Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) revealed that the Biden-era FBI surveilled a Catholic teacher, placing her on a terror watchlist, after she was in Washington, D.C. surrounding the events of January 6, 2021.
Christine Crowder, the wife of a Federal Air Marshal, was considered a “domestic terrorist solely based on an unverified tip submitted by a former friend despite early investigative results showing negative facial recognition and geolocation search results and no previous criminal or extremist activity,” the Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs explained.
Although the Biden-era FBI failed to confirm her identity, the agency still subjected her to surveillance and referred her case for prosecution. “That referral was made before the FBI could positively identify her and ultimately rested on what proved to be a case of mistaken identity,” the Committee noted.
Crowder’s husband told Congress during a hearing on the now-terminated Quiet Skies Program that his colleagues were ordered to surveil his wife and family during their travels.
According to material obtained and released by Paul, the FBI physically surveilled Crowder’s house at least four times.
“A free society cannot tolerate a system in which programs and authorities intended to keep the public safe are instead weaponized against them due to mere suspicion,” said Paul. “The records released today show how an unverified tip that the FBI failed to substantiate led to nearly two years of surveillance of an innocent American.”
“I am grateful for FBI Director Kash Patel’s cooperation in producing these records, and I appreciate Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem for ending the Quiet Skies program,” he added. “The conduct revealed by these documents underscores the need to limit the power of faceless bureaucrats who have too often infringed on the rights of the people.”
Noem announced in June that the surveillance program ended, describing it as having been “used as a political rolodex of the Biden Administration—weaponized against its political foes and exploited to benefit their well-heeled friends.”
This article originally appeared on American Faith and is reposted with permission.
