Transportation Security Administration employees told members of Congress Wednesday that agency officials gave hefty bonuses to supervisors who ignored security warnings and retaliation against those who spoke up was widespread, NBC News reported.
"If you tell the truth in TSA you will be targeted," Mark Livingston, a program manager with the TSA's office of risk management, said at a House Oversight Committee hearing. "I call it the Lord of the Flies — either attack or be attacked."
Dozens of TSA whistleblowers have come forward to congressional investigators to report abuses of power. Livingston says he fears TSA employees "fear their supervisors more than they fear a potential terrorist threat."
The revelations come as the agency is facing stark criticism for long lines at security checkpoints, high employee attrition rates and allegations of waste, fraud and abuse.
