A week after news first broke that former U.S. representative and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has been placed on a Transportation Security Administration threat list, Republicans nationally seized on the story as evidence that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is dangerously unfit for office.

On Aug. 4, the online media organization Uncover DC reported multiple Federal Air Marshal whistleblowers have come forward to claim Gabbard, a former Democrat who regularly appears as a political commentator for Fox News and other conservative media outlets, had been enrolled in TSA’s Quiet Skies program, which uses the organization’s Secure Flight Program and Custom and Border Protection’s Automated Targeting System to identify travelers for enhanced screening.

Investigative reporter Matt Taibbi amplified the report via an article carried on Racket News that has now been shared by numerous conservative political sites and by Republican lawmakers on social media.

Gabbard was reportedly added to the list on July 23, a day after she criticized Harris for “not having the strength to stand up to the military industrial complex” during an appearance on Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News.

On Aug. 10, Gabbard returned to the Ingraham Angle and asserted her addition to the Quiet Skies list was “a clear act of political retaliation.”

“The clear pain and real visceral hurt that comes from this is, like many Americans, I enlisted because of the terrorist attacks on 9-11 to go after the Islamist terrorists who attacked us on that day,” Gabbard said. “And to now have my own government now turn around and put me on a domestic terror watch list—it hits to the core and is the ultimate sense of betrayal,” Gabbard said.

"We look at why they are doing this: It has a chilling effect. It sends a warning to me and to anyone else who even thinks about daring to criticize our own government, which is a guaranteed, protected right under the First Amendment,” she continued.

Gabbard has since said that she and her husband have been subject to prolonged security checks and have been surveilled and followed by TSA officers, federal air marshals and explosive-detecting canines when they travel.

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), former Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and numerous others have come to Gabbard’s defense, calling for her withdrawal from the program, demanding an explanation from TSA and accusing the Biden-Harris administration of adopting totalitarian measures to punish political opponents.

On Monday, four Republican members of the state House of Representatives, in which Gabbard served from 2002 to 2004, wrote a letter to TSA director David Pekoske, expressing outrage at Gabbard’s addition to the list and asking for an explanation for why she was included.

“Sir, please remember this is the United States of America and you have not even stated why such a dastardly label has been attached to and besmirched her good name,” the lawmakers wrote. “As members of the Hawaii State House of Representatives listed below, we strongly urge you to immediately withdraw her name from the Quiet Skies program and/or provide full public transparency of the TSA’s reasons for maligning her name and reputation.

“How can your Agency assume you have the power to put a congresswoman on your Terrorist Watch List and not explain yourself?” they continued. “The people of Hawaii love Tulsi and your actions have offended us for your attempt to ruin her reputation without explanation. Again, as leaders in the State of Hawaii, we remind you that this is not China or Russia and our government is not to overstep the boundaries that have been set by our U.S. Constitution, nor should ever attempt to weaponise its regulatory powers.”

The letter was signed by Reps. Gene Ward, Diamond Garcia, David Alcos and Elijah Pierick.

As story continues to gain traction in conservative media, Gabbard supporters have posited that Gabbard was targeted not just for her recent comments but for a back-and-forth between Gabbard and Harris during a 2019 debate that they claim “ended” Harris’ presidential campaign.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.