Cable news channel MSNBC has been in talks with Minnesota's independent governor Jesse Ventura about hosting a political talk show after he leaves office in January, a source said November 13, 2002. REUTERS/Stringer

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Jesse “The Body” Ventura objects to having the U.S. government get a close look at his body while going through airport security.

In a lawsuit filed this week against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, the former Minnesota governor claims that airport full-body scans and pat-downs violate his Constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

The department had no immediate comment on Tuesday regarding the lawsuit filed on Monday.

Ventura, a former professional wrestler who currently hosts the television program “Conspiracy Theory,” had hip replacement surgery in 2008 and received a titanium implant. The implant sets off airport metal detectors.

Before November, 2010, Ventura had to go through a non-invasive hand-wand inspection when he set off the alarm. But since new security measures took effect last November, Ventura says he has been subject to pat-down body searches or whole body imaging, which uses backscatter x-ray or millimeter wave technology to look through clothing for weapons or explosive material.

Ventura, who has to fly two or three times a week for his television show, said in his lawsuit that the full-body scans are “intrusive” and “degrading,” as well as a possible health risk, while the pat-downs include “touching, gripping and rubbing of the genital and other sensitive areas.”

Ventura noted that he has to go through the scans despite the fact that he is a frequent flyer, a former governor, a U.S. Navy veteran, and has an easily verifiable medical condition. Ventura could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.