Federal air marshals surveilled Trump Cabinet member Gabbard in 2024, Rand Paul says

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Federal air marshals surveilled Tulsi Gabbard last year, Rand Paul says

Sen. Rand Paul said he has received records confirming federal air marshals surveilled Trump Cabinet member Tulsi Gabbard in 2024. (Credit: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he received records confirming that federal air marshals surveilled now-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard during domestic flights last year, "reporting back information related to her appearance and even how many electronics she was observed using." 

The Republican from Kentucky made the revelation Tuesday on Capitol Hill as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Krisi Noem was testifying about her department’s budget request for fiscal year 2026. 

"I commend you and the Trump administration for ending all government-sponsored censorship using DHS personnel. Just last night, I received the first set of records from the department regarding Tulsi Gabbard’s placement on the TSA Quiet Skies watch list," Paul said. 

"These documents confirm our suspicions. Federal air marshals surveilled the now-director of national intelligence during domestic flights in 2024, reporting back information related to her appearance and even how many electronics she was observed using. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case," he added. 

GABBARD: ‘EVERYTHING CHANGED’ SINCE BEING PUT ON WATCH LIST 

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard attends a House Intelligence Committee hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 26. (Reuters/Leah Millis)

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) watchlist allows federal air marshals to follow U.S. citizens and collect information on their behavior in an effort to stop threats from potential terrorists.

"As I was traveling, I ended up in 30 to 45 minutes of going through screening every time I would go to the airport to fly," Gabbard previously told Fox’s "One Nation." "I noticed air marshals, I noticed K-9 teams. There were things that I saw and noticed that were highly unusual.  

"But the deepest pain and harm and stress that’s been caused by this is that, forever going forward, I will always be looking over my shoulder, wondering if and how my government is surveilling me," she said. 

The TSA is part of the DHS. Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

GABBARD CALLS REPORTED SPOT ON WATCH LIST AN ‘ULTIMATE SENSE OF BETRAYAL’ 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a nomination hearing with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Capitol Hill on April 3. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Paul also asked Noem on Tuesday if she has ever "uncovered any internal communications or activities" relating to the government under the Biden administration "being involved in censorship." 

"We have literally found thousands of documents that have proven that they were involved in censorship and policing speech. So we will be unveiling these to this committee and making sure we're exposing what CISA was doing with a vast majority of its time of certain employees," she said. 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is also part of DHS. 

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies before the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, on May 6. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

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"And some of the discussion I think we'll have here today is about getting CISA back on mission and some of the reductions in staff that have been over there," Noem added. "And that's reflective in the fact that many of them were doing work that they shouldn't have been doing." 

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.