A month ago it was reported that the Transportation Security Administration was trying to expunge a contractor’s congressional testimony from the public record and all web copies. The contractor, James McNeil of McNeil Technologies, testified about how his red-team of undercover testers were able to smuggle guns through airport security at the Rochester, NY airport by hiding them under bandages.
According to today’s Wall Street Journal, they’re at it again, now asking that McNeil’s comments that the TSA is screening for drugs and kiddie porn also be removed from testimony:
CENSORED: Transportation Security Administration asks a House panel to redact from a hearing record a contractor’s remarks that TSA has airport screeners also looking for drugs and child pornography. It “softens the focus on security,” testified CEO James McNeil of McNeil Technologies, of Springfield, Va. TSA says screeners simply are told to alert police to such items. McNeil says TSA hasn’t complained to him.
References
- Washington Wire [subscription only] (Jackie Calmes, Wall Street Journal, page A4, 12 March 2004)
- Guns slip past airport screeners (Steve Orr, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 6 February 2004)
- TSA Asks Media to Expunge Public Testimony on Airport Security Problems (Jeff Stein, Congressional Quarterly, 4 February 2004)