Air marshal seeks relief in whistleblower suits

Here is a little tidbit for the lawyers among our readership. The AP reports that a discharged air marshal has asked the Ninth Circuit to rule that his decision to leak a classified document about TSA procurement practices qualifies him under federal whistle-blower laws. The memo in question concerned hotel billing issues which TSA later considered embarassing when marshal Robert MacLean leaked it to the press. MacLean himself received the document on his cell phone, and it was not marked with any words indicating confidentiality — evidence, MacLean argues, “that the there was no way to tell that air marshal officials would designate the cost-cutting plan years later as sensitive national security information.” Legal scholars are equally appalled by the propect that information could be classified retroactively. “This case just reeks of rotten eggs. I would say this is just the perfect example of retaliation for exercising First Amendment rights,” said Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents whistleblowers in national security cases.