Congressman demands TSA administrator’s immediate resignation

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The Daily Caller:

 

Georgia Republican Rep. Paul Broun, M.D. demanded the resignation of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John Pistole Wednesday for “flagrant violations of [Americans'] civil rights occurring at airports nationwide.”

Broun’s demand comes in the wake of news that TSA has allowed airports, specifically Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport, to hire screeners without full background checks.

 

“It is clear that the TSA has become nothing more than a bloated, broken bureaucracy which uses its extensive power to violate traveling American’ civil liberties while doing little to ensure their safety,” Broun wrote in his letter.

 

According to Broun, Pistole must resign immediately.

 

“Americans can no longer tolerate the flagrant violations of their civil rights which are occurring at airports nationwide in the name of ‘security,’” Broun said. “More importantly, the corruption and continued lack of security among TSA’s own personnel puts our country at extreme risk of another terrorist attack. The time has come for serious action to be taken. As such, I request your immediate resignation from the position of TSA Administrator. The safety of our country’s travelers requires drastic change, and the time for that change is now.”

 

Broun’s office added that the demand comes following numerous attempts to incite administrative and personnel changes at TSA.

 

Broun told Politico in late April that he also believes Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano needs to go as well. Broun has prior called for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation over Operation Fast and Furious.

 

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John S. Pistole was confirmed as the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) fifth Administrator in July 2010. As TSA Administrator, he oversees management of a 60,000-strong workforce, the security operations of more than 450 federalized airports throughout the U.S., the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), and the security for highways, railroads, ports, mass transit systems and pipelines.

 

Under his leadership, TSA will continue to grow as a risk-based, intelligence-driven counterterrorism agency dedicated to protecting our transportation systems.

Pistole came to TSA as a 26-year veteran of the FBI with extensive national security and counterterrorism experience. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, he was put in charge of the FBI’s greatly expanded counterterrorism program, eventually becoming the FBI’s Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence. In 2004, Pistole was named Deputy Director for the FBI.

 

Pistole has led or been involved in several high profile investigations, including the attempted car bombing in Times Square on May 1, 2010; the December 25, 2009, attempted attack on Northwest Flight 253; the plot against New York City subways in 2009; the 2006 UK liquid explosives plot; and the May 2003 suicide bombings of three housing compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in which 35 people died, including nine Americans.

 

Pistole began his career as a Special Agent with the FBI in 1983, serving in the Minneapolis and New York divisions before his promotion to Supervisor in the Organized Crime Section at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1999, as Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Boston, he helped lead investigation and recovery efforts for the Egypt Air Flight 990 crash off the coast of Rhode Island.