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U.S. to fired air marshal: You should have known better, kid
November 19th, 2009, 6:00 am · 29 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
(Vote: Should Robert MacLean get his job back?)
The inciting incident came during a bitter tussle between federal air marshals and management - when the government required air marshals to have buzz cuts and wear business suits and hustle past lines at airport security checkpoints. (This essentially screamed to would-be terrorists: AIR MARSHAL! AIM HERE! many air marshals felt.)
It was in the thick of such management-employee conflict that OC air marshal Robert MacLean appeared on NBC news in 2005, in his role as vice president of the air marshals’ professional organization (it’s not a union). That appearance, the agency soon concluded, required prior approval. It launched an investigation. And in the course of that investigation, it asked MacLean if he was a source for an NBC story a few years back, about how air marshals’ overnight missions were to be cancelled to save money on hotel bills (even in the midst of an unprecedented suicide hijacking alert).
It’s, er, a crime to lie to federal investigators.
MacLean was axed from his cop-in-the-sky job and has been fighting to get it back ever since. This big-picture context is part of the closing arguments that have been filed by the federal government (government-closing-arguments) and MacLean (maclean-closing-arguments), nicely summarizing each side’s stance. The judge is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks.
The government’s last word: MacLean’s 14 years of solid service as a Border Patrol agent and air marshal didn’t matter in the end. MacLean knew, or should have known, that information he disclosed to the media in 2003 was sensitive security information, and MacLean’s protestation that he did not know “is not believable,” the Homeland Security Administration says.
MacLean’s last word: It was a good-faith mistake. He has a history of respect throughout his law enforcement career for confidential treatment of information that could undercut government security. But the message that arrived on his non-secure cell phone - not his secure PDA; was not labeled “SSI” at the top and bottom, as sensitive security information must be; and was not sent on a secure, password-protected, encoded transmission, as sensitive security information must be. It just showed up on his Nokia cellphone, the same type of phone that most of America was using in 2003.
“Based on his training and practice among FAMs, appellant testified that his personal view of the difference between SSI and unrestricted information centered on disclosure of particular information. He thought SSI would be a date and particular flight number or seating assignment. He viewed temporary cancellation of an entire program differently,” MacLean’s closing arguments say.
“In his disclosure to MSNBC Washington DC Bureau Chief Correspondent, Brock Meeks, the appellant testified that he tried to operate within those boundaries. He did not share the text message or read from it. He protested cancellation of all RON (remain over night) coverage two days after a terrorist suicide hijacking alert from the Saudi Arabia government (Exhibit 21), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (Exhibits 16 & 17), the State Department (Exhibit 17), and the Department of Homeland Security (Exhibit 18 at Page 3), and just after he and his entire FAMS Las Vegas Field Office were mandated to attend unprecedented supervisory person-to-person emergency threat briefings inside a secure area inside the FAMS Las Vegas Field Office’s Operations Branch concerning these alerts. (Exhibit 37)
“The July 26, 2003 DHS suicide hijacking warning titled, “Potential AI-Qaeda Hijacking Plot in the U.S. and Abroad” detailed a very specific plan. “Attack venues may include the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, or the East coast of the United States due to the relatively high concentration of government, military, and economic targets. ” “Al-Qaeda is looking for new ways to circumvent enhancements in aviation security screening and tightening immigration requirements,” in which “five-man teams”. . .”would attempt to seize control of a commercial aircraft either shortly after take off or shortly before landing at a chosen airport. This type of operation would preclude the need for flight-trained hijackers[]” (emphasis added) for suicide missions. “The hijackers may attempt to use common items carried by travelers, such as cameras, modified as weapons.” (Exhibit 18 at Page 3)
There was a huge outcry; the plan was scrapped; and missions went on as per usual. But MacLean was fired, and denied whistleblower status.
Even if the judge rules against MacLean - and he seemed pretty sympathetic at the Nov. 5 hearing - the truly final arbiters of whether MacLean is hero or villain, of whether he endangered the flying public or helped protect it, are no longer Bush appointees. They are, instead, newly-installed, and more whistleblower-friendly, Obama appointees.
We’ll let you know as soon as there’s a decision.
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Link to poll does not work.
Not only should Maclean get his job back, but they need to bounce out the megalomaniac retired Secret Service Agents that are collecting a Secret Service retirement AND a $159,000 a year TSA salary. Why should ANY manager collect 6 figures when we make no arrests, nor do we do ANY ground surveillance and/or intelligence.
We just sit close to the cockpit, try to stay awake in the most boring job on the planet, collect $90,000 a year, and hope we don’t get ambushed.
Congressman John Duncan (GOP) is not being fooled:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9aOYkkvJ4g
Fly safe everyone…I know we don’t.
Anonymouse LA Air Marshal …… Isn’t…….. FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE…….
nothing is anonymous on the internet. remember that :). sometimes doing nothing is actually doing a lot. the mere existence of the air marshall program helps subside paranoid air travelers fears. it also creates a level of intimidation for the amateur terrorist. secrecy hides the programs shortfalls. while i think this was a great short term solution immediately after 9/11. The agency should now be professionalized, evaluated and criticized by the law enforcement community at at least a semipublic level, public at least within law enforcement circles. while apathy, egos, megalomaniacs, incompentence, and outright fraud are a part of almost every government agency, steps can be taken to minimize it. giving the agency a meaningful role, and providing its agents broader assignments, rotating their assignments/roles from only sitting on airplane might be helpful. and while your job may feel meaningless and useless if not outright dangerous due to management ignorance or mindless poorly thought out rules and procedures, you are very much appreciated by the flying public, and that sense of security, real or not, is very important.
83% for MacLean. TSA better thank their lucky stars they didn’t have to go before a jury of citizens who have to fly.
Thank you officer MacLean for standing up to the “(T)housands (S)tanding (A)round blowing our tax dollars.
We party like rock-stars on your dime too:
http://bit.ly/4u0cyI
Revealing that there will be no air marshall’s on over night missions would seem to be pretty sensitive info, considering terrorists would want to jump on it. However, sending this info over an unsecure line is stupid on the part of the govt. Both parties are at fault here but the air marshall should have known better and was just jumping on a chance to get some credit for revealing the info. I guess he did.
In all fairness, he tried every normal channel first. He did not go directly to the media. I lay the blame 100% on his management.
Judges in Federal court are federal employees.
Power settles everything, my friend.
Don’t expect a victory.
I heard that Pinkerton’s in hiring. Send in your resume today. With your experience it might go to the top of the pile.
Pinkerton is a joke. They do a lot of government contracts, but essentially they are keeping crooks off the street for 8 hours of their lives. The 8 hours they are on “duty” they are stealing. Why would anyone send a resume to Pinkerton? That’s a joke.
I agree with the firing of this guy. He chose to make public information that would reasonably be considered of value to the enemies of the United States. His naive notion that he could save the world by making money as a whistle blower and hide behind that shield was pretty good indicator of this guys integrity.
Whistle blower MacLean got his just deserts.
Gee, you’d think that the fact that the Govt scrapped the cutback in people protecting people that fly on commercial airliners right after he disclosed the truth about what was going on was a service to this country and what he said was nothing new about Air Marshals. You could spot them a mile away and on a plane if you have your eyes open you know who is and is not an air marshal. Management is to blame and the program was run by bureaucrats who were clueless in how to run the program effectively. Sure hope he wins his case over the lame excuse that the Govt used to fire him.
This guy should get his job back.
But what would be even better is for him to align himself with wealthy investors and start a private Airline Security agency that hires itself to Airlines to serve as undercover security detail. Much like the undercover security at retail stores. Have them licensed to carry a firearm and specially trained in close hand to hand combat.
We all know the government will not do the best at protecting us. Let the private sector, that is interested in making money, provide the best level of security that money can buy.
We used to have private sector security at the airports — the best money could buy, or at least the best the for-profit airlines were willing to pay for. They’re the ones who let the 9/11 hijackers on the planes, remember?
I guess everything is always run optimally as long as there’s a profit motive, but optimal to whom? That’s the question.
Why don’t you invest in this guy, and run the risk that he will undermine your operation by opening his mouth when he shouldn’t? As long as he thinks he’s doing what’s right, that’s all that matters.
Private Sector “Security” is non-existent. Even TSA is a bunch of “Thousands Standing Around”, and are essentially a whole lot of gang bangers that never happened to get caught. Now they are hanging around the airport. Private security is just a bunch of knuckleheads no matter what the security company says, signs or claims. They are all just crooks.
The FBI, State Department, and Homeland Security gave him and his officers emergency briefings, TSA’s plan was against the law, TSA blew their budget and could not afford to lodge air marshalls in hotels after long-haul flights, and then the TSA tries to hide its budget short-fall from congress. Hmmm…the dress and haircut policies were rescinded, and air marshalls no longer parade in front of the general public when boarding or bypassing checkpoints.
Click on my name to view a Washington Times article about the TSA finally (after 8 years) fixing its problems due to Maclean’s actions.
Ridiculous polices were revised and no planes were hijacked.
“KILL THE MESSENGER!!!”
“We used to have private sector security at the airports — the best money could buy…..”
you’re not serious, are you, man??
did you see what they had working the magnatometers at the airports for $8.50/hr?
so now we have $60k boot sniffers with the right to a defined gobblement pension and full benefits replacing them and that’s an improvement???
Put me in charge and give me a budget that allow $20/hr - medical and a 401-k with a 2% match and I could make your airports airtight.
Yes, I’m serious. Security from TSA is a joke, and making it private is the only thing worse than what there is now.
This is what I think.
I think he’ll lose Does he have a decent case. Yep. But not good enough to win. He left an opening.
This will be a shot over the bow to all other fed employees. Snitch off your gobblement overseers and watch what happens.
But I’ve been wrong before. Not too often but it happens. The judge might surprise the heck out of me.
Mclean will probably lose because ONE bureaucratic administrative judge needs to protect the bureaucracy that employs him. These ADMINISTRATIVE judges are AT-WILL employees that will be out in the street if they rule in favor of those who expose old-man bureaucracies.
If he had a jury of his peers, this case would have been over with years ago.
Reading the pleadings, I noticed that the TSA NEVER even attempted to defend its series of inane actions in July ‘03 — their only defense is the title of this article “he should have know better.”
It should read, “He should have know better to dare expose the TSA’s true colors and its TRILLION dollar kingdom.”
Is it any surprise that 80s-era Secret Service agents were mandating marshals to wear suites & ties? They probably still think PAN AM and TWA is still in business.
my 2¢
John,
Since I agree with you completely, let’s make it 4 cents.
From a pilots view?
This is nuts.
First the Feds fought to keep pilots defenseless (no guns).
Then you had to pay for your own training.
Then you had to use vacation days to get trained.
Then you had to wait in line to get training because they only did it in one city.
Then congress had to force the FAA to use the program (armed pilots).
Then the FAA said no unlocked guns in the cockpit, unless they were under attack from the cabin. [Quick! Unlock the safe!!]
Jeez!!!
Now I read that Air Marshals were buzz cut and in suits. What could look more cop or military than that?
The should wear Maxwell Smart masks too.
And some folks want bureaucrats to run your health care too? Stop the planet, I want off.
Very true. Anytime govt bureaucracy gets involved, somebody gets hurt.
to view a partial list of crimes committed by FBI agents over 1500 pages long see
http://www.forums.signonsandiego.com/showthread.php?t=59139
to view a partial list of FBI agents arrested for pedophilia see
http://www.dallasnews.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3574
If had so much experience, he should have recognized that this was sensitive information.
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
He just wanted to get his superiors in trouble for sending the info on an unsecured channel, and protest losing his perquisite of overnight hoteling.
Any professional would have checked with his superiors before going public with it.
By going public with this info, he put all of us in danger.
I had a chance to research this case. When the info came in, he contacted his supervisor who blew him off. He went up the food chain and they blew him off. He even contacted the Inspector General’s office. He was told there was nothing they could do. The information was “classified” two years after the fact. Turns out several other agents also disclosed this type of “classified” information. The other agents were given time off or a letter of counseling. Only this guy, “the sacrificial lamb” was terminated. In the interest of fairness, if the others received time off, then apply equal justice.
Those so called ’superiors’ put the public in danger and he protected the public. Never mind, your idea is better ‘ignorance is bliss.’ Good luck honorable Robert MacLean. Run for office.
Maybe the people who sent SSI information unlabeled over unsecure channels should be blamed for their mistake instead.
Robert Maclean does not deserve his job back, give it up Robert your getting just what you deserve. I’m sure your mom told you one day that big mouth of yours would get you in trouble!!! Just remember Robert: WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. Try looking in the want adds…