Originally Posted by
chollie
Interesting, because I believe the "official" TSA line has always been that I always have the option of completing screening and being escorted back landside to dispose of an item I don't want confiscated (with the exception of firearms, of course). I have exercised this option a couple times when I had time, simply because I decided I wanted to make sure my item ended up in the garbage and not on ebay. Some airports even installed mailing stations for people to mail items to themselves rather than have them confiscated. Obviously these mailing stations assumed the pax wouldn't know his/her item wasn't allowed until a screener tried to confiscate it.
And that is my point and essentially what I wrote in my first response - TSA does not "take" items (in the sense of a governmental taking/seizing/confiscation) - the passenger chooses to abandon/forfeit/surrender the item to TSA who is supposed to (but is not required to always) offer an opportunity to make other arrangements for the items.
My reference to credentials was exactly that they did NOT result in "special" treatment - the special treatment of course, only being what TSA is supposed to do in the first place - give an opportunity to make other arrangements for the item.
It was Ghiradelli chocolate sauce.....