, even though no evidence ever linked her to unlawful activity on January 6, 2021. She was placed in the FBI\u2019s Terrorist Screening Database and, for two years, followed on domestic flights by Federal Air Marshals, who reported her movements and interactions, sometimes on a minute-by-minute basis. Her name was finally cleared only after the FBI closed its case due to mistaken identity.\n\n\u201cQuiet Skies was an unconstitutional dystopian nightmare masquerading as a security tool costing the American taxpayers $200 million a year. And what did we get for it? According to DHS, the Quiet Skies program failed to stop a single terrorist attack since it was created. Instead, taxpayers are footing the bill for a surveillance program that turned its watchful eye inward\u2014targeting Americans who had committed no crimes, violated no laws, and in many cases were government officials themselves,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\n###", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/flash-report-bidens-tsa-targeted-veterans-lawmakers-and-air-marshals-wife/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9214698802679777, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}