This is a good question.

My impression is the TSA is attempting to discredit and/or humiliate the passenger who went to the press with their complaint. I'm not going to get into the "did she spill it - or was it on purpose"

Is this perhaps an attempt to warn the public: Think twice before you go to the press - We have the ability to do this to you.

I personally believe putting up this video on an official government website is unprofessional at the very least. I further object to this because it is ultimately taxpayer money being used to distribute this video to everyone (bandwidth costs, cost to have an employee obtain tape, program into website, etc).

Also - wasn't it previous policy of the TSA to not publicly comment on such interactions with the public?

Members of the public have the right to freely express opinions in the public and say things about public figures -- elected officials, government agencies, etc. Does a government agency have the ability to do the same about a private citizen? The TSA is more or less implying that this individual is not honest, among other things -- at taxpayer cost.

What if the IRS or the SSA put things on their websites implying an individual is not honest?