GRAHAM, Wash. — Josh Powell’s note was simple and short, a farewell to the world after two years of being scrutinized in the media, hammered by police and questioned by judges, prosecutors and social workers, living his life under a microscope since the day his wife vanished.

“I’m sorry, goodbye,” Powell wrote in an email to his attorney just minutes before authorities say he blew up his home, killing himself and his two young sons days after he was denied custody and ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation.

The explosion Sunday brought yet another twist in the very public disintegration of a family that began when Susan Powell vanished in 2009. The case had since spiraled into a salacious saga of finger-pointing and accusations of sex and lies — and now the unthinkable loss of two young lives caught in the crossfire.

A social worker brought the two boys to Josh Powell’s home Sunday for what was to be a supervised visit, and Powell let his sons inside — but then blocked the social worker from entering, Graham Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Franz told The Associated Press.

The social worker called her supervisors to report that she could smell gas. Moments later, the home exploded.

Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer said it appeared some sort of accelerant was used to make the house burn faster.

He said emails Powell sent to authorities just prior to the explosion seemed to confirm that Powell planned the deadly blast. Troyer didn’t elaborate on the content of the emails.

Jeffrey Bassett, who represented Powell in the custody case, said he received an ominous email from his client just minutes before the blast.

“I’m sorry, goodbye,” it read.

Susan Powell, a pretty 28-year-old mother of two, was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009, after she failed to show up for her stockbroker job in Utah.

Authorities in the couple’s hometown of West Valley City, about 10 miles outside Salt Lake City, quickly turned their attention to Josh Powell. He’s been the only “person of interest” in the case, but had repeatedly denied any involvement in her disappearance.

“I would never even hurt her,” a tearful, red-eyed Josh Powell told CBS’ Early Show in August. “People who know me know that I could never hurt Susan.”

About a month later, police spent 12 days in the remote central Utah desert looking for clues, and Josh Powell and his father, Steven, quickly disappeared from the limelight. The search area around Topaz Mountain, a popular spot for rock and gem hunters, was about 30 miles south of where Josh told police he went camping with his two children in the hours before his wife’s disappearance — his steadfast alibi.

On Sunday, the lawyer for Susan Powell’s parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, told the AP the children had started talking to their grandparents about things they remembered from the night their mother vanished.

“They were beginning to verbalize more,” said attorney Steve Downing, whose clients had custody of the children. “The oldest boy talked about that they went camping and that Mommy was in the trunk. Mom and Dad got out of the car and Mom disappeared.”

Police turned up no clues in their desert search, but a day before ending it, Steven Powell, 61, was arrested at his Washington state home and accused of secretly videotaping his daughter-in-law, other women and young girls taking baths and sitting on the toilet in neighborhood homes.

The elder Powell is now jailed and facing child porn and voyeurism charges. He claimed in previous television interviews that he and Susan Powell were falling in love and even implied a sexual relationship had occurred.

“Susan was very sexual with me,” Steven Powell said in one interview at the time. “We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys doing that.”

Susan’s father denied the allegations and said Steven Powell had been initiating unwanted sexual advances, and that his daughter had no interest in her father-in-law.

The children, 5-year-old Braden and 7-year-old Charles, were ordered by a judge to then go live with Susan’s parents as the parallel cases were investigated.

The custody matter got so heated that at one point a court commissioner in Washington state ordered Chuck Cox and Josh Powell to keep 500 feet apart.

Custody hearings continued, with the latest on Wednesday, during which Josh Powell pleaded with a judge to return his children to him.

“For over four months already, my interactions with my sons and many other aspects of my character have been investigated and documented by” social services, he wrote in an affidavit to the court. “I have proven myself as a fit and loving father who provides a stable home even in the face of great adversity. … It is time for my sons to come home.”

But the judge ruled against him, ordering the children to remain with Susan Powell’s parents, at least until Josh Powell underwent a psycho-sexual evaluation in light of the explicit material found on computers inside Steven Powell’s home that led to his arrest.

Sherry Hill, a spokeswoman for the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services, said the social worker who was with the children Sunday was not a Child Protective Services employee but a contract worker with a private agency that supervises visits for the state.

“The visit supervisor for this particular agency had taken the children to the home. When she does that, she sits through the visit and might take notes on her observations,” Hill said. “She pulled up in the car, and the kids ran out ahead of her. He closed the door and locked it. She wasn’t able to get in, and that’s when she smelled gas.”

Downing called it “the most horrifying thing you can imagine happening …The Coxes are absolutely devastated. They were always very fearful of him doing something like this, and he did it.”

Bassett said he represented Powell free of charge because “every parent deserves the right to an attorney.” Powell called or emailed him at least once a day, and often more than that, and in their conversations “he never once admitted doing anything regarding Susan. In fact, he denied it.”

Sgt. Mike Powell of the West Valley City Police Department in Utah said it was too soon to say how Josh Powell’s death may impact their probe.

“Quite frankly, this has obviously quickly unfolded up in Washington and we’re obviously just working through the details ourselves here,” said Powell, who is not related to the family.

Kirk Graves, 39, of West Jordan, Utah, whose wife is Josh Powell’s sister, said they were stunned by the news.

“We never contemplated the idea he would do something like this. You just don’t expect it from a father,” he said. “His world was falling apart around him and he was going to lose his boys and get arrested for Susan’s disappearance. He’s a narcissist and he has no love for anyone but himself.”

——

Associated Press writer Martin Griffith contributed. Skoloff reported from Utah, Johnson from Seattle.

Music industry legends have come out in full force to remember Soul Train creator Don Cornelius, who passed away Wednesday at age 75.

The creator of the iconic music TV series, which ran from 1971-2006, is believed to have taken his own life, succumbing from a gunshot would to the head.

PHOTOS: Us pays tribute to stars we lost

“It’s just so sad, stunning and downright shocking and a huge and momentous loss to the African-American community and the world at large,” Aretha Franklin told Us Weekly in a statement Wednesday. “Don Cornelius single handedly brought about a melding and unity of brother and sisterhood among young adults worldwide and globally with the unforgettable creation of Soul Train.”

PHOTOS: Shocking moments for TV stars

Musician Questlove shared an emotional tribute to Cornelius on his Website, telling fans “Don Cornelius was my first non-musical, non-celeb, non-blood related hero. It’s amazing timing that my arrival on Earth and his greatest creative manifestation came within nine months of each other. Both symbolizing a new hope for urban America,” he wrote. “Most won’t get it til now (especially now that he’s gone) but I pray that Don knew of the appreciation he had in all of us born after 1968.”

PHOTOS: Memorable TV personalities

Dancing With the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba praised the late mogul for inspiring dancers worldwide through his program. “Where would many of us #dancers be without #SOULTRAIN….Sad Day today…RIP Don Cornelius,” she wrote, via Twitter.

“Don was a visionary pioneer and a giant in our business. Before MTV there was Soul Train, that will be the great legacy of Don Cornelius,” fellow media mogul Quincy Jones said in a statement. “His contributions to television, music and our culture as a whole will never be matched. My heart goes out to Don’s family and loved ones.”

PHOTOS: Celebrity families

La Toya Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Holly Robinson Peete, Robin Roberts and Diddy were also among the stars who expressed grief over the passing of Cornelius.

Said Nick Cannon simply: “RIP Don Cornelius.”

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The disenchanted voters of America — or just those with a good sense of humor — aren’t simply getting their news from Comedy Central liberal comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, they’re sending their money, too. On Tuesday morning, Colbert (and formerly Stewart’s) satirical super PAC, “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow,” announced that it had raised over $1 million, the New York Times reports. (RELATED: Game: Guess that super PAC!)

“Colbert Super PAC has brought in a staggering $1,023,121.24,” a press release on the PAC’s website reads. “We raised it on my show and used it to materially influence the elections — in full accordance with the law,” the statement quotes Colbert. “It’s the way our Founding Fathers would have wanted it, if they had founded corporations instead of just a country.”

The Times reports that donors to the super PAC include Democratic California Lieutenant Gov. Gavin Newsom for $500 and Rolling Stones cover band Sticky Fingers for $400. (RELATED: Colbert ad promises ‘merciless ad torrent’ to ‘destroy’ Gingrich, Romney)

Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow made national headlines when it ran television advertisements in the run-up to the South Carolina primary accusing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney of being a serial killer for dismantling corporations, which he (in)famously said “are people too, my friend.” (RELATED: New satirical ad in South Carolina suggests Mitt Romney may be a ‘serial killer’)

On the disclosure form the site says was submitted to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Colbert is further quoted saying, “Yeah! How you like me now, F.E.C? I’m rolling seven digits deep! I got 99 problems but a non-connected independent-expenditure only committee ain’t one!”

The PAC was temporarily transferred to “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart while Colbert attempted to run in the South Carolina Republican primary under former presidential candidate Herman Cain’s name, which was still on the ballots. But the American people can rest easy — by the time of the filing, the press release reported that Colbert was once again in control of the PAC: “After a decades-long battle that spanned nearly two weeks, Stephen Colbert has wrested control of Colbert Super PAC from the clutches of his arch-nemesis and dear friend, Jon Stewart.” (RELATED: Stephanopoulos pretends to give serious interview to pretend almost-candidate Colbert)

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January 28, 2012

The opportunity to see Liam Neeson go head-to-head with a pack of wolves drew solid crowds on Friday, giving Open Road Films its first number one debut with The Grey. One For the Money put up decent numbers as well, and could finish ahead of Underworld Awakening for the three-day weekend. Finally, Sam Worthington‘s questionable star power wasn’t enough to get audiences excited about Man on a Ledge, which disappointed in fifth place.

The Grey opened to an estimated $6.5 million on Friday. That’s lower than Taken‘s $9.4 million and slightly off from Unknown‘s $6.7 million, though some drop off from those movies was expected given the movie’s frigid setting, R rating, and mid-range distributor (Open Road). Based on comparable movies from the past few years, The Grey will wind up in first place this weekend with at least $17 million.

One for the Money scored an estimated $4.1 million yesterday, which was good for second place at the box office. It wound up below recent Katherine Heigl movies Killers ($5.7 million) and Life as We Know It ($5.2 million). Those movies both had male co-leads (Ashton Kutcher and Josh Duhamel, respectively) and a more robust marketing effort, so One for the Money’s opening is actually pretty respectable. Its $4.1 million is also nearly identical to the opening day of The Lincoln Lawyer, which was distributor Lionsgate’s first attempt at selling discounted tickets on Groupon. For the three-day weekend, One for the Money should end up around $12 million.

As is typical for its genre, Underworld Awakening fell a steep 63 percent to an estimated $3.43 million. Still, that’s actually the best hold and best second Friday yet for an Underworld movie, indicating that this one might be receiving slightly better word-of-mouth. Through eight days, the fourth installment in the vampire action series has earned $36.05 million, and it currently trails the second Underworld movie by less than $500,000.

Red Tails also crashed hard, spiraling 53 percent to an estimated $2.8 million. The George Lucas-produced story of the Tuskegee Airmen has now made $26.2 million.

Man on a Ledge opened in fifth place with an estimated $2.5 million. That’s a bit lower than Sam Worthington’s last movie, The Debt ($2.6 million), and is another unimpressive start for Summit Entertainment. The company is currently forecasting a $7.5 million weekend.

Following its surprise Best Picture nomination, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close eased 37 percent to an estimated $2 million. It has now made just under $16 million. Fellow Oscar nominee The Descendants expanded in to 2,001 locations and grossed $1.74 million, bringing its impressive total to $54 million. The Artist and Hugo were much further down the chart with $867,000 and $488,000, respectively.

Related Stories:• Weekend Forecast: Neeson Vs. Wolves To Be Main Attraction This WeekendRelated Chart:• Grosses for Friday, January 27, 2012

Cy Vance (second from right) and Dan Reingold, president of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in the Bronx, visited Greg Kelly (left) and Rosanna Scotto on ‘Good Day New York’ to talk about elder abuse.

Two days before news broke that Greg Kelly was accused of rape, the Fox 5 anchor had an on-air showdown with the man who now holds his future in his hands.

Kelly put Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance in the hot seat Monday morning over his handling of the sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

“A lot of people were frustrated. They thought accuser Nafissatou Diallo had a strong case that at least should have gone to trial,” Kelly said to Vance. “Why did your office decide not to prosecute DSK?”

Vance appeared on “Good Day New York” to discuss elder abuse.

But it didn’t take long for Kelly to change the subject to Vance’s decision to drop the case against Strauss-Kahn, who was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid. Vance defended the move, saying his team ditched the charges after new revelations left them unsure “beyond a reasonable doubt” of Strauss-Kahn’s guilt.

Kelly, the son of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, asked whether Strauss-Kahn’s accuser had been questioned too aggressively.

“Ms. Diallo, was she treated fairly by your office?” Greg Kelly asked.

The NYPD referred the Kelly probe to Vance’s office to prevent an appearance of a conflict of interest. That means there’s yet another high-profile sex assault case glaring down on Vance.

Since taking over from the legendary Robert Morgenthau in 2010, Vance has suffered two big setbacks on sexual assault cases. The first came in May when the so-called rape cops — Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata — were acquitted of raping a 29-year-old East Village fashion exec.

Then the case against Strauss-Kahn fell apart in August after his accuser was caught in a stream of lies.

“Mr. Vance’s job is not getting easier with time,” said noted defense lawyer Paul Shechtman.

rschapiro@nydailynews.com

Nike chairman Phil Knight got a standing ovation for his remarks at Joe Paterno’s memorial service. A crowd of 12,000 attended the service at Penn State University.

Nike founder and chairman Phil Knight got a standing ovation at Joe Paterno‘s public memorial Thursday for defending the late coach’s response to an accusation of child sex abuse against a former assistant.

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Speaking at a public memorial service, Knight said that, “If there is a villain in this tragedy, it lies in that investigation, and not in Joe Paterno’s response.”

The remark drew a standing ovation from the crowd of 12,000 — with Paterno’s widow, Sue, and former defensive coordinator, Tom Bradley, among those rising to their feet.

IN PICTURES: Remembering Joe Paterno

Knight’s comment seemed to refer to Paterno’s failure to alert anyone beyond his superiors at the school when he was told of a sex abuse allegation against former assistant Jerry Sandusky. That inaction was a major reason university trustees fired him on Nov. 9, less than three months before his death.

Knight also asked, “Who is the real trustee at Penn State University?”

Thursday’s memorial service followed a funeral and burial on Wednesday.

Quiet mourners lined the route of Joe Paterno’s funeral procession Wednesday, watching with grief and reverence as the electric-blue hearse carrying the Penn State coach’s casket slowly drove by.

Some took pictures with their cell phones, or waved to his widow. Others craned their necks hoping for a better glimpse through the crowd sometimes four deep or more.

The private funeral and burial service capped another emotional day for a campus and community pained over Paterno’s death from lung cancer Sunday at age 85, and over the way his stellar career ended — being fired by university trustees Nov. 9 in the wake of child sex-abuse charges against a former assistant.

Thousands of students, alumni and fans took to the streets in and around Penn State to say their last goodbyes to the football coach who grew into a beloved figure in Happy Valley, not only for his five undefeated seasons but for his love of the school and his generosity.

“He cared about the kids. He wanted to see us succeed. So for a lot of us, he became a grandfather-like figure,” Jordan Derk, a senior from York, said after the procession went past Beaver Stadium.

“He loved us and we loved him back,” Derk said. “So saying goodbye is very tough.”

Jay Paterno, the coach’s son and quarterbacks coach, sent a message to the mourners via Twitter.

“Thank you to all the people who turned out for my father’s procession,” he wrote. “Very moving.”

The elder Paterno won two national titles and a Division I record 409 games over 46 seasons as head coach. His cancer was disclosed just nine days after he was forced to leave the football program he had worked with since 1950.

But Wednesday was once again a salute to Paterno’s life and accomplishments. The service, a Roman Catholic Mass, was attended by a veritable who’s who of Penn State and Paterno connections.

Paterno’s family arrived about an hour before the funeral service on two blue school buses, the same kind the coach and his team rode to home games on fall Saturdays. His wife of nearly six decades, Sue, sat in the seat traditionally reserved for her husband and was first off the bus, followed by Jay.

Former defensive coordinator Tom Bradley walked to the service with NFL great Franco Harris. Also in attendance were other ex-NFL players including Matt Millen and Todd Blackledge, both now TV analysts. Nike founder Phil Knight and actor William Baldwin were there, too.

Best known for his TV work, Farentino was one of the last contract performers with Universal Studios in the 1960s. His nearly 100 roles included recurring appearances in such series as “The Bold Ones: The Lawyers,” “Dynasty,” “Blue Thunder” and “Police Story.”

Born Feb. 24, 1938, in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of a clothing designer trained for the stage at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before launching his career with a 1961 Broadway appearance in “Night of the Iguana.” His film roles included “The Pad and How to Use It” (1966), “Me, Natalie” (1969) and “The Final Countdown” (1980). His most recent credit was in the 2006 TV movie “Drive/II.”

Farentino was married and divorced three times. He is survived by his fourth wife, Stella, whom he married in 1994, and by two sons, David and Saverio.

In 1992, he teamed up with one of his ex-wives, Michele Lee, for the TV movie “When No One Would Listen,” a drama involving an abusive husband played by Farentino.

But it was his relationship with ex-girlfriend Tina Sinatra that earned him headlines and briefly derailed his acting career.

In 1994 Farentino pleaded no contest to stalking singer Frank Sinatra’s youngest daughter after being charged with 24 misdemeanor counts of stalking, making harassing phone calls and violating a restraining order to stay away from her. The pair had previously had a stormy, five-year off-and-on relationship.

Farentino was placed on 36 months’ probation and ordered to undergo psychiatric and alcohol counseling.

He later acknowledged that the fallout from those charges resulted in his being cast in clunkers such as 2001’s “Women of the Night.”

“The roles started to get smaller and smaller with less value, and it was like, ‘What am I doing here?’ “ he told The Times in a 2003 interview.

“My behavior was appalling — feeling so hurt and rejected that I was the victim when I really wasn’t. So you inflict your pain on someone else to make them identify with you.”

Farentino complained that studio executives marginalized him after the stalking case. “There are people in this business that for years said, ‘He’s an alcoholic. He’s a drunk. He stalked Tina.’ Clamps were put on me in many ways,” he said to The Times.

His comeback came in a role in a 2003 Geffen Playhouse production of “Boy Gets Girl.”

Ironically, the play’s story line centered on a character who is stalked by a spurned admirer.

When the Boston Bruins visited the White House Monday to celebrate their 2011 Stanley Cup victory, they were without perhaps their most important player of their inspired championship run: goaltender Tim Thomas, who elected to stay at home rather than get an official commendation from President Barack Obama. His reason was rather simple: He just isn’t happy with the government. In a statement posted to his Facebook page, Thomas wrote that he believes “the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People,” though he was quick to add that he considers both political parties at fault. “This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL,” he finished.

He isn’t the first athlete to snub Washington D.C., or even the first within the last year. In September, a handful of NASCAR stars like Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards were unable to attend a White House ceremony in their honor, citing scheduling contacts. Last fall, Hall of Famer Dan Hampton declined to go after his 1985 Chicago Bears championship team was invited for a long-due celebration, saying “I’m not a fan of the guy in the White House.” And Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen went on vacation instead of visiting the White House of George W. Bush after his team won in 2005, though he never made any explicit political statement about it.

Thomas, though, is the first active star in recent memory to abstain for explicitly political reasons, surely a controversial response to something as innocuous as a handshake and a photo opportunity.

But at the risk of alienating fans and sponsors, he’s sticking firmly to his beliefs. “It’s a moment in which a professional athlete uses his fame, his influence for something he believes in, and does something that won’t be popular among fans or media. Sean Avery did the same thing: Potentially alienating his teammates by taking a political stand on gay marriage,” writes Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski. “If he’s celebrated and Thomas is demonized, what does that say about our real tolerance of free speech? That it’s only free when we agree with it?”

Of course, by declining the invitation with such a politically charged statement, Thomas is only drawing attention to himself rather than his team’s accomplishments. A public split from the Bruins is the unforgivably selfish part of his decision, says ESPN’s Joe McDonald. “The Bruins’ organization has prided itself, especially under team president Cam Neely … and coach Claude Julien, in being a true team,” he writes. “During the Cup run last spring, management, coaches and players alike spoke at length about the team’s chemistry. So it was odd that Thomas chose this stage to make a statement by not attending the White House visit with the rest of his teammates, especially given the fact that he is one of only two Americans on the Cup-winning team.”

* * *

Starting the season under the magnifying glass isn’t fun for any team, much less a group of college athletes trying to manage their championship hopes. The Syracuse Orange haven’t crumpled under the pressure. Before the year started, they had to manage the outside scrutiny over the sexual abuse allegations against former assistant coach Bernie Fine, as well as some calls for coach Jim Boeheim to resign. (Fine has denied all charges, and recently, some of the allegations against him have been withdrawn.) Syracuse responded by reeling off 20 straight victories to start the season before losing its No. 1 ranking in a 67-58 upset at the hands of Notre Dame. They reclaimed a bit of their momentum Monday by defeating Big East rivals Cincinnati, good for Boeheim’s 877th victory, moving him past Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp into fourth on the all-time Division I victories list. It’s a remarkable turnaround, considering the seeming shakiness of Boeheim’s job security a few months ago. “Seven weeks ago I wanted Syracuse to fire Boeheim,” Gregg Doyel writes for CBS Sports. “Today I’m calling him the Coach of the Year.”

Now, they’ll have to weather another tide: whether or not star center Fab Melo will be allowed to return to the team after missing two games for an undisclosed academic reason. Though he hasn’t distinguished himself offensively, Melo is Syracuse’s most important defender and a key cog in their vaunted zone defense. With his return up in the air, the Orange will once again have to adapt. “It was a little like seeing a Rolling Stones concert with someone other than Keith Richards playing guitar. The Syracuse Orange are quite the basketball team with Fab Melo in absentia, proficient enough to score a decisive road victory over a capable team such as the Cincinnati Bearcats,” Mike DeCourcy writes for the Sportsing News. “But was that really Syracuse? It might have to be.”

* * *

Hard to believe after what seems like such a short time, but in defeating Juan Martin del Potro in the Australian Open, Roger Federer completed the 1,000th match of his career. It’s a big, round milestone towards officially eclipsing tennis greats like Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. Federer’s dominating three-set victory came against the man who shockingly defeated him for the 2009 U.S. Open title. “Del Potro never became a Federer rival, much less an enemy. But for Federer, he represented a player – seven years his junior – who deprived him of a major and loomed as a threat to win another,” writes SI’s Jon Wertheim. “As far as statements go, you can do worse than beating this guy to win a milestone match.”

Looking for his 17th major singles title, Federer advances to his ninth consecutive Australian Open semifinal and his 30th overall grand slam semi. He’ll play longtime rival Rafael Nadal in this round, the first time in seven years they’ve been positioned on the same side of the tournament bracket at a grand slam competition. With No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 4 Andy Murray lurking on the other side as potential finals contenders, a Federer sweep would be a symbolic display of historical dominance, and earn him his fifth Australian Open championship.

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Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul told The Daily Caller that being “detained” by the Transportation Security Administration at the Nashville airport Monday was a major ordeal that underscores flaws in TSA’s procedures that affect tens of millions of passengers every year.

“It was a big headache,” Paul said in a phone interview. “I missed my speech here. I was supposed to speak to the Right to Life March, probably the biggest audience I’ll get to speak to, and I missed it.”

The White House, through spokesman Jay Carney, defended the TSA’s actions during Monday’s press briefing by arguing that Paul wasn’t technically “detained.”

“Let’s be clear,” Carney said. “The passenger was not detained. He was escorted out of the area by local law-enforcement.”

But Sen. Paul told TheDC that he certainly felt like he was detained. “If you’re told you can’t leave, does that count as detention?” Paul asked.

“I tried to leave the cubicle to speak to one of the TSA people and I was barked at: ‘Do not leave the cubicle!’ So, that, to me sounds like I’m being asked not to leave the cubicle. It sounds a little bit like I’m being detained.”

The incident started after the scanner Paul walked through sounded its alarm. Current TSA rules would require Paul to undergo a mandatory pat-down before proceeding to his plane. But Paul told TheDC that the TSA agents caved in after a two-hour battle and allowed him to go through the scanner again without additional physical screening.

“For an hour and a half, they said ‘absolutely, I would have to [accept a pat-down],’” Paul said. “And, because I used my cell phone, they told me I would have to do a full body pat down because you’re not allowed to use your cell phone when you’re being detained.”

“It’s like, well, I can’t call my attorney? I can’t call my office to tell them I’m going to miss a speech to 200,000 people?”

“In the end, after two hours of this quarreling,” Sen. Paul explained, “they did let me walk through the screener [machine] and it didn’t go off. So what the TSA is not telling you is the screeners are being used as random devices as well. The [mechanical] screeners will go off randomly, and the [agent] screeners don’t know that it’s a random call but it has nothing to do with what you’ve done.”

Paul doesn’t think the Nashville TSA agents were singling him out because he has been critical of the agency.

“I don’t think so,” Paul said. “They’ve usually treated me pretty well in Nashville. But the problem is the rules that are coming out of Washington. We’ve been 10 years and we have no frequent flier program, we have no ability for people to go back through the screener, [and] one-size-fits-all, everybody-is-a-potential-terrorist rules waste a lot of time on people who are not terrorists.

“So, resources, I think, could be better devoted to looking at who’s flying and where they’ve been flying and knowing more about the passenger list rather than spending all this time doing these random screenings of elderly people, young people and frequent fliers.”

Paul has dueled with TSA administrator John Pistole during Senate hearings about why travelers are required to consent to mandatory full body pat downs if scanners beep when they walk through. Paul argues that passengers should be allowed to choose to go through the scanners again rather than being forced to undergo a physical pat-down.

“The TSA has got a lot of problems,” Paul told TheDC. “There are a lot of people who are insulted and their dignity is compromised by what the TSA does to them. Really all I’m asking for is when you go through the screener [machine], you ought to be allowed to choose to get a body pat-down or choose to go back through the screener.”

TSA procedures, he said, ultimately waste time and resources. “So, if you try to comply, if you take your shoes off, you take your glasses off, you take your wallet out, you take everything out of your pockets and try to comply, it still goes off randomly.”

“But then you’re made to think that, ‘Oh, there’s a problem. We have to look at this,’” Paul said. “But, they’re wasting time, I think, by doing this. Instead of targeting people who meet a risk profile for terrorism, what they’re doing is they’re just doing these random things. But, I think it’s a waste of time and it’s insulting to put people through a body pat down when they have not shown any risk.”

“I think every American should be allowed to go back through the screener if they don’t choose to have a pat-down,” Paul insisted.

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