NH lawmaker responds to accusations of suspected terrorist connections

NEW HAMPSHIRE — New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen’s office responded late Wednesday to allegations her husband traveled multiple times in 2023 with a ‘known or suspected terrorist’ and received special treatment from TSA after she called to ask why he was subject to enhanced screening.

On Wednesday morning, the Department of Homeland Security issued a news release, alleging Shaheen’s husband, William Shaheen, had flown on at least three occasions in 2023 with a ‘known or suspected terrorist.’ DHS did not identify the other traveler, but said Mr. Shaheen was subject to enhanced security screening on each occasion.

DHS says when Sen. Shaheen contacted TSA about the screenings, he was placed on a Secure Flight Exclusion List, meaning he was no longer subject to additional screening methods. DHS says Mr. Shaheen was on the list for 18 months until current TSA leadership removed him this spring.

Boston 25 reached out directly to Sen. Shaheen’s office and received the following statement from a spokesperson:

“Senator Shaheen contacted the Transportation Security Administration after her husband was subjected to several extensive, invasive, and degrading searches at airport checkpoints. Senator Shaheen sought to understand the nature and cause of these searches. Any suggestion that the Senator’s husband was supposedly included on a Quiet Skies list is news to her and had never been raised before yesterday. Nor was she aware of any action taken following her call to remove him from such a list.”

Senator Shaheen’s husband is a prominent Lebanese-American attorney and is active in the Arab-American community. Shaheen’s office would not identify who her husband traveled with, except to say they are an Arab-American attorney, and the events outlined by DHS took place in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, after which the US heightened security. A spokesperson for the senator said the individual was also removed from the DHS Known or Suspected Terrorist list later that same year.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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