Blogger Hounded By Airport Security

America’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has set its sights on a prominent travel industry blogger who leaked the agency’s new airport safety directives following the failed terror attempt aimed at blowing up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day. Christopher Elliott used his blog, Elliott.org, to upload the TSA’s formal directive in the midst of the airport chaos that the Nigerian would-be bomber caused, after he attempted to blow up a transatlantic flight scheduled to land in Detroit. But little did Elliott know that simply publishing a document that might quell the confusion among hundreds of thousands of stranded passengers would result in a surprise visit from federal authorities at his home.

The leaked document instructed security personnel at airports across the world serving flights to US destinations to conduct pat down searches of all passengers, to restrict carry-on baggage to purses, laptops and camera cases, each of which had to be physically searched, and to ban passengers from getting out of their seats one hour before a flight is scheduled to land. The document also confirmed that what initial reports claimed was a man trying to light fireworks on a flight had actually been an attempted terrorist attack.

But the blogger’s decision to leak this document has landed him in hot water. Just as Elliott had started bathing his children before putting them to bed, a special agent who introduced himself as Robert Flaherty knocked on his door and requested that the blogger indicate who leaked the TSA directive. The agent handed Elliott a subpoena, requiring the blogger to disclose all e-mails, letters and other communications concerning the leaked document. The blogger has yet to decide whether he will comply and has indicated that he would first consult his attorney. But failure to cooperate with a subpoena may land him in prison for up to a year.