Republicans in the state House of Representatives defended their former colleague, presidential candidate and U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard in a letter sent to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Sunday, demanding that she be removed from the federal government’s terrorist watch list.

The letter to David P. Pekoske, director of the TSA in Washington, DC, said one of her “former colleagues in the Hawaii State House of Representatives, one of Hawaii’s ‘favorite daughters,’ former congresswoman, former presidential candidate and war veteran is on your TSA terrorist watch list.”

“We have learned that you and your Air Marshals are harassing her from flight to flight, including her husband. As the members of the Hawaii State House of Representatives listed below, we urge you to immediately remove her name from the Quiet Skies program and/or fully publicly disclose TSA’s reasons for denigrating her name and reputation,” said the letter, signed by Hawaii House members Rep. Gene Ward, Minority Political Leader; Rep. Diamond Garcia, Minority Leader; Rep. David Alcos, Minority Vice Leader; and Rep. Elijah Pierick, Minority Vice Leader. “How can your agency assume you have the authority to put a Congresswoman on your terrorist watch list without explaining yourself? The people of Hawaii love Tulsi and your actions have offended us by attempting to ruin her reputation without explanation.”

The letter reminded Pekoske that “this is not China or Russia, and our government must not overstep the boundaries set for us by the U.S. Constitution” and that the government should never use its “regulatory powers as a weapon.”

“You have embarrassed the State of Hawaii in our eyes and we implore you to make that clear without hesitation,” the letter to Pekoske said.

In a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Gabbard said her inclusion on the watchlist was “clearly an act of political retaliation.”

“It is no coincidence that I was placed on the Quiet Skies list one day after a prime-time interview in which I warned the American people … why Kamala Harris would be bad for our country if elected president and commander in chief. What pains me most is the fact that, like so many Americans, I enlisted because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was sent to war zones to pursue those terrorists, have continued to serve in the United States Army for over 21 years, and am now being monitored by my administration as a potential domestic terrorist,” Gabbard said. “The real pain this has caused is the stress of constantly having to look over my shoulder, wondering if and how I am being watched, what secret terrorist list I am on, and that there is no transparency or due process.”

Gabbard said it was about more than just her. Every American has “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

“They took that from me and my family,” Gabbard said.

In an article for Racket News published on August 7 by reporter Matt Taibibi, she said she and her husband, Abraham Williams, “encountered obstacles” on a flight from Rome to Dallas, then on a connecting flight to Austin, Texas, and later on various flights for both of them to cities such as Nashville, Tennessee, Orlando, Florida, and Atlanta.

The couple’s boarding passes were marked “SSSS,” which stands for “Secondary Security Screening Selection,” Gabbard told Racket News.

Gabbard told the news site that she and Williams were subjected to “extensive, random searches that lasted up to 45 minutes.”

“This happened every time I boarded,” Gabbard told Racket News. “I have a couple of blazers in there, and they’re squeezing every inch of the entire collar, every inch of the sleeves, every inch of the hems of the blazers. They’re squeezing or padding underwear, bras, workout clothes, every inch of every article of clothing.”