In the latest controversy to rock the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), an agency veteran who created a wasteful VIP Congressional Concierge and oversaw a surveillance program that put Americans—including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard—with opposing political views on a terror watchlist has been promoted to assistant director. His name is Serge V. Potapov, and he has risen through the ranks at FAMS despite playing a key role in highly questionable programs and a documented history of misconduct that put him at the center of various investigations over the years, according to agency documents reviewed by Judicial Watch. Now Potapov, a former U.S. Marine who recently served as a counselor to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, is second in command at FAMS which operates under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), created after 9/11 to prevent another terrorist attack. Both agencies function under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and have been plagued by controversy and mismanagement that has left the nation vulnerable from a security standpoint, say multiple DHS sources interviewed by Judicial Watch over the years.

FAMS in particular has experienced tremendous instability with four different directors in around as many years and flagrant mismanagement that includes controversial deployments of the uniquely skilled law enforcement officers to the Mexican border to perform duties unrelated to transportation, such as welfare checks, hospital watch and chauffeuring illegal immigrants. TSA has admitted it does not know the operational impact that the air marshal border deployments had on aviation security. During the chaos last year FAMS named a deputy director, Pauline (Polly) Hanson, with a shady history that includes being investigated for fraud and conflict of interest as chief of the Amtrak Police, a federal law enforcement agency of about 500 charged with protecting the nation’s railroad system. Hanson’s appointment rattled many inside FAMS and raised questions about the criteria to qualify for the top-secret clearance required for the position. Hanson stepped down after a few weeks on the job because Judicial Watch exposed her record, which was brought to our attention by the Air Marshal National Council, the union that represents thousands of agents nationwide and has uncovered a multitude of problems at the agency in recent years.

Now, the union is battling against another highly questionable figure quietly elevated to assistant director at the ailing agency. As of this week Potapov is Assistant Administrator at FAMS despite a lengthy history of wrongdoing. His misconduct began at the Federal Air Marshal Training Center in New Jersey where he simulated shooting a female instructor in the head, kicked her during training, pulled her hair and told women “You don’t belong here,” according to documents provided to Judicial Watch by the Air Marshal National Council. Potapov was suspended and involuntarily transferred to the Philadelphia Field Office before being promoted to help lead the Insider Threat Unit, which got blasted in a DHS audit for its many failures during his leadership. An agency insider told Judicial Watch Potapov helped build a unit later condemned as structurally broken. Yet in 2020 he was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Washington D.C. where he helped create a special VIP Congressional Concierge that pulled air marshals off high-risk flights so members of Congress could get extra protection on flights that did not meet the threat criteria, usually determined by the FBI, for air marshals. In 2021 Judicial Watch exposed the program, reporting that FAMS were yanked from a high-risk flight so California Congresswoman Maxine Waters could have extra security during a trip to Minnesota though she was already covered by a four-man detail consisting of two Capitol Police officers and two Secret Service agents. The story led to the program’s elimination, DHS sources confirmed.

After launching the outrageous VIP Congressional Concierge, Potapov was promoted to executive director of flight operations, which oversaw another scandal-plagued program called Quiet Skies that secretly surveilled Americans on flights in the name of preventing terrorism. Hundreds of Americans, including then Hawaii Congresswoman Gabbard, were put on a watchlist and deemed threats to national security for holding political views against the Biden administration. In fact, Gabbard was added to the Quiet Skies program on July 23, 2024, one day after she criticized the Biden administration in an interview. The Trump administration ended the Quiet Skies program over the summer and in the fall a Senate Homeland Security committee confirmed the Biden administration weaponized the watch list against everyday Americans, deeming them threats to national security simply for holding opposing political views. As Executive Director of Flight Operations in 2023, Potapov oversaw Quiet Skies and all global FAMS deployments, making him a strange choice to help lead the agency.

In an internal memo announcing Potapov as his number two guy, FAMS Director Brian C. Belcher fails to mention his sordid past, instead promoting him as 23-year FAMS veteran who has demonstrated “exceptional leadership and dedication to our mission of safeguarding the nation’s transportation system.” Belcher also praises Potapov’s expertise and commitment to operational excellence that make him uniquely qualified to serve in this leadership position. The reality is much different, says David Londo, president of the Air Marshal National Council, who says many inside the agency are outraged. “His career provides a clear example of systemic breakdowns in federal accountability, leadership vetting, and taxpayer stewardship,” Londo said, pointing to Potapov’s court-confirmed misconduct, failures documented in federal audits, warnings from a congressional investigative unit and widespread internal concerns.

The post New Air Marshal Asst. Dir. Started Wasteful Congressional VIP Service, Oversaw Scandalous Quiet Skies appeared first on Judicial Watch.

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records subpoenaed by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-04123 )).

 Judicial Watch sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Justice Department failed to respond to an August 22, 2025, FOIA request for:

• All records provided to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform or any member thereof in response to the subpoena transmitted to Attorney General Bondi on or about August 5, 2025.
• All records relied upon during the preparation of any response to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subpoena transmitted to Attorney General Bondi on or about August 5, 2025.
• All records of communication between Attorney General Bondi or Deputy Attorney General Blanche and any other individual or entity regarding the Department’s response to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subpoena transmitted to Attorney General Bondi on or about August 5, 2025.

 In August 2025, James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, issued deposition subpoenas to former high-level officials including Bill and Hillary Clinton; former U.S. Attorneys General William Barr, Alberto Gonzales, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and Merrick Garland; and former FBI Directors Robert Mueller and James Comey — seeking testimony and documents related to the investigation of Epstein. Additionally, a subpoena was issued to the Justice Department for records related to Epstein. For example, the subpoena cover letter to Gonzales states:

 On July 23, 2025, the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (“Committee”) unanimously voted to approve a motion directing the Committee to authorize and issue a subpoena to you for a deposition. Your tenure as U.S. Attorney General, from 2005 to late 2007, coincided with a time period when the FBI investigated Jeffrey Epstein for sex crimes, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida prepared a draft 60-count indictment of Mr. Epstein, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida offered a plea bargain to Mr. Epstein, leading to the signing of Mr. Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement only one week after you left office. Pursuant to this direction, please see the attached subpoena for you to appear at a deposition on August 26, 2025.

 On July 6, 2019, federal authorities arrested Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and two days later an indictment was unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District for New York charging him with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors. According to the indictment, Mr. Epstein sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, and other locations. Among other things, the indictment alleged that Mr. Epstein enticed girls as young as 14 years old to engage in sex acts with him in exchange for money. This was not the first time that Mr. Epstein had been investigated for committing sex crimes. In 2008, he pled guilty in Florida state court to two prostitution offenses, and, in exchange, he and his co-conspirators received immunity from federal prosecution through a non-prosecution agreement that was negotiated during your time as Attorney General.

“The Justice Department should immediately release the information we requested regarding Epstein,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “Americans deserve the truth. It’s time to end the leaks and the guessing games.”

 Judicial Watch has been actively pursuing details of the Epstein case.

 In October, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for records involving any role Epstein might have played in connection with the agency, his business dealings, travel, victim or witness information, and records concerning his death.

 In September, Judicial Watch sued the Justice Department for communication the department had with the media outlet Axios regarding the outlet’s “exclusives” on the release of audio of then-President Joe Biden’s August 2023 interview with then-Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding Biden’s handling of secret documents and the July 2025 memo that states there is no Jeffrey Epstein “client list.”

 In a Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit, a “joint status report” filed on July 7 in federal court reported that the Justice Department and the FBI were continuing to search for and review records in response to Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit for records regarding Epstein. The lawsuit requests any records on the identities of clients or associates of Epstein. The Justice Department’s disclosure is at odds with the leaked, unsigned and undated Justice Department/FBI memo that suggests no more Epstein records would be disclosed to the American public. The memo was first disclosed late on July 6.

 Also in July, Judicial Watch sued the Justice Department for all interviews and other records provided to the FBI by Epstein victim Virginia Louise Giuffre, who reportedly committed suicide on April 25, 2025.

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