Leavitt's letter explains that protected whistleblower disclosures are not "leaks" at all. He is concerned the investigation could be retaliatory and illegal. Citing a 2015 Supreme Court ruling, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) v. MacLean, Leavitt writes, "Seeking to punish a lawful whistleblower as an illegal leaker is classic retaliation and is itself illegal." The ruling held that "information TSA calls SSI is not specifically prohibited by law from being disclosed pursuant to the Whistleblower Protection Act."
Leavitt has long been involved in protecting whistleblowers from government retaliation. He helped author an amicus curiae brief with a bipartisan Congress, noting, "TSA has misused its SSI designation to withhold embarrassing information." Unchecked power in government leads to weaponization, which is now far too common. It is, therefore, critical to protect the brave whistleblowers who step forward with truthful information.
According to Leavitt's letter, the brief speaks to the "utility of whistleblowers sometimes using the media or others" to hold government officials' feet to the fire. An excerpt from the brief below explains just how critical it is to carve out exceptions for disclosure and protect whistleblowers:
In the case of Ms. Gabbard, FAMS felt something was out of place when they were assigned to "eight flights of Ms. Gabbard under the Quiet Skies program." On Sunday, UncoverDC reported an exclusive article revealing the almost unbelievable claim that Gabbard was being followed by a FAMS team that included "three Air Marshals, two Explosive Detection Canine Teams, one Transportation Security Specialist (explosives), and one plainclothes TSA Supervisor."
On Tuesday, UncoverDC reported on Empower Oversight's letter revealing allegations that neither the DHS nor the TSA had done anything to stop the abuse of the Quiet Skies program. Some passengers have been J6 defendants, including the infant son of a man who attended the Jan. 6 protests. The process flowchart below from the 2020 DHS OIG report for the Quiet Skies program shows the inner workings and agency handling of passengers identified as a threat to the homeland.
Leavitt's letter aptly reminds us that the Whistleblower Protection Act was enacted to provide robust protections for whistleblowers in such cases. Individuals who "reasonably believe" they have information that "constitutes a violation of any law, rule, or regulation; gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety regardless of whom they make their disclosure to" is protected. Leavitt states in no uncertain terms that DHS and TSA are dutybound to protect the whistleblowers and should actually "refocus agency leadership's attention on the abuses being reported rather than [investigating] the whistleblowers reporting them."
On Wednesday morning, UncoverDC confirmed Leavitt's allegations with Sonya LaBosco, Executive Director of the Air Marshal National Council (AMNC), an advocacy group for FAMS. LaBosco confirmed that this type of whistleblower activity is "considered administrative, not criminal, and is entirely protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act." LaBosco added:
"We've been handling these kinds of whistleblower claims for years. It is the reason the AMNC was started to begin with. The AMNC serves active air marshals and retired air marshals. We have members from all 20 field offices across the nation and in every major city. We have members at headquarters and in our Atlantic City Training Center. FAMS needed an advocacy group like ours to address all the wrongdoings in the agency. So many of our people have been so poorly treated."
LaBosco believes Quiet Skies is a "big domestic surveillance grab" that should be immediately shut down. She told UncoverDC that Quiet Skies has never caught a terrorist with the program. The 2020 DHS OIG report examined the program for four consecutive years and confirmed zero passengers as aviation threats. Only one passenger was denied travel but was not detained.
In addition, a 2018 Homeland Security OIG investigation of TSA's ground-based assignments for FAMS stated, "Despite dedicating approximately $272 million to ground-based activities, including VIPR operations, FAMS could not demonstrate how these activities contributed to TSA's mission. During our assessment of FAMS' contributions to TSA's layered approach to security, we determined that FAMS lacked performance measures for the 24 strategic initiatives and most ground-based activities outlined in its strategic plan. Additionally, FAMS' VIPR operations performance measures fail to determine the program's effectiveness."
The TSA is likely not particularly incentivized to release the Quiet Skies program, even though the administrative agency rakes in millions to run it. However, according to a brief Dec. 19, 2018, DHS OIG Highlights report, "FAMS contribution to international flight security is questionable." The short report stated the OIG "identified $394 million in funds that could be put to better use."
LaBosco believes Federal Air Marshals provide an important protective law enforcement function for the homeland. She and President David Londo have been working since 2021 to move them from the bloated, administrative TSA agency back to where it belongs in law enforcement to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) under DHS.
