Though the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) quickly devised more strenuous airport security procedures after the failed terrorist attack on Flight 253, the memo outlining its changes was leaked to two travel bloggers who published it — prompting the agency to take "disgraceful" action. Soon after Steven Frischling and Chris Elliott published the memo on their respective websites, BoardingArea.com and Elliott.com, TSA officials went to the bloggers' houses on December 29, issued them subpoenas, and attempted to confiscate their computers to track the leak back to its source (Frischling handed over his harddrive; Elliott refused). Late last week, however, the TSA withdrew both subpoenas, saying that legal action was "no longer necessary." Did the TSA simply overreact? (Watch an interview with blogger Steve Frischling)
The TSA's actions are a 'disgrace': Bullying bloggers with threats of imprisonment for informing the public about something we "should have been told [about] immediately" is "asinine and offensive," says Henry Blodget at The Business Insider. Before the TSA engaged in this "bizarre behavior," its claims that it had no clear forewarning of the attack seemed credible. Now, however, it seems that "the cause of this near-tragedy" was more likely "incompetence."
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