U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s husband received special treatment from the Biden administration after he traveled with a “known or suspected terrorist” three times in a single year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday.
And when his choice of traveling companion resulted in increased scrutiny from airport security, Sen. Shaheen intervened in a manner the DHS described as “corruption.”
“Discovered documents, correspondence, and timelines clearly highlight the Biden’s (sic) inconsistent application of Silent Partners Quiet Skies and watchlisting programs, circumventing security policies to benefit politically aligned friends and family at the expense of the American people,” the DHS reported in a statement.
“This includes William ‘Billy’ Shaheen, spouse of fellow Democrat and sitting U.S. New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.”
According to DHS, William Shaheen — an attorney and prominent Democratic operative — was flagged as a “Co-Traveler with a Known or Suspected Terrorist (KST)” on a July 20, 2023, flight out of Boston. On Oct. 18, he was once again flagged as a KST co-traveler.
Because of his traveling companion, Shaheen was “subjected to several extensive, invasive and degrading searches at airport checkpoints,” Sen. Shaheen’s office said in a statement. The statement acknowledges she contacted the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to make “inquires.”
According to DHS, those inquiries included “a meeting with then-Administrator David Pekoske about her husband being on a watchlist.”
“After Sen. Shaheen directly lobbied the former administrator, Pekoske gave repeated, explicit direction to exclude Shaheen from the Silent Partner Quiet Skies list. Pekoske granted William Shaheen a blanket Silent Partners Quiet Skies exemption despite Shaheen flying with a Known or Suspected Terrorist on three occasions,” DHS said Wednesday.
Neither DHS nor either of the Shaheens would reveal the identity of the alleged KST.
Asked about the DHS statement, William Shaheen told NHJournal, “It is 100 percent false. I have never travelled with a terrorist or a suspected terrorist.”
He conceded that he “did travel to and from D.C. with co-counsel in the representation of a client. Unbeknownst to us were both placed on this list and were both taken off.”
The TSA’s “Quiet Skies” program was secretly put in place by the Obama administration in 2011, according to TSA sources. It tracks U.S. citizens who have been flagged based on an algorithm that includes their travel histories and associates, whether or not they are suspected of any crimes or have any links to terrorism.
Republicans are comparing the Shaheens’ treatment by the Biden administration to that of former congresswoman (and current Director of National Intelligence) Tulsi Gabbard. She was placed on the Quiet Skies surveillance list after a 2024 trip to the Vatican, “organized by a European businessman who runs a foundation,” according to The New York Times.
Gabbard complained about the additional scrutiny, but she remained on the list until she was removed under the program’s regular rules. She received no special treatment from the TSA under the Biden administration.
“It is clear that this program was used as a political rolodex of the Biden administration—weaponized against its political foes and to benefit their well-heeled friends,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “This program should have been about the equal application of security. Instead, it was corrupted to be about political targeting. The Trump Administration will restore the integrity, privacy, and equal application of the law for all Americans, including aviation screening.”
Former U.S. Senator — and possible 2026 Senate candidate — Scott Brown told NHJournal that he has several questions about the Shaheen story.
“Why was (William Shaheen) put on the list in the first place? Why didn’t he go through the regular process of removal like everyone else? And did she advocate for any of her constituents in a similar fashion? If not, then that bothers me, and it should bother the people of New Hampshire.”
