Sidney Powell was indicted in the Georgia election case, alleging that she and the former President, along with other co-defendants, sought to overturn the state’s 2020 results.
She’s charged with conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, racketeering, trespass and invasion of privacy, as well as conspiracy to defraud the state. And she’s filed a motion to dismiss.
Here’s something that we learn from Powell’s motion to dismiss. These actions cost her access to TSA PreCheck and now she has to wait in longer screening lines at the airport. You don’t have to be convicted of anything. There is no judicial review. If you antagonize someone at the Department of Justice or Department of Homeland Security, they can punish you complete outside of the rule of law.
This footnote in Sidney Powell's latest court filing in the Georgia election case: "Ms. Powell’s longstanding trusted traveler status has been revoked by TSA for 'her criminal history' —in addition to other problems created by this wrongful indictment"
— Holly Bailey (@hollybdc) September 19, 2023
It is not clear whether she had Global Entry, PreCheck or was a part of a different trusted travel program, but her suggestion of the status being revoked by TSA suggests PreCheck. In a footnote the brief says
Ms. Powell’s longstanding trusted traveler status has been revoked by TSA for “her criminal history”—in addition to other problems created by this wrongful indictment.
Now, my personal sense is that Sidney Powell is the sort of very stable genius that probably should receive extra scrutiny before being allowed on an airplane, on a public bus, or near a school. Tucker Carlson calls her a liar. Former President Trump called her crazy. The idea that Dominion Voting Systems rigged election machines to benefit President Biden cost Fox News a $787.5 million settlement. Powell says their machines were part of a conspiracy including thousands of Americans.
If the government is going to take a risk-based approach to airport screening then throwing Miss Powell into the standard screening pool isn’t unreasonable? And yet the arbitrary nature of it is still concerning. Though a simple workaround would be to sign up for CLEAR and skip to the front of the regular security line as long as she’s not flying out of a terminal controlled by American Airlines (which doesn’t permit CLEAR).
(HT: Mike W.)
@Max
I don’t agree with this approach, but since there is no substantial Constitutional right to have access to TSA-Pre, the government would merely need to show that it has some “rational basis” – regardless of whether the rational basis makes sense or is correct – to meet a governmental purpose. This allows government to operate with impunity in most areas of the law, without any scrutiny from the Judiciary . . . a huge weakness in the US system of government in my opinion.
“If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”
“If you antagonize someone at the Department of Justice or Department of Homeland Security, they can punish you completely outside of the rule of law.” True and also as any other dictatorship behaves.
So, punished without being yet proven guilty. Yeah, that sounds like the US Justice system!
@ R Morris @Max both must by maga turds. Any infraction or suspected infraction and HS will revoke your trusted traveler status. Powel should have thought about this prior to her shenanigans
Max’s reply was very good.
IMHO Sidney Powell is guilty of trying to overturn the 2020 election, and she’s demonstrably either stupid or crazy based on her MANY public statements and actions, but I don’t think she’s a threat to aircraft safety. Probably lots of other people lost TSA pre-Check with criminal charges or convictions that also did not make them a flight safety risk. The lack of transparency for affected people by TSA decisions has been a problem for a long time. But as Max said, they can still fly via standard security.
Re: Trump and pre-Check – he’s likely to be convicted of at least the classified documents case. So he would lose pre-Check and/or global entry, if he has them? He would not be flying commercial anyway – conviction or not – and he’s always accompanied by Secret Service now, so moot point. But they should take his passport away permanently if convicted. He’s a major national security risk due to his exposure to classified info while President.
Coup? armed with what, flags? Can you please share one coup in history where the perpetrators were unarmed? Stop this nonsense propaganda. It was a protest.
1) There was plenty of crimes where merely being indicted removes you from being a trusted traveler. An indictment isn’t trivial and it isn’t simply the government deciding to remove you from a list. It involves collecting, organizing, and presenting evidence to a grand jury.
2) It’s frightening for democracy that people are citing this routine procedure as evidence of some sort of political motivated bias. Then using it as a rational for ACTUALLY using the government for political revenge. You’re imagining getting bullied and then using it as rational for ACTUALLY bullying someone.
Another Trumpian lie. They were armed with knives, baseball bats, rebar, bear spray, pepper spray, etc.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/28/politics/armed-insurrection-january-6-guns-fact-check/index.html
Get real, liar.
so many sheep on this board. A coup? Gary you are an idiot. The results have been questioned in every presidential election since 2000. All the sheep Bah!
There is a concerning amount of vitriol here. Cries of “sheep,” “Stalinism,” “witch hunts” exemplify an agitated and disproportionate response.
The issue is a third party tweet about one woman’s use of the PreCheck line at the airport. We have no data. Passengers are granted PreCheck access through a variety of mechanisms. Passengers also sometimes use “standard screening” for many reasons that have no political basis.
Although I have many frustrations with the Transportation Security Administration, they are an unarmed agency without powers of detention or arrest. If Ms Powell’s political foes were to use federal agencies to dismantle her life, the TSA would not be my a great choice.
If you are staying awake at night wondering if Ms Powell will have to take off her shoes or set her bag of liquids in a separate bin, it is perhaps time for some self reflection. Maybe downloading a meditation app, having a chat with a therapist, or exploring medication for depression and anxiety would not be such a bad idea.
“Do you know what caused your stroke?”
“Yes, a tweet about how a particular attorney might have to use the standard screening line at the airport.”
Breathe, go for a walk, pet your dog, switch off your television and screens.
@Fred And people died.
Harmless right?
That dumbo should have been screened at the entrance to the airport and refused entry. Her ankle electronic tags must have been tampered with by the Pillow guy, at 911lliani’s instructions. Maybe I am overeffusive in talking up the intelligence of the tRUMP and his bandits.
@Peter: The only person who died as a direct result of the insurrection was an insurrectionist.
Some people died near or after the attack, of either natural causes, drug overdose, or suicide.