Exclusive: TSA agent's notebook discovered in public place

UPDATE: To those of you concerned about whether or not the spiral binding on the front of the notepad above is the same as the one pictured below, here is a closer look at the inside.



What would you say if I told you that one of the federal agents who ventured to travel writer Steven Frischling's house to issue a subpoena and search his electronic equipment for the source of the agency's leaked security directive (SD) also happened to leave his notebook lying in a public place?

Would you define such a misstep as complete ineptitude?

Would you wonder how the agency protects the information it gleans from other - more important - investigations (you know, ones involving threats against our nation)?

A source with knowledge of the situation tells me that one of the two agents tasked with discovering the source of the SD leak left his notebook in a public area.

A TSA spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.

Here is what I'd like to know from the agency:

Has the special agent in question contacted the TSA about misplacing his notebook?

Can the TSA offer any sort of explanation for why the agent's notebook ended up in a public place (in this case, the street)?

Considering the sensitivity of an agent's notebook, what type of protocol (if any) is the agency putting into place to ensure that this does not occur again?

To satisfy my own curiosity, I must also wonder how many missteps can one government agency make in the span of four weeks? You may recall that the TSA's 'Screening Management Standard Operating Procedure" was published on the Internet in early December.

Note to the President and Congress - We needed a TSA administrator yesterday!

Keep an eye on this space for further updates.

Shall we file this in the "you just can't make this stuff up" category?