BATFE

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When It Rains, It Pours

April 10, 2011 by

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is a public relations pro’s nightmare. Just when things seem they can’t be any worse given the gunwalking allegations of Operation Fast and Furious, comes news of an ATF Special Agent being arrested in Virgina on Federal felony charges of theft, fraud, and firearms violations.

US Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy of the Western District of Virginia announced the arrest of BATFE Special Agent Clifford Dean Posey on Wednesday.

In an indictment returned under seal on Tuesday, the grand jury has charged Clifford Dean Posey, 43, of Chesapeake, Va. with six counts of wire fraud, six counts of embezzlement, two counts of possessing stolen firearms, four counts of making false statements and two counts of money laundering. The indictment was unsealed earlier today following Posey’s arrest and initial court appearance.

According to the indictment, as part of his duties Posey came into possession of various items of property that were under his control, including but not limited to firearms, cigarettes, tobacco products and United States currency.

Beginning no later than 2007, Posey began falsifying documents relating to firearms under his custody and control in order to embezzle and convert them to his own use. On one occasion included in the indictment, Posey advertised for sale firearms he had come into custody of by virtue of his employment.

The indictment charges that during 2010 the defendant assisted in the investigation of illegal cigarette trafficking. Posey obtained the access code to a storage unit containing cigarettes intended for use in undercover tobacco investigations. The defendant later contacted two potential targets of the investigation and offered to undercut the negotiated ATF price, an action the defendant was not authorized to take and one he failed to disclose to ATF, as pursuant to protocol.

Beginning in July 2010 Posey was the lead case agent in an undercover tobacco investigation and, in that capacity, was entrusted with the custody and control of cigarettes and other tobacco products. The indictment alleges that on four separate occasions from September 4 through November 19, 2010, Posey sold cigarettes in his control by virtue of his employment, retained the proceeds and failed to report the transactions to the ATF or any other law enforcement officers working on the investigation.

The indictment also alleges that Posey falsely submitted receipt and release reports to the ATF regarding firearms. The defendant claimed in the reports that several stolen firearms were either released to the rightful owner or destroyed, when in fact the defendant had taken possession of those firearms.

Because Posey was assigned to the Norfolk-Hampton Roads area of Virginia, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia recused his office from this case.

Eastern Virgina comes under the jurisdiction of the ATF Washington Field Division. Until December 2010, the Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division was Edgar Domenench. He was appointed Sheriff of New York City by Mayor Bloomberg on December 7th. Domenench was Deputy Director of ATF but was demoted in 2008 to the position of SAC for the Washington Field Division for what he claims was his whistle blowing about cost overruns in the construction of the new ATF Headquarters. According to the scuttlebutt on CUATF, Domenench was a weak and abusive leader. If that is true, it probably isn’t surprising that an agent under his control was a crook.

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Melson – Thanks For The Invitation But No Thanks

March 29, 2011 by

Kenneth Melson, Acting Director of ATF, was scheduled to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotics Affairs this Thursday. I even speculated that this would be a great time for the Senators to grill Mr. Melson about Operation Fast and Furious.

Mr. Melson must have had the same thought because he has decided not to testify. Moreover, no one from either ATF or the Justice Department are on the new list of witnesses. Given the topic was counter-narcotics and citizen security, it would seem that DOJ might have sent someone. After all the Drug Enforcement Administration is a line DOJ agency just like the FBI and ATF.

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News contacted the Subcommittee for more information on why Melson will not be testifying.

We contacted the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to ask why Melson is no longer scheduled to appear. They referred us to the office of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) who chairs the subcommittee holding the hearing. A press spokeswoman at the senator’s office said it was Melson’s decision not to testify, and that the subcommittee doesn’t have jurisdiction over ATF.

Later, a spokesman told us in an email, “The Subcommittee had invited, but not confirmed, Mr. Melson as well as other officials from ATF to testify at the hearing this week. In the end, ATF declined to send a representative.”

It is also speculated that one of the main reasons for the delay in confirmation hearings for Andrew Traver is the fallout from Operation Fast and Furious.

My gut feeling is that the only way we will have public, on the record, under oath hearings into Operation Fast and Furious and gunwalking is if the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform under Rep. Darrell Issa holds them. The House Judiciary Committee could also hold hearings as they have oversight over the Department of Justice.

As much as I am thankful for all the great work that Sen. Chuck Grassley has done to find the truth about Project Gunwalker, he is still only the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Unless Sen. Pat Leahy and the Democrats decide to hold hearings into it, they just aren’t going to happen in the Senate.

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White House Delays “Two-A-Day” Implementation – Again

February 5, 2011 by

The White House has again delayed implementation of the multiple rifle purchase reporting requirement in the Southwest border states. According to an article in the Washington Post, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has extended the comment period until February 14th to give the public more time to comment on the proposal.

Meg Reilly, spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget, said the decision follows President Obama’s directive to curb excessive regulation and “is consistent with the president’s call for more transparency and opportunities for public participation in his recent executive order.”

ATF had planned to use a demand letter requiring the reporting of multiple sales within a 5-day period.  It would require the reporting of sales of semi-auto rifles with a caliber greater than .22 which also had detachable magazines. This emergency requirement would have only applied to FFL’s in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. ATF hoped to get OMB approval for their “pilot project” by early January.

Requiring the reporting of multiple semi-auto rifle sales was a suggestion in the Department of Justice Inspector General’s report on Operation Gunrunner. At the time, ATF Deputy Director Kenneth Melson said he was unsure whether the Bureau had the authority under the Gun Control Act of 1968 to require this.

As I posted in early January at the first delay, it seems that pressure from gun rights groups and Congress was behind the first delay. Three Senators and 35 Congressmen have sent the White House a letter opposing the requirement. I have no doubt that this sort of pressure was behind the second delay of the mult-rifle reporting requirement.

ATF was thrown a bone by the OMB when proposed budget cuts of over 12% to the agency’s budget were restored.

ATF received good news earlier in the week, however, when the OMB made an unusual announcement that ATF had won a budget battle. Early budget documents obtained by The Washington Post showed that ATF would get a cut of nearly $160 million out of a $1.25 billion budget request – a 12.8 percent reduction that would be 3.6 percent below the current budget.

“Even as we make tough choices across the government,” Reilly said, “the 2012 budget includes robust support for Southwest border security, including an increase above current funding levels for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.”

I am sure that ATF cares more about their budget than they do about Mexico, Mexican cartels, and semi-auto rifles crossing the border. Can you say “Operation Gunwalker”? Money, not effectiveness, is the life blood of any modern bureaucracy.

In the meantime, we have until Valentine’s Day to send comments about the multiple-rifle reporting requirement. Let’s use it. NSSF has suggestions on what to include in your letter here. Make sure to send a copy to your Senators and Congressman as well.

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NSSF On The ATF Shotgun Study

February 1, 2011 by

The NSSF released this today. I think they got it right where they say it isn’t for the Federal government to decide an event is sporting if the participants consider it a sport.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is currently reviewing the recently released study by ATF on the importability of shotguns. NSSF will be submitting comments to ATF by the May 1, 2011 deadline. NSSF’s initial reaction to the study is that if the shooting public deems a certain activity to be “sporting” through participation, even if that sport is new and seems unconventional to the uninitiated, NSSF does not believe the federal government should say that the firearms law abiding citizens use to participate in that shooting sport activity are neither “particularly suitable for nor readily adaptable to generally recognized sporting purposes” pursuant to the Gun Control Act of 1968. Many new sport shooting disciplines have arisen since 1968 and have enjoyed significant participation. The federal government ought not to be making subjective decisions about what lawful shooting activities it considers a sport.

The safe and responsible participation in new and evolving sporting events does not result in injury. The possession of firearms in the hands of law abiding Americans for any lawful purpose, including but not limited to sports shooting, does not cause crime.

The Supreme Court’s decisions in Heller and McDonald make clear that the exercise of the fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms for self defense protected by the Second Amendment does not hinge on whether one will use the firearm to participate in an activity the government deems to be sufficiently sporting. The shotguns this study would ban from importation are also suitable for self protection including home defense.

NSSF believes the time has come for Congress to re-examine the so-called “sporting purpose” test as a criteria for importing a firearm into the United States.

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Wah!

February 1, 2011 by 1 Comment

The Brady Campaign is upset that budget cuts may be coming for their favorite Federal agency ATF.

ATF, Strong Gun Laws Needed to Fight Illegal Guns
by Paul Helmke on January 31st, 2011

According to a recent report in the Washington Post, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) could suffer budget cuts of almost 13 percent, which would effectively eliminate Project Gunrunner, a program designed to combat gun-trafficking from the U.S. to Mexico.

Any cuts to the already under-staffed and under-funded ATF would be a setback, but the kinds of cuts that are rumored would be devastating to the ATF’s ability to interrupt the flow of illegal guns across America and Mexico. Worst of all, though, would be for the Obama Administration to pursue these cuts without pushing to implement strong, commonsense gun laws, such as those to ban large-capacity , assault weapons, and closing the gun show loophole.

These laws would be more effective and efficient because they offer a pro-active means — instead of a reactive one — to stemming the flow of guns to Mexican drug cartels and to criminals and gangs on America’s streets. Not having an ATF director in place is also problematic. If we don’t get these new laws and the ATF has to absorb substantial cuts, our nation will have effectively surrendered to the purveyors of the most massive gun violence in the U.S. and Mexico.

From the sounds of it, ATF isn’t trying to interrupt the flow of arms to Mexico but rather are behind some of it. I wonder what Mr. Helmke has to say about that.

H/T Sebastian

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Project Gunwalker Heats Up

January 31, 2011 by

The heat on the ATF just got hotter.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) just released letters sent from his office to Kenneth Melson, Deputy Director of ATF, regarding allegations of misconduct in Operation Gunrunner. The biggest allegation is that ATF facilitated the smuggling of 500 semi-automatic rifles into Mexico without the Mexicans’ knowledge. Further, it is alleged that one of these rifles was used in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Grassley’s second letter, which he copied to Attorney General Eric Holder, concerns retaliation taken by Asst SAC George Gillette of the Phoenix Field Division against one possible whistle blower. Under Federal law, whistle blowers within an agency are protected from retaliation.

I think the last thing ATF wants are Congressional hearings into their agency and their actions. However, I don’t think they are going to get their wish.

Mike Vanderboegh has more on this at Sipsey Street Irregulars.

UPDATE: The political news website Politico has picked up the story. It will be interesting to see where it goes from there.

UPDATE II: Now it is really starting to get interesting. The story has been picked up by the AP and the Miami Herald. It will be hard to keep this bottled up now.

UPDATE III: I was right. Instapundit just linked to it from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

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Why Is ATF Involved And Not DEA?

January 25, 2011 by 4 Comments

I’ve subscribed to the press releases from BATFE headquarters and certain of their field divisions. I think it is smart to keep tabs on what they are doing. I got the following press release sent out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

McHenry County Man Charged with Federal Drug Trafficking Charges

ROCKFORD — PATRICK J. FITZGERALD, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, together with ANDREW L. TRAVER, Special Agent-In-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and KEITH NYGREN, McHenry County Sheriff, today announced:

A federal grand jury in Rockford yesterday returned an indictment charging BRIAN M. BLUM, 31, of McHenry, with two counts of distributing cocaine. If convicted of the offenses charged, Blum may be sentenced up to 30 years of imprisonment, as well as a fine of up to $2,000,000, for each count. Blum will be arraigned on January 19, 2011, at 10:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney in the federal courthouse in Rockford.

The case was investigated by Special Agents of the Rockford Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service. The case will be prosecuted in federal court by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph C. Pedersen.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving that defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Beyond the self-serving nature of this press release, why is ATF involved in a drug case and not the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)? It would seem outside of their assigned mission of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives. Am I missing something here?

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White House Puts Hold On New ATF Multi-Rifle Sales Reporting

January 7, 2011 by 5 Comments

According to a story from Reuters, the White House and the Office of Management and Budget are delaying the implementation of the ATF’s new “two-a-day” reporting rule that was supposed to start at the beginning of the year in the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

The White House Office of Management and Budget was expected to approve the emergency rule change on Wednesday. But an official with direct knowledge told Reuters that “ATF’s information collection request is still under review,” and declined further comment until the “deliberative phase is concluded.”

Of course, Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign expressed disappointment and hoped that this was only a temporary delay. He termed it a “common-sense” policy and added:

“Dealers are already required to report multiple sales of handguns and this is just implementing the same thing for long guns,” Helmke told Reuters.

“It shouldn’t be that much more of a burden on anyone in terms of paperwork and data collection, and it could help save lives … It seems like a measure that should be fairly noncontroversial.”

At the heart of this “delay” is stiff opposition from gun rights groups and their allies – including Democrats – in Congress. The Montana delegation has been particularly vociferous on the issue.

The Gunleaders.com Blog has the documents submitted by ATF to OMB in justification of their reporting rule. The ATF estimated that the cost to FFL’s would be nil since most would fax it in and that the new reporting rule would have no impact on small businesses. Unless the ATF is providing a toll free number there is a cost. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of gun shops in this country are not the “big box” stores but rather small businesses.

If the White House is wavering on this, now is time to put more pressure on them. Call, fax, write, or email both your Senators and your Congressman opposing this “emergency” requirement that is only supposed to last 6 months if one believes the Federal Register. Note that in the documents submitted to the OMB by ATF, they are saying one year.

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He’s Baaaaack!

January 6, 2011 by 1 Comment

Among a whole list of re-nominations sent by the White House to the Senate is that of Andrew Traver to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. I guess Obama really does think he can poke us in the eye again with this anti-gun nominee.

The website Main Justice notes that Traver’s nomination is opposed by the NRA and other gun rights groups as well as that the agency has not had a permanent director since 2006.

No word yet from the Brady Campaign on this nomination. However, Dennis Hennigan praised it last December as the beginning of the end of Obama’s “appeasement” of gun rights forces.

While I really don’t think Traver can get approved by the Senate given his record of anti-gun activism, I think his renomination actually can serve a useful purpose for gun rights. The confirmation hearings will be an opportunity to air much of ATF’s dirty laundry which has been ignored by the mainstream media. These range from gross mismanagement in the upper levels of the bureau to allegations of looking the other way to AR’s being smuggled into Mexico so that they could be traced back to the U.S.

David Codrea’s Gun Rights Examiner has a number of columns dealing with these issues as does Mike Vanderboegh’s Sipsey Street Irregulars blog. Sources within ATF are now sending substantive leaks to both of these sites because they are so disgusted with what is going on.

The dissident ATF agent website, CleanUpATF.org, is also full of details about how the bureau is being mismanaged. If one wants to get a feel for how the rank and file in the ATF are suffering under the mismanagement, this is the place to go.

Given all the dirt that can and will come out at Traver’s confirmation hearings, one must wonder if this is some sort of end game to abolish ATF which has served as lightning rod for the gun rights movement and then reconstitute its gun control functions in a less public part of the Federal bureaucracy. That would be truly Machiavellian if true!

H/T Sebastian

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More From NSSF On Proposed ATF Long Gun Reporting

December 30, 2010 by

The NSSF posted this yesterday on their blog:

More on ATF Multiple Sales Reporting

December 29, 2010 By Larry Keane

An editorial in today’s Washington Post discussed the recent decision by ATF to require federally licensed firearms retailers along the Southwest border to report multiple sales, or other dispositions, of most semi-automatic rifles. Specifically this would impact .22 caliber or larger semi-automatic rifles that are capable of accepting a detachable magazine and are purchased by the same individual within five consecutive business days.

Though the Post supports this ill-advised proposal, it did acknowledge the legitimacy surrounding one of industry’s objections:

“When reports of its plan surfaced, the administration came under immediate attack from the gun rights lobby. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association, argued that the administration lacked the legal authority to demand data on rifles and shotguns. It has a point: While Congress authorized the ATF to collect information on handgun sales, it declined to extend the requirement to long guns. A court is likely to be asked to decide whether demand letters may be used to shake loose this information …”

NSSF continues to oppose multiple sales reporting of semi-automatic rifles. Such reporting requirements will actually make it more difficult for licensed retailers to help law enforcement as traffickers modify their illegal schemes to circumvent the reporting requirement. Traffickers will go further underground, hiring more people to buy their firearms. This will make it much harder for retailers to identify and report suspicious behavior to law enforcement.

NSSF would also like to remind all members of industry, sportsmen and gun owners to voice their concerns by doing the following:

1. Call the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulation Affairs, Department of Justice, Desk Officer at (202) 395-6466.

2. E-mail Barbara A. Terrell, ATF, Firearms Industry Programs Branch at Barbara.Terrell@atf.gov

3. Call your Senators and Representative: United States Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

4. Send an already formatted cap-wiz letter.

Points to make:

1.Multiple sales reporting of long guns will actually make it more difficult for licensed retailers to help law enforcement as traffickers modify their illegal schemes to circumvent the reporting requirement. Traffickers will go further underground, hiring more people to buy their firearms. This will make it much harder for retailers to identify and report suspicious behavior to law enforcement.

2.Long guns are rarely used in crime (Bureau of Justice Statistics).

3.Imposing multiple sales-reporting requirements for long guns would further add to the already extensive paperwork and record-keeping requirements burdening America’s retailers – where a single mistake could cost them their license and even land them in jail.

4.Last year, ATF inspected 2,000 retailers in border states and only two licenses were revoked (0.1%). These revocations were for reasons unknown and could have had nothing to do with illicit trafficking of guns; furthermore, no dealers were charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

5.According to ATF, the average age of a firearm recovered in the United States is 11 years old. In Mexico it’s more than 14 years old. This demonstrates that criminals are not using new guns bought from retailers in the states.

6.Congress, when it enacted multiple sales reporting for handguns, could have required multiple sales of long guns – it specifically chose not to.