Declining to answer probably wouldn't have helped her cause, but I doubt anything she said would have stopped them from refusing. Hopefully now she at least has evidence of bias or misconduct that will serve as ammunition for her appeal against the ruling. I just wish she'd taken a stand against their absurd questions and stood up for the principle.

Then again, I still let the TSA and customs perform intrusive searches and ask intrusive questions (that have no bearing on safety) when I travel, because I want to get on with my life. For example, when I return to the US (as a natural born US citizen), immigration will ask me what the purpose of my trip was, where I went, etc. They have no legitimate reason for this, I legally don't have to answer any of the questions, and they cannot refuse me re-entry (assuming they accept the validity of my passport), yet I play their game because at the end of a 10-hour flight and a 2-hour queue, I don't feel like sitting in a cell for 72 hours while they process me.