Former Bush Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff just loves those full-body scanners that allow Transportation Security personnel to look through passengers clothes at airport checkpoints.  If you have any doubt of this, Google any of Chertoff’s media interviews since the attempted terrorist bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day.

For example, here is what he told NPR on  December 29^th:

“A couple of years ago we began the process of testing them to see, first of all, if they worked and second, if they could be deployed without unduly restricting the flow of traffic. And the good news is that we were able to demonstrate that they were successful. We could use them without slowing up traffic and we could also protect privacy.”

Here’s what he DIDN’T tell NPR or anyone else until pressed in a CNN interview – his company, The Chertoff Group, represents the company that manufactures the machines.  In other words, he is paid (probably well but that’s a guess) to promote the use of full-body scanners.  And that is exactly what he is doing – to great effect – speaking  in his expert capacity as former Secretary of Homeland Security.

Personally, the greater use of full-body scanners makes sense to me, although it does feel a little like déjà vu all over again.  Every time we have an attempted terrorist attack, we change our TSA procedures to address that specific kind of attack.  So, when Richard Reid hid bomb material in his shoe, we all had to start taking our shoes off before boarding a plane (ever been asked to take your shoes off in a European airport?).  Thank God Reid didn’t hide his bomb where the sun don’t shine or we’d all be holding our ankles  as we go through security.

But, wait, Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, the “underpants bomber” came close to that – hiding his explosives where they could not only bring down a jetliner but also make him look more manly in the process.   So, now we will all be electronically strip-searched to see what we have in our underwear.  That’s OK by me.  If it keeps my plane from blowing  up, I’ll be scanned.

But, back to Chertoff.  Is he just another “expert for hire” promoting whatever  his client is selling?  The evidence suggests not.  Chertoff was a believer in full-body scanners long before he went to work for the company.  In fact, as Homeland Security Secretary, he ordered the first purchase of the machines.  It is not surprising that the manufacturer turned to Chertoff when he re-entered the private sector to be an advocate for them.

No, Chertoff’s sin is one of stupidity, not avarice.  He didn’t disclose his financial relationship with the manufacturer before making the case for the machines in all his recent interviews.  Would he have been less effective if he had begun each interview with “Look, I represent this company because I have been a believer in full-body scanning as an airport security measure ever since it became available and, as a public servant, promoted its use at TSA.”

Disclose.  Disclose.  Disclose.  Can anyone still believe that you can run around to every media outlet in America touting a technology that has the potential to make certain people rich and not have someone look into your relationship with those people?  Just get it out there.  In many cases – this one included – it will do little to diminish the force of your argument.  But, if it does – even if it leads to the cancellation of some interviews – that is better than destroying your credibility and looking like just another sleazy huckster.

When will they ever learn?  Apparently after the damage has been done.  A Chertoff op-ed appears in Friday’s (1/1/2010) Washington Post and identifies him as a paid advocate for the company.  The piece is well-reasoned and compelling.  Unfortunately, it appears on Page A15.  The headline Chertoff “said to abuse public trust by touting body scanners” appears on Page A7.