Watchdog Demands DHS IG Investigate Surveillance State

A non-partisan whistleblower watchdog group is demanding the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to investigate new alleged abuses of the surveillance state ignored by the administration.

On Monday, the non-profit Empower Oversight sent a letter to the agency investigator outlining a whistleblower report which alleged the U.S. Federal Air Marshals Service (FAMS) “was improperly targeting individuals for enhanced surveillance.”

Those in the round-up of individuals surveilled include former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and the whistleblower’s wife, who had been “improperly labeled a ‘domestic terrorist’ and targeted for FAMS ‘Special Mission Coverage’ simply because she attended President Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech at the ellipse in Washington D.C.,” according to the letter.

“She was nowhere near the U.S. Capitol complex that day, yet her FAMS file falsely stated she ‘unlawfully entered the United States Capitol Building on [Jan. 6, 2021],’” the letter read.

Individuals who are being investigated under “Special Mission Coverage” are subject to additional screening by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on top of FAMS surveillance.

The whistleblower represented by the legal non-profit had previously filed reports to disclose the misconduct to the agency inspector general in 2021 and 2022. The whistleblower also made reports to the office of Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, “informing them that his chain of command knew his wife had been falsely listed as a domestic terrorist who entered the U.S. Capitol.” The Office of Special Counsel, however, denied the whistleblower’s request to refer their charges to the inspector general.

“Ultimately, the whistleblower was able to work with the FBI to have his wife’s name removed from the terror watchlist in the spring of 2023,” read Monday’s letter. “Yet clearing his own wife’s name did not remedy the clear abuses of FAMS surveillance or deter further abuses — as the recent Tulsi Gabbard revelations demonstrate.”

Gabbard, who served in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021, has spent the last decade criticizing the surveillance state. In 2020, she proposed legislation with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and repeal the Patriot Act. Congressional Republicans voted to renew FISA in April with no substantive reforms after the surveillance law was weaponized to undermine former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

The surveillance law’s reauthorization, said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, “shows wanton disregard for the rights of Americans.”

Since leaving Congress three years ago, Gabbard has remained an active pundit with a new podcast and book critical of incumbent Democrats. According to the Monday letter from Empower Oversight, Gabbard came under federal surveillance by the FAMS Quiet Skies program “one day after she criticized the Biden Administration in an interview with Laura Ingraham” with a reference to the post below:

“Air Marshals were assigned to their first flight with Ms. Gabbard on July 25, 2024,” Empower Oversight reported. “Absent any significant evidence that Ms. Gabbard actually poses a significant threat, this is a gross waste of taxpayer resources and an abuse of TSA’s authority.”

Read the full letter from Empower Oversight below:

FILE_6292 by The Federalist

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at [email protected]. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.