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CBS News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
When a U.S. senator's husband landed on a travel watchlist, a phone call had him removed
A U.S. senator's spouse was placed on a government watchlist in 2023 after a surveillance program flagged his travel profile, but he was removed after the senator back-channeled with administration officials, sources familiar with the situation told CBS News. Shortly after New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen met with the Transportation Security Administration about her husband, William Shaheen, TSA officials removed him from a list of people subjected to additional scrutiny under TSA's "Quiet Skies" domestic surveillance program. William Shaheen, an Lebanese-American attorney active in the Arab-American community, was then placed on a different list, which excluded him from any future advanced screening, including random checks at airport TSA checkpoints, two of the sources said. File: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) (R) and William Shaheen arrive for a State Dinner in honor of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mrs. Sophie Trudeau at the White House on March 10, 2016, in Washington, DC. Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images The episode took place in a heightened security environment in October 2023, days after Hamas attacked Israel and killed more than 1,200 people. TSA's surveillance efforts have long attracted criticism for tracking U.S. citizens not suspected of any crimes. The circumstances that land an individual on a list — or what gets them removed — have been mostly concealed from the public. Quiet Skies, which began in 2010, employs analysts and undercover air marshals to monitor people in airports and during flights, using outstanding warrants, facial recognition software, identification of suspicious travel patterns and behaviors and other data to try to prevent terrorist attacks. Some Americans undertake exhaustive efforts to get themselves removed from the Quiet Skies enhanced screening list — with some even engaging in protracted legal fights. Republican Tulsi Gabbard spoke out in 2024 after she was placed on the Quiet Skies list and subjected to searches and monitoring by federal air marshals. Gabbard, a former presidential candidate and Democratic member of Congress, has since been confirmed as the director of national intelligence. Shaheen's husband, according to sources, was removed from Quiet Skies two days after she contacted David Pekoske, then the TSA administrator. Pekoske served in the post under both Presidents Trump and Biden. The decision to then shield the senator's husband by putting him on what TSA calls the "secure flight exclusion list" marked an unusual step in a system meant to operate outside of political interference. A spokesperson for Sen. Shaheen told CBS News on Tuesday that she contacted TSA after her husband was subjected to several extensive, invasive and degrading searches at airport checkpoints – and was seeking to understand the nature and cause. Sources told CBS that in July 2023 William Shaheen was pulled aside for extra screening at the Boston airport ahead of two flights. Officials said at the time that the security agency randomly selected travelers for additional screening, and William Shaheen had been randomly chosen. Three months later, William Shaheen was flagged by the transportation security agency because his travel companion on two flight reservations was a person listed by the FBI as a "known or suspected terrorist," or KST, a broad designation that covers a wide-ranging risk profile. A federal air marshal was sent to covertly travel near them on a flight on Oct. 18, 2023, one source said. Sen. Shaheen spoke with Pekoske to ask about the situation regarding her husband. On Oct. 20, 2023, her husband was added to the "secure flight exclusion list," a VIP list that exempts a traveler from the security agency's vetting and surveillance programs, including random screenings. An order from TSA headquarters was sent to make sure the safeguarded status for William Shaheen was signaled when his future boarding passes were presented at airports. The spokesperson for Sen. Shaheen said she wasn't aware that her husband had been monitored under the Quiet Skies program, or that he had later been given preferential treatment by being specifically excluded from enhanced screening, The person William Shaheen traveled with, whose identity could not be confirmed by CBS News, was removed from the FBI terrorism watchlist later in 2023, sources familiar with the matter said. It was not clear why the person was placed on the list, though a host of factors including visits to hostile countries, certain suspicious travel patterns, or contacts with designated terror suspects can all contribute to the listing. The spokesperson for Sen. Shaheen declined to identify her husband's travel companion other than to say the person was an Arab-American attorney. The senator was not given any indication the person was designated as a known or suspected terrorist, the spokesperson said. William Shaheen was recently removed from the list of people excluded from any enhanced surveillance, a Department of Homeland Security official told CBS on Tuesday. Mr. Trump has criticized what he refers to as the weaponization of state power and the use of government levers to go after political opponents, but since his reelection, has sought to settle scores with those he perceives to have wronged him. Sen. Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and a frequent critic of Mr. Trump and his policies, has announced she will not seek reelection in 2026. Her eldest daughter, Democrat Stefany Shaheen, is running for a seat in the U.S. House.
Ammon
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Ammon
An Arab American assessment of Biden's failures
As Joseph Biden's presidency comes to an end, his National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, and now Biden himself have been making an effort to put a pretty face on their disastrous performance in the Middle East. While his aides have taken to blaming others for failures in a vain effort to absolve themselves, the President, true to form, attempted to paint a portrait of successes. It was, in a word, exaggerated. Some might even say, delusional. My focus here will be narrower. I will assess the Biden administration's performance through the lens of commitments they made to Arab Americans in 2020. In the lead-up to the November 2020 election, the Biden campaign issued a document 'Joe Biden and the Arab American Community: A Plan for Partnership.' It demonstrated important outreach to an often-overlooked constituency. There were many promises made in its three pages, only a smattering of which were implemented. For example, the Biden administration signed the 'Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act' which improves hate crime reporting. They improved race and ethnicity data collection, including a new category that will enable a more accurate count of persons of Arab descent. And they ended the 'Muslim ban' and extended Temporary Protected Status to various countries in the Arab world, allowing people to remain in the US during the conflicts raging in their home countries. But aside from these few accomplishments, the story to be told is what the Biden administration did not do. What follows are a list of their failures: • They promised a 'partnership' with Arab Americans, but nothing of the sort occurred. During the entire four years of his term in office, neither the President nor his Vice President (or National Security Advisor) met with Arab American community leaders. There were meetings which we fought for and won with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, but none with the senior leadership in the White House. This was primarily because for the first three years, the White House subsumed Arab Americans under the Muslim rubric, literally erasing Arab Americans as an ethnic community. When the White House first announced their 'Strategy to Combat Islamophobia,' they spoke of concern with bigotry, discrimination, and hate crimes that negatively impacted 'Muslims, and those perceived to be Muslim,' citing Arabs and Sikhs as examples. This exclusion had an impact across the government. Arab Americans, who for forty years had to fight for recognition and inclusion, were forced to begin the fight anew just be included in meetings and have their concerns heard. So while the Biden campaign document opened saying, 'Anti-Arab bigotry has been used in attempts to exclude, silence, and marginalise an entire community… Biden embraces the partnership of Arab Americans…', in reality, the White House found a new way to exclude, silence, and marginalize us. • The administration rushed through Israel's admission into the US Visa Waiver Program, despite documented evidence that Israel had not fulfilled a basic requirement of the program—that is, to guarantee reciprocity to Arab Americans seeking entry to and exit from Israel. Past administrations, Republicans and Democrats had rejected Israel's entry into the VWP given well-documented evidence of harassment, discrimination, and denial of entry to US citizens of Arab descent. The Biden administration knew these practices continued and yet they trampled on the rights of their own citizens and the statutory requirements of their own laws to grant Israel this undeserved privilege. In addition, during this administration's tenure, Arab Americans have been murdered by the IDF and had their properties stolen and vandalized. The best the US has done, in response, has been to express concern. • The Biden campaign also promised to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem, and the Palestinian office in Washington. These they haven't done. • Maybe the most galling failures of this administration are in its handling of the war on Gaza. Granted that this tragedy had not erupted in all its fury when the Biden campaign pledges were made, but there were promises made in the 2020 campaign document which provide a yardstick by which to measure their performance. For example: 'Joe Biden believes in the worth and value of every Palestinian and every Israeli. He will work to ensure that Palestinians and Israelis enjoy equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity, and democracy.' 'Biden opposes annexation and settlement…and will work to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza…' Throughout the entire war on Gaza, other than expressing hollow concern for Palestinian casualties and humanitarian needs, the administration has given Israel blank-check support as it has pursued its genocidal aims. Lamely claiming that they had limited ability to influence Israel's behavior, the US sent tens of billions of dollars in new arms shipments, deployed US forces to support Israel, repeatedly vetoed UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire, and condemned the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice efforts to rein in Israel's crimes. Even now, as Israel is making it clear that it is establishing a permanent presence in Gaza (and Lebanon and Syria), and Palestinians are being denied food, medicine, and shelter in Gaza, and dying from hypothermia and malnutrition, the administration is rushing another eight billion dollars in arm shipments to Israel. So much for their belief in the equal worth and value of Palestinian and Israeli lives. While so much more could be said, the bottom line is that for Arab Americans, the Biden administration will be remembered for: its refusal to honor commitments they made; their efforts to erase us and deny us our rights; and their willful enabling of genocide in Gaza. This betrayal cannot be forgotten or forgiven.
Jordan Times
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Jordan Times
An Arab American assessment of Biden's failures
As Joseph Biden's presidency comes to an end, his National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, and now Biden himself have been making an effort to put a pretty face on their disastrous performance in the Middle East. While his aides have taken to blaming others for failures in a vain effort to absolve themselves, the President, true to form, attempted to paint a portrait of successes. It was, in a word, exaggerated. Some might even say, delusional. My focus here will be narrower. I will assess the Biden administration's performance through the lens of commitments they made to Arab Americans in 2020. In the lead-up to the November 2020 election, the Biden campaign issued a document 'Joe Biden and the Arab American Community: A Plan for Partnership.' It demonstrated important outreach to an often-overlooked constituency. There were many promises made in its three pages, only a smattering of which were implemented. For example, the Biden administration signed the 'Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act' which improves hate crime reporting. They improved race and ethnicity data collection, including a new category that will enable a more accurate count of persons of Arab descent. And they ended the 'Muslim ban' and extended Temporary Protected Status to various countries in the Arab world, allowing people to remain in the US during the conflicts raging in their home countries. But aside from these few accomplishments, the story to be told is what the Biden administration did not do. What follows are a list of their failures: • They promised a 'partnership' with Arab Americans, but nothing of the sort occurred. During the entire four years of his term in office, neither the President nor his Vice President (or National Security Advisor) met with Arab American community leaders. There were meetings which we fought for and won with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, but none with the senior leadership in the White House. This was primarily because for the first three years, the White House subsumed Arab Americans under the Muslim rubric, literally erasing Arab Americans as an ethnic community. When the White House first announced their 'Strategy to Combat Islamophobia,' they spoke of concern with bigotry, discrimination, and hate crimes that negatively impacted 'Muslims, and those perceived to be Muslim,' citing Arabs and Sikhs as examples. This exclusion had an impact across the government. Arab Americans, who for forty years had to fight for recognition and inclusion, were forced to begin the fight anew just be included in meetings and have their concerns heard. So while the Biden campaign document opened saying, 'Anti-Arab bigotry has been used in attempts to exclude, silence, and marginalise an entire community… Biden embraces the partnership of Arab Americans…', in reality, the White House found a new way to exclude, silence, and marginalize us. • The administration rushed through Israel's admission into the US Visa Waiver Program, despite documented evidence that Israel had not fulfilled a basic requirement of the program—that is, to guarantee reciprocity to Arab Americans seeking entry to and exit from Israel. Past administrations, Republicans and Democrats had rejected Israel's entry into the VWP given well-documented evidence of harassment, discrimination, and denial of entry to US citizens of Arab descent. The Biden administration knew these practices continued and yet they trampled on the rights of their own citizens and the statutory requirements of their own laws to grant Israel this undeserved privilege. In addition, during this administration's tenure, Arab Americans have been murdered by the IDF and had their properties stolen and vandalized. The best the US has done, in response, has been to express concern. • The Biden campaign also promised to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem, and the Palestinian office in Washington. These they haven't done. • Maybe the most galling failures of this administration are in its handling of the war on Gaza. Granted that this tragedy had not erupted in all its fury when the Biden campaign pledges were made, but there were promises made in the 2020 campaign document which provide a yardstick by which to measure their performance. For example: 'Joe Biden believes in the worth and value of every Palestinian and every Israeli. He will work to ensure that Palestinians and Israelis enjoy equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity, and democracy.' 'Biden opposes annexation and settlement…and will work to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza…' Throughout the entire war on Gaza, other than expressing hollow concern for Palestinian casualties and humanitarian needs, the administration has given Israel blank-check support as it has pursued its genocidal aims. Lamely claiming that they had limited ability to influence Israel's behavior, the US sent tens of billions of dollars in new arms shipments, deployed US forces to support Israel, repeatedly vetoed UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire, and condemned the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice efforts to rein in Israel's crimes. Even now, as Israel is making it clear that it is establishing a permanent presence in Gaza (and Lebanon and Syria), and Palestinians are being denied food, medicine, and shelter in Gaza, and dying from hypothermia and malnutrition, the administration is rushing another eight billion dollars in arm shipments to Israel. So much for their belief in the equal worth and value of Palestinian and Israeli lives. While so much more could be said, the bottom line is that for Arab Americans, the Biden administration will be remembered for: its refusal to honor commitments they made; their efforts to erase us and deny us our rights; and their willful enabling of genocide in Gaza. This betrayal cannot be forgotten or forgiven. The writer is president of the Washington-based Arab American Institute
