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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:06:05 PM EST
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/12/dhs-threatens-blogger/
TSA Threatens Blogger Who Posted New Screening Directive TSA Special Agent John Enright, left, speaks to Steven Frischling outside the blogger's home in Niantic, Connecticut, after returning Frischling's laptop Wednesday. <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Photo: Thomas Cain/Wired.com Two bloggers received home visits from Transportation Security Administration agents Tuesday after they published a new TSA directive that revises screening procedures and puts new restrictions on passengers in the wake of a recent bombing attempt by the so-called underwear bomber. Special agents from the TSA’s Office of Inspection interrogated two U.S. bloggers, one of them an established travel columnist, and served them each with a civil subpoena demanding information on the anonymous source that provided the TSA document. The document, which the two bloggers published within minutes of each other Dec. 27, was sent by TSA to airlines and airports around the world and described temporary new requirements for screening passengers through Dec. 30, including conducting “pat-downs” of legs and torsos. The document, which was not classified, was posted by numerous bloggers. Information from it was also published on some airline websites. “They’re saying it’s a security document but it was sent to every airport and airline,” says Steven Frischling, one of the bloggers. “It was sent to Islamabad, to Riyadh and to Nigeria. So they’re looking for information about a security document sent to 10,000-plus people internationally. You can’t have a right to expect privacy after that.” Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said in a statement that security directives “are not for public disclosure.” “TSA’s Office of Inspections is currently investigating how the recent Security Directives were acquired and published by parties who should not have been privy to this information,” the statement said. Frischling, a freelance travel writer and photographer in Connecticut who writes a blog for the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, said the two agents who visited him arrived around 7 p.m. Tuesday, were armed and threatened him with a criminal search warrant if he didn’t provide the name of his source. They also threatened to get him fired from his KLM job and indicated they could get him designated a security risk, which would make it difficult for him to travel and do his job. “They were indicating there would be significant ramifications if I didn’t cooperate,” said Frischling, who was home alone with his three children when the agents arrived. “It’s not hard to intimidate someone when they’re holding a 3-year-old [child] in their hands. My wife works at night. I go to jail, and my kids are here with nobody.” Frischling, who described some of the details of the visit on his personal blog, told Threat Level that the two agents drove to his house in Connecticut from DHS offices in Massachusetts and New Jersey and didn’t mention a subpoena until an hour into their visit. “They came to the door and immediately were asking, ‘Who gave you this document?, Why did you publish the document?’ and ‘I don’t think you know how much trouble you’re in.’ It was very much a hardball tactic,” he says. When they pulled a subpoena from their briefcase and told him he was legally required to provide the information they requested, he said he needed to contact a lawyer. The agents said they’d sit outside his house until he gave them the information they wanted. Frischling says he received the document anonymously from someone using a Gmail account and determined, after speaking with an attorney, that he might as well cooperate with the agents since he had little information about the source and there was no federal shield law to protect him. The Gmail address consisted of the name “Mike,” followed by random numbers and letters. Frischling had already deleted the e-mail after publishing the document but said he had learned from previous correspondence with the source that he had been hired as a screener for the TSA in 2009. The agents searched through Frischling’s BlackBerry and iPhone and questioned him about a number of phone numbers and messages in the devices. One number listed in his phone under “ICEMOM” was a quick dial to his mother, in case of emergency. The agents misunderstood the acronym and became suspicious that it was code for his anonymous source and asked if his source worked for ICE — the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agents then said they wanted to take an image of his hard drive. Frischling said they had to go to WalMart to buy a hard drive, but when they returned were unable to get it to work. Frischling said the keyboard on his laptop was no longer working after they tried to copy his files. The agents left around 11 p.m. but came back Wednesday morning and, with Frischling’s consent, seized his laptop, which they promised to return after copying the hard drive. Frischling wrote on his blog that he decided to publish the TSA directive to clear up much of the confusion and speculation that was circulating among the public about changes that were being instituted in airport security procedures after a passenger unsuccessfully tried to ignite a bomb Dec. 25 using a syringe and explosive chemicals hidden in his underwear. “We are a free society, knowledge is power and informing the masses allows for public conversation and collective understanding,” Frischling wrote on his blog. “You can agree or disagree, but you need information to know if you want to agree or disagree. My goal is to inform and help people better understand what is happening, as well as allow them to form their own opinions.” A former federal prosecutor who asked not to be identified told Threat Level that the TSA is being heavy-handed in how it’s handling the matter. “It strikes me that someone at TSA is apoplectic that somehow there’s a sense that they’re not doing their job right,” he told Threat level. “To go into this one reporter’s house and copy his computer files and threaten him, it strikes me that they’re more aggressive with this reporter than with the guy who got on this flight.” Christopher Elliott, who is based in Florida and writes a column for the <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Washington Post, MSNBC and others, received a visit from a TSA special agent named Robert Flaherty around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Elliott wouldn’t discuss the details of the visit with Threat Level, due to pending legal issues, but he describes inhis blog post how he got a knock on his door shortly after finishing dinner and putting his three young children in the bathtub. Flaherty showed him a badge and said he wanted information about the source of the document he published. When Elliott told him he’d need to see a subpoena, Flaherty pulled one out and handed it to Elliott. Elliott told Threat Level they talked for 10 to 20 minutes, but he refused to cooperate. Flaherty left but called Wednesday to remind Elliott that he had until the end of the business day to comply with the subpoena. “I really don’t think they thought this one through,” said Elliott about the TSA tactics. Elliott could face a fine and up to a year in jail for failure to comply, according to a statement on the subpoena. The TSA directive was issued Christmas Day, the date of the attempted attack on Northwest Flight 253, and indicates that the directive will expire Dec. 30. The directive applies to anyone operating a scheduled or charter flight departing from a foreign location and destined for the United States. It requires all passengers to undergo a “thorough pat-down,” which should concentrate on their upper legs and torso, at the boarding gate. It also requires physical inspection of all “accessible property” accompanying passengers at the boarding gate, “with focus on syringes being transported along with powders and/or liquids.” It also indicates that restrictions against liquids, aerosols and gels should be strictly adhered to. Heads of state can be exempted from the special screening. Passengers are also required to remain seated during the last hour of flights, and cannot access carry-on baggage or have blankets, pillows or other personal belongings on their lap during this time. Aircraft phones, internet service, TV programming and global positioning systems are to be disabled prior to boarding and during all phases of flight. Flight crews are also prohibited from making any announcements to passengers about the flight path or the plane’s position over cities or landmarks. The TSA was embarrassed earlier this month after a contract worker posted an improperly redacted sensitive screening manual on a government site. That document revealed which passengers are more likely to be targeted for secondary screening, who is exempt from screening, TSA procedures for screening foreign dignitaries and CIA-escorted passengers, and extensive instructions for calibrating Siemens walk-through metal detectors. Five TSA workers were put on leave pending an internal investigation into how that document got posted. At least they didn't shoot the dogs.  |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:09:21 PM EST
[#1]
Wait wait wait, the TSA isn't a law-enforcement organization. Unless that "Special Agent" had a warrant, he deserved an ass-whooping for trespassing and impersonating a law enforcement officer.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:12:57 PM EST
[#2]
Quoted:
At least they didn't shoot the dogs. [/div] [/div]
DHS and TSA have only been around for a few years. Give them some time in the game, once they learn they can shoot dogs and get away with it, it will be a pet massacre. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:13:03 PM EST
[#3]
what a bunch of incompetent freaking idiots. 
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:13:18 PM EST
[#4]
This is the kind of shit that gives my lawyer a high school senioresque stiffy.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:13:24 PM EST
[#5]
You find the warrant, I'll be calling my lawyer.
End of conversation and cooperation. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:14:07 PM EST
[#6]
I would support these bloggers responding with a hearty STFU & GTFO
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:15:03 PM EST
[#7]
Welcome to the future folks. More government heavy handed tactics to come.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:15:24 PM EST
[#8]
Quoted:
Wait wait wait, the TSA isn't a law-enforcement organization. Unless that "Special Agent" had a warrant, he deserved an ass-whooping for trespassing and impersonating a law enforcement officer. He might not fall directly under TSA. For example the US Coast Guard doesn't have jurisdiction on land, but the CGIS - Coast Guard Investigative Service, does. They are also called special agents and are technically not part of the regular US Coast Guard. The TSA might have a similar branch that is given law enforcement authority by Congress. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:17:21 PM EST
[#9]
How soon until some of us start getting 'visits' from alphabet soup agencies?
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:17:43 PM EST
[#10]
Fuck you, get a warrant.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:18:33 PM EST
[#11]
Quoted:
Wait wait wait, the TSA isn't a law-enforcement organization. Actually, they are...or rather they have some LE powers. Practically every federal agency has at least somebody on the payroll with arrest powers. Reagan's administration tried to inventory every position within the federal government with arrest powers and firearms...and failed, IIRC. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:20:30 PM EST
[#12]
That man would have gotten a hearty GTFO and get off my property. TSA is not a law inforcement branch, they are the rent a cops of airports. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:20:33 PM EST
[#13]
Wasn't there a story about the White House website wanting names of critics or tracking bloggers? It's been a few months and I forgot. I didn't follow that story closely but this article reminded me of it.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:23:17 PM EST
[#14]
Quoted:
Fuck you, get a warrant. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:23:23 PM EST
[#15]
Quoted:
Welcome to the future folks. More government heavy handed tactics to come. +1, get used to it. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:23:46 PM EST
[#16]
Quoted:
That man would have gotten a hearty GTFO and get off my property. TSA is not a law inforcement branch, they are the rent a cops of airports.
The TSA can arrest and fine. An artical said they arrest around 1000 and fine around 4000 a year. They also catch smugglers/contraband so it mght account for some of that. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:24:18 PM EST
[#17]
The TSA just made a mistake a serious mistake. They can't get their own shit together, the Silverback Gorilla can't decide whether they failed when a suicide bomber gets a bomb on a plane despite warning about him, they leak the fuck out of their OWN PROTOCOLS, yet they have the balls to go after a couple of bloggers. Fuck.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:24:32 PM EST
[#18]
Quoted:
That man would have gotten a hearty GTFO and get off my property. TSA is not a law inforcement branch, they are the rent a cops of airports.
This, until commercial airliners start landing in my yard they can get the fuck lost. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:25:33 PM EST
[#19]
Too bad they don't spend as much time interrogating actual terrorist threats. Such as persons who buy airplane tickets with cash and travel without luggage and who's own father has reported them to the authorities as a possible threat.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:27:03 PM EST
[#20]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Welcome to the future folks. More government heavy handed tactics to come. +1, get used to it. Screw that. Were the people. Were the boss, not them. We don't have to tolerate this shit. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:28:15 PM EST
[#21]
SSSS on every ticket, every single fucking time I fly makes it pretty clear to me that I am watched
 fuck TSA.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:29:14 PM EST
[#22]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Welcome to the future folks. More government heavy handed tactics to come. +1, get used to it. Screw that. Were the people. Were the boss, not them. We don't have to tolerate this shit. And what will we do about it? Our current dumbass gov. is not going to do jack nor will the next, no matter who gets elected. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:29:48 PM EST
[#23]
Quoted:
Quoted:
That man would have gotten a hearty GTFO and get off my property. TSA is not a law inforcement branch, they are the rent a cops of airports.
The TSA can arrest and fine. An artical said they arrest around 1000 and fine around 4000. They also catch smugglers/contraband so it mght account for some of that. It was likely that TSA has special agents, whose job it is to investigate breaches like this and can carry firearms and make arrests. Just because your average seaman isn't a federal agent, doesn't mean NCIS members aren't. Same deal with these guys. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:30:47 PM EST
[#24]
Quoted:
Welcome to the future folks. More government heavy handed tactics to come. FASCISM at it's finest.. Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ] Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790), Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759 |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:37:07 PM EST
[#25]
Quoted:
Welcome to the future folks. More government heavy handed tactics to come. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:37:32 PM EST
[#26]
Reading it, I imagined if it happened to someone on here. Come on in agents, you are free to enter but you can never leave. You are my guests, might if I pat you down?
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:37:52 PM EST
[#27]
Quoted:
Quoted:
That man would have gotten a hearty GTFO and get off my property. TSA is not a law inforcement branch, they are the rent a cops of airports.
This, until commercial airliners start landing in my yard they can get the fuck lost. With these dickheads in charge that might be sooner than you think. Got nothing better to do than hassle some bloggers, do something useful assclowns. How about running some background checks on the people at the local mosques in New York and New Jersey. Deport a few illegal ROPers and the country will be safer than this waste of time. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:39:22 PM EST
[#28]
The TSA does have special agents with 1811 status. If the investigators were from their "office of inspections", that is most likely their internal affairs, and they are conducting an investigation into what employee gave this information to the bloggers. The article states that the info that was given out wasn't classified, but you'd still want to identify what government employees are giving out security infomation to the public.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:39:52 PM EST
[#29]
Wow its a good thing TSA is so serious about fixing their problems...
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Posted: 12/30/2009 4:42:10 PM EST
[#30]
Quoted:
You find the warrant, I'll be calling my lawyer. End of conversation and cooperation. While I don't want to sound like an internet commando, the post above seems the most reasonable and prudent. Be polite but firm, no warrant, no search. In the mean time, contact counsel. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:06:41 PM EST
[#31]
This has become the SOP for the 0bama administration. Kill the Messenger, Kill the Messenger, Kill the Messenger. These assholes are so inept, clueless and stupid they couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:08:35 PM EST
[#32]
Quoted:
This has become the SOP for the 0bama administration. Kill the Messenger, Kill the Messenger, Kill the Messenger. These assholes are so inept, clueless and stupid they couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. Obama didn't start the TSA. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:13:00 PM EST
[#33]
Quoted:
Quoted:
This has become the SOP for the 0bama administration. Kill the Messenger, Kill the Messenger, Kill the Messenger. These assholes are so inept, clueless and stupid they couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. Obama didn't start the TSA. Just because he didn't "start" the TSA doesn't mean he didn't put an idiot in charge of it. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:13:40 PM EST
[#34]
Quoted:
Wait wait wait, the TSA isn't a law-enforcement organization. Unless that "Special Agent" had a warrant, he deserved an ass-whooping for trespassing and impersonating a law enforcement officer. No shit. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:15:06 PM EST
[#35]
When they pulled a subpoena from their briefcase and told him he was legally required to provide the information they requested, he said he needed to contact a lawyer. The agents said they’d sit outside his house until he gave them the information they wanted.
Should have told them to have a blast sitting out there while got his lawyer in the loop, and local media to boot, as long as counsel agreed. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:16:00 PM EST
[#36]
COAD
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:18:34 PM EST
[#37]
Quoted:
That man would have gotten a hearty GTFO and get off my property. TSA is not a law inforcement branch, they are the rent a cops of airports.
well....you are wrong. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:19:53 PM EST
[#38]
A lot of Tom Foolery around in this thread
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:30:50 PM EST
[#39]
How far are we going to let them go?
This is truly gestapo shit. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:32:18 PM EST
[#40]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Fuck you, get a warrant. I thought a supeona meant they had to appear in court, not let the TSA thugs search their house without a warrant... What am I missing here. Seems like the blogger should have slammed the door in their face and make them either force entry or get a warrant. Any evidence illegally obtained is inadmissable in court - just ask Bill Ayers. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:34:54 PM EST
[#41]
Quoted: Fuck you, get a warrant. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:51:45 PM EST
[#42]
That's great.
We're hassling travel bloggers but we won't hack/crack any of the hundreds of jihadi websites or remove their jack off videos from Youtube. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 8:56:28 PM EST
[#43]
Quoted:
The TSA does have special agents with 1811 status. If the investigators were from their "office of inspections", that is most likely their internal affairs, and they are conducting an investigation into what employee gave this information to the bloggers. The article states that the info that was given out wasn't classified, but you'd still want to identify what government employees are giving out security infomation to the public. The directive is SSI. The blogger and the leaker should of read the bottom of the directive. The leaker is in bigger trouble for passing on the document to someone that did not need to know. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=13149.blog&csp=34 However, the directive also includes this passage: "No other dissemination may be made without prior approval of the Assistant Secretary for the Transportation Security Administration. Unauthorized dissemination of this document or information contained herein is prohibited by 49 CFR Part 1520 (see 69 Fed. Reg. 28066 (May 18, 2004)." |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 9:00:07 PM EST
[#44]
Holy shit, that's my hometown. Freaky . . .
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Posted: 12/30/2009 9:04:09 PM EST
[#45]
Fuck them, last time i flew i had a torn rotator cuff and the screamed at me like a Marine Corp DI cause i was putting my belt on too slow for them, now the shoulder is fixed and i will never, ever fly again, let them show up on my property and i will show them what i learned in the Corps. Worthless fucktards
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Posted: 12/30/2009 9:13:58 PM EST
[#46]
With the way this is going, I'll just buy an ultralight the next time I need to fly somewhere.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 9:16:48 PM EST
[#47]
If only a fraction of this zeal were to be directed towards adding people to the no fly list...
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Posted: 12/30/2009 9:46:45 PM EST
[#48]
Just goes to show you what incompetent fucks are in charge of the show.
Lesson number one, dummbasses; never fuck with a reporter...especially in a such a heavy handed manner. |
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Posted: 12/30/2009 9:59:29 PM EST
[#49]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
This has become the SOP for the 0bama administration. Kill the Messenger, Kill the Messenger, Kill the Messenger. These assholes are so inept, clueless and stupid they couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. Obama didn't start the TSA. Just because he didn't "start" the TSA doesn't mean he didn't put an idiot in charge of it. Last real idiot in charge of it was Kip Hawley, who left when O took office, right now there is only an acting idiot in charge. but we gotta blame someone and blaming Barry O is better than he who must not be named.
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Posted: 12/30/2009 10:27:56 PM EST
[#50]
Well, this is reason #3,948,667,444,332,898,678,887,999 to never answer your fecking door.
Beyond that, they had a subpoena –– not a search warrant. He should have asked for a copy of the subpoena and told them he would likely be willing to cooperate to produce the exact item(s) listed in the document, but only after consulting with his attorney. In the meantime, come back with a warrant or have a nice fucking day! Fucking JBTs... |
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