In my February column for Pajamas Media, I wrote about the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) extrajudicial investigation of Federal Air Marshal and whistleblower P. Jeffrey Black.

Now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants answers. At right is a photograph of P. Jeffrey Black and the Senator from Nevada meeting on Capitol Hill last month.

A recap from my earlier column:

In the fall of last year, a man in a dark suit walked into a UPS Store in Las Vegas, Nevada, flashed a badge, identified himself to the store manager as a Special Agent H. Charles Maurer of the Department of Homeland Security and demanded to see private files on an individual who keeps a postal box there. Familiar with state law, the store manager, M. E. Burks, told the man that he’d have to produce a subpoena first.

According to a federal grievance document viewed by this reporter, the federal agent told the store manager, “I don’t need a subpoena, I have this badge. Now, get me the files.” Burks refused to hand anything over and notified the customer in question instead. The customer, as it turned out, was a U.S. Federal Air Marshal named P. Jeffrey Black. Special Agent Maurer was his boss and was conducting an extrajudicial and unauthorized investigation on Black.

At issue for Senator Harry Reid is the fact that whistleblowers like Black — who is critical of Agency policies — have been severely disciplined for seemingly fabricated infractions while other tow-the-party-line Air Marshals have been given light punishments after being arrested on rather un-federal-agent-like criminal charges including drunken driving and reckless use of weapons.

From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

"I believe it is very important for the Transportation Security Administration to fully examine these allegations," the Nevada senator said. 

…Last month, Black, who is president of the Nevada chapter of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, met with Reid on Capitol Hill to discuss whistleblower protection legislation.

Meanwhile, Government oversight groups familiar with the story agree that the Federal Air Marshal Service, which is overseen by the TSA, leads government agencies in "bureaucratic incompetence." 

Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based government watchdog group, said no agency better illustrates the need for stronger whistleblower protections than the Federal Air Marshal Service.

He called the agency's management "a lowest common denominator in bureaucratic incompetence."

"Hopefully, the House and Senate will roll up their sleeves and iron out their differences to get a final bill," Devine said.

(photo: Las Vegas Review-Journal: Federal Air Marshal P. Jeffrey Black and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid discussed Whistleblower legislation last month on Capitol Hill)

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