(TJV NEWS) As CBS News reported and Gateway Pundit pointed out, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) used her political clout in 2023 to remove her husband, William Shaheen, from a federal terrorism-related surveillance list after he flew multiple times with a person on the FBI’s terror watchlist.

William Shaheen, a Lebanese-American attorney, was flagged by the TSA’s Quiet Skies program after traveling with an unidentified Arab-American lawyer known to be on the FBI’s terrorism watchlist. The Quiet Skies initiative uses air marshals to observe and report on individuals suspected of posing a risk to aviation security.

Ordinarily, individuals placed on this list endure invasive screening and persistent federal scrutiny — and are rarely, if ever, removed. Yet, after just one phone call from Senator Shaheen to then-TSA Administrator David Pekoske, her husband was not only taken off the Quiet Skies list but was also added to the “secure flight exclusion list,” a designation that exempts individuals from nearly all forms of TSA screening.

According to CBS News, William Shaheen’s removal from the list occurred just two days after the senator intervened. Sources told the outlet that this shift amounted to highly unusual political interference in a system ostensibly designed to be nonpartisan and security-focused.

The Quiet Skies program itself has come under fire for being weaponized — most infamously, against January 6 defendants and their families — and it’s notoriously difficult for ordinary citizens to be removed from its lists. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, for instance, was reportedly monitored under the same program.

Senator Shaheen later claimed ignorance, stating she didn’t know her husband was on the list and was only upset about the “degrading” treatment he received during travel.

Critics argue this episode exposes the double standard of how airport surveillance is applied — harsh and permanent for average Americans, but easily circumvented for those with powerful connections.

While Senator Shaheen’s office maintains that her actions were motivated solely by concern for her husband’s dignity, the timing and outcome raise serious questions about political influence in national security procedures — especially when even confirmed associations with flagged individuals can be waved off with a single phone call.