How do you know when an air marshals’ spokesman is spinning? When his lips are moving. Here’s Federal Air Marshals Service spokesman Dave Adams on the reinstatement this week of air marshal whistleblower Frank Terreri, who filed a civil liberties lawsuit against the agency after being suspended for criticizing FAMS director Tom Quinn last October (via the Washington Times’ Audrey Hudson):

An air marshal placed on six months administrative leave for criticizing the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) was reinstated one day after he filed a lawsuit that accuses the agency of violating his constitutional right to free speech.

Marshals say that there is a pattern of disciplinary action for criticizing their agency within the Homeland Security Department and that Frank Terreri was suspended in retaliation for his activities as president of the air marshals unit of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA).

Mr. Terreri was suspended six days after the professional association voted “no confidence” in agency Director Thomas D. Quinn and called for his resignation. Mr. Terreri issued an Oct. 7 press release detailing the vote.

Dave Adams, spokesman for FAMS, said the lawsuit had no bearing on Mr. Terreri’s reinstatement. “I can assure you the timeliness of the two have no correlation at all,” he said.

Uh-huh.

Terreri is the brave and outspoken president of the air marshals unit of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA). It’s interesting to see the ACLU and New York Times finally paying attention to the important national security matters raised by Terreri. But note that the Left has only come around on the marshals’ mess when it’s cast as a free speech issue.

When some of these whistleblowers in airport security start talking about the need for common-sense racial/ethnic/religious/nationality profiling, we’ll see how much the ACLU and New York Times really champion ther free speech rights.

Right?

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Previous/related:

Still flying blind
Aviation security gaps
The air marshals’ mess: Code Red
Another fine air marshals’ mess
Update on the air marshals
Another air marshal outrage
A mystery in the skies
Dressed for failure
Air rage, Pt II
Air rage
The “kill-me-first dress code”

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Update: Captain Ed weighs in.