Chipman David AFT
scalp
Conservative Partnership Instituteand theAmerican Accountability Foundation,
jane
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The A.A.F. also claims to have sabotaged the nomination of David Chipman, Biden’s choice to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In the face of strong opposition from gun-rights activists, he withdrew his nomination last September, leaving the agency that regulates guns without a director. (The position has been unfilled for all but two years since 2006, when Senate confirmation for the position became a requirement.)
The A.A.F. compiled for the Senate a twenty-four-page dossier that incoherently accused Chipman, a twenty-five-year veteran of the A.T.F., of being both a racist and a radical social-justice warrior consumed by “wokeness.” The allegations came from anonymous sources. According to Jones, an unidentified A.T.F. agent had reported hearing Chipman say that so many Black candidates had passed an A.T.F. exam that they must have cheated.
Ted Cruz—Jones’s former boss—took up the campaign against Chipman. He and the A.A.F. demanded to see two complaints that had been filed against Chipman with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, even though both had been resolved without disciplinary action. At the same time, the A.A.F.’s dossier contained anonymous allegations claiming that Chipman was a radical “anti-racist” who favored destroying Confederate memorials and wanted to “use fighter jets to bomb” Mount Rushmore and Stone Mountain “into rubble,” because they offended people of color. The A.A.F. even contacted Chipman’s ex-wife in search of evidence against him, but she declined to coöperate.
Chipman told me that the A.A.F.’s modus operandi is to make claims that are “adjacent” to the facts and then “turn them around completely.” Although he had once accused a Black candidate of cheating on an A.T.F. exam that he had proctored, Chipman raised no questions about several other Black candidates who’d passed the same exam. The two dismissed E.E.O.C. complaints were the only ones that had ever been filed against him, he said, and in both cases he’d merely insisted that two subordinates be present for their regular work hours. He did say, on Facebook, that he opposed naming Army bases after Confederate soldiers, and he believes that monuments celebrating them are inappropriate and racially insensitive. But “it was characterized as if I was calling for violence,” he told me, adding, “I never advocated violence or called for anyone to blow up anything. I spent twenty-five years investigating bombings!” Chipman said, “The racial things they used were hugely ugly,” and noted that “the facts don’t matter to these people—they’re just used as weapons.” A protester appeared outside his house; on Twitter, users called for his death. Chipman’s wife, who had worked at the A.T.F. for decades, felt so unsafe at her job that she quit.
Race is also a theme of attacks that the A.A.F. has directed at Carlton Waterhouse, a Black environmental lawyer whom Biden has nominated to become an assistant administrator in the Environmental Protection Agency, overseeing environmental-justice efforts for underserved communities. Waterhouse’s résumé is strong: he studied engineering at Penn State, and has a doctorate in ethics from Emory and a law degree from Howard University, where he helped develop the school’s Environmental Justice Center. On Fox News, however, Jones dismissed Waterhouse as “a racist” who is “obsessed with pushing racially divisive rhetoric and policies into every aspect of public life.”
A dossier that the A.A.F. compiled on Waterhouse states that he “wants to resegregate America’s schools . . . by establishing schools explicitly for Black students.” Yet, in an article the dossier cites as evidence, Waterhouse actually writes that such schools should be “open to all children.” The A.A.F.’s dossier also claims that Waterhouse was “so radical he opposes the Civil Rights Legislation of the 1960’s and 1970’s.” Waterhouse told me that this was a distortion “intended to stir up disapproval.” His criticism of the civil-rights movement was only that it hadn’t gone far enough to establish a framework for reparations. “It’s hateful, and a gross misrepresentation,” he said. Waterhouse has yet to be confirmed, leaving a top environmental-justice job at the agency vacant. The blocking of so many Biden nominees has made it significantly harder for the President and his Administration to enact policies that they were elected to implement. Waterhouse said that he was hopeful and excited about the prospect of getting to work, but added that the A.A.F.’s campaigns were having a chilling effect: “People won’t want to serve, because your name will be dragged through the mud.”
As Jones has portrayed it, his group ismerely catching up with the sleazy tactics of progressive dark-money groups—which, he claims, went to great lengths to try to block Cabinet nominees during the Trump Administration, not to mention conservative Supreme Court nominees such as Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh. Of course, neither Thomas nor Kavanaugh were felled by anonymous slurs during their nomination hearings; they were credibly and directly confronted by female victims who accused them, in sworn testimony, of sexual misconduct. ..
ref
axios
gop Republican congressional aides huddled this month with conservative think-tank leaders on Maryland's Eastern Shore to hone tactics and messaging for Biden administration probes, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: If the GOP wins control in the midterms, leaders want to kick off high-profile investigations as soon as the new Congress is seated. Republicans plan to draw on investigative power from allies across Washington.
Details: The retreat was hosted by the Heritage Foundation, theConservative Partnership Instituteand theAmerican Accountability Foundation, a nonprofit run by Trump administration alumni that's dogged Biden nominees with independent investigative work.
- In attendance were aides to the top Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means and Oversight committees, as well as a senior aide to Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who is considered a leadership contender.
- Aides toSenate Banking Committee ranking member Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) also attended.
The big picture: With unified Democratic control in D.C., Republicans have been limited in their efforts to wield Congress' probative powers around high-profile issues such as a southern border immigration surge, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and economic shocks that threaten a U.S. recession.
- If they win congressional majorities, Republicans plan to use that power in retrospective fashion to dig into Biden administration conduct going back to his inauguration.
- That will mean a congressional microscope on Biden administration policies and spending. It will also bring stepped-up GOP scrutiny of private sector actors such as tech companies that Republicans see as politically adversarial.
Behind the scenes: Over two days, congressional aides at the retreat got briefings from prominent conservative activists and organizations on a host of investigative tactics.
- Gene Hamilton, a former senior aide in Trump's Justice Department and a board member of the America First Legal Foundation, briefed staffers on how to use legal experts and the federal court system to conduct research and "advance conservative priorities in the courts."
- Alexa Walker, the Banks aide and the Republican Study Committee's coalitions director, and Scott Gast, a former senior aide in the Trump White House counsel's office, discussed strategies for coordinating congressional oversight with outside research and investigative groups.
- Mike Howell and Roman Jankowski of the Heritage Foundation led a training on the Freedom of Information Act.
- AAF chief Tom Jonesbriefed attendees on tactics for investigatingpresidential nominees and appointees.
- Phil Reboli of CPI trained staffers on effective communications strategies to sell oversight efforts to outside groups and the press.
What they're saying: "We are pleased we brought together senior staff and leading outside researchers to focus on enhancing oversight skills, particularly since we're expecting increased oversight opportunities in the future," Jones said in an emailed statement.
- "The American people are deeply frustrated by the failed policies and lack of leadership of the Biden Administration. They expect good government groups like ours and Congressional leaders to work together to hold this administration accountable."
Howell, who leads Heritage's Oversight Project, t0ld Axios the goal of the event was to ensure congressional staff members are equipped to kick-start investigations as soon as the new Congress is gaveled in.
- "What's going to happen next Congress is, you've got to do four years of oversight in two years. That's going to be an immense lift, and it means that they cannot wait to get these committees situated," he said in an interview.
- "There are thousands of people who served in the Trump administration, myself included, who experienced what was probably the most intense congressional oversight to date," Howell said. They "are now chomping at the bit to deploy these skills that they've learned back at the Biden administration."
Between the lines: The event provides a glimpse of where Republicans see potentially fruitful oversight avenues.
- Senate Banking has been at the center of Biden nomination fights, with committee Republicans successfully sinking two high-profile nominees.
- The Oversight Committee, whose chief counsel for oversight attended, has a broad mandate. Its ranking Republican, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), has recently signaled scrutiny of Biden's immigration policies, his son Hunter’s business dealings abroad and tech companies' ostensible political bias.
- The Transportation Committee's Republican general counsel wrote in a disclosure filing that the training would help the committee ensure "fiscal stewardship and effective oversight of the recently passed infrastructure bill and other items within T&I's jurisdiction."
- The Ways and Means Committee, which sent two Republican aides to the retreat, is a powerful panel with oversight jurisdiction over tax and financial policies at the center of a national furor over inflation.
Republican oversight won't be confined to federal agencies or the White House, Howell said.
- "Big Techis in the crosshairs," he said. "They're going to be subject to document requests and subpoenas and depositions."
- Howell pointed to the subpoena power wielded heavily by the Jan. 6 select committee, which has sought private phone and bank records, among other documents.
- "It's really a whole new frontier that has been opened with a whole bevy of new tactics and techniques, which were once thought out of bounds. They're now going to be a tool in the hands of the other side."
ref axios lachlan markey
https://www.axios.com/2021/09/14/conservatives-aft-withdrawal-biden-nominee
david chipman nom atf scalp
even before President Biden formally withdrew his nominee to be the nation's top firearm regulator on Monday, a new conservative opposition research group was ready for a victory lap.
Why it matters: Democrats honed a research operation during the Trump era that effectively opposed some of his top nominees. Two veteran Republican operatives behind the American Accountability Foundation didn't see a comparable apparatus for the GOP, so they set out to create one.
- AAF co-founder Tom Jones was a senior staffer to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
- Matt Buckham, the other co-founder, worked in Donald Trump's White House Office of Presidential Personnel, which oversees nominations to Senate-confirmed posts.
- "We know they put [David Chipman] up because he aligned with the Biden administration on guns. ... You know that there's gonna be issue advocacy galore out there," Buckham told Axios. "But is this individual qualified, what is his character, what is his background? Those are the questions that groups weren't digging into."
Driving the news: Chipman, who lobbied for gun safety group Everytown after leaving ATF, was the first high-profile Biden nominee to withdraw from consideration.
- His nomination immediately drew opposition from gun rights groups such as the NRA.
- In withdrawing the nomination, the president conceded Chipman was unlikely to get the 50 votes in the Senate needed for confirmation.
What's new: During an interview, Jones took credit for helping to unearth and publicize allegations from Chipman's former colleagues at ATF — where he was a special agent until 2012 — that he'd disparaged agents of color who received promotions.
- Jones said he learned of the allegations while speaking to some of those former colleagues personally. AAF compiled all they could, he said, then shared its findings with the Daily Caller.
- Within a week, another outlet,The Reload, had spoken with other former agents who corroborated the story. After it published additional details, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded a new hearing on Chipman's nomination.
- AAF also helped organize a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, from seven retired ATF agents and investigators opposing Chipman's nomination.
- Jones shared Chipman research memos with Judiciary Committee Republicans — while also publishing the memos publicly on the AAF's website — and suggested potentially damaging lines of questioning for Chipman's hearings.
Between the lines: AAF's research largely ignored policy. Its strategy more resembled the type of research that political campaigns compile on their opponents: public records digging and research focused on Chipman's background.
- The group remains focused on a suite of high-profile Biden nominees, and it has set up a website, BidenNoms.com, as a public repository of its research.
- AAF was formed early this year as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, meaning it can't engage in political activity — despite its founders' backgrounds in GOP politics.
- It expects to operate on a$750,000 budget this year, a spokesperson told Axios. During the interview, Jones and Buckham declined to identify any of their donors.
===}}
News and Controversies
AAF Attack on Federal Reserve Nominee Lisa Cook
Following Biden's nomination of Michigan State University professor Lisa Cook to the Federal Reserve, AAF group sought to discredit Cook's tenure at the school and further qualifications for the position, Politico reported. Cook's nomination garnered bipartisan support and she was endorsed by both conservative and liberal economists.[5] The New Yorker reported that Jones fished for information from about 50 of her colleagues at MSU, asking in an email, "Are any of you concerned that... she's not good enough to sit on the Federal Reserve Board?"[6] He also posted about Cook on "Economics Job Market Rumors", an online forum that the New York Times reports as "a cesspool of misogyny".[7]
AAF Spread Misleading Claims about SCOTUS Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson
In alignment with a widespread misconception[8] popularized by Republicans, AAF released a statement saying Biden's nominee for Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson "argued that America's judicial system is 'unfair' to sexual predators".[9]
AAF Attack on the Raskin Family
AAF launched an attack on Sarah Bloom Raskin and her husband Jamie Raskin following Bloom Raskin's nomination to the Vice Chair for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Due to her stance on the fossil fuel industry's hand in climate change, AAF pushed the narrative that "Sarah and Jamie Raskin are career politicians who have used the system to enrich themselves"[10] The AAF filed an ethics complaint against Jamie Raskin due to his late disclosure of a stock sale by Sarah Bloom Raskin.[11] While Bloom Raskin told the New Yorker that she did not expect special treatment, she did explain that their son had committed suicide two weeks after the sale and that they "were comatose, barely functioning, so of course Jamie didn't remember to file".[6]
AAF Attack on Comptroller of the Currency Nominee Saule Omarova
AAF bullied President Biden's nominee for Comptroller of the Currency Saule Omarova into withdrawing herself from consideration after launching an investigation into her history and falsely painting her as a Marxist. Omarova told the New Yorker, "There were so many accusations. AAF was at the forefront of making my life extremely and unnecessarily difficult. It was complete absurdity. But people who have no idea who I am jumped in and said, 'Go back to the Soviet Union!'."[6] The AAF's tactics for attacking Omarova primarily involved taking clips of her speaking and reproducing them without context and weaponizing her childhood in Kazakhstan against her.[12]
AAF Attack on Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Nominee David Chipman
The New Yorker reported that the AAF accused Chipman of being both racist and too "woke", exaggerating his belief that Army bases should not be named after Confederate soldiers and his opposition to monuments that celebrate them due to their racial insensitivity. AAF claimed that he wanted to "use fighter jets to bomb" Mount Rushmore. Due to the relentless harassment of AAF, users on Twitter called for his death and his wife, a long-time ATF employee felt too unsafe to continue working and quit her job[6].
AAF Infiltrated Zoom Training Meeting for Congressional Staffers
AAF members posing as congressional aides infiltrated and recorded a Zoom meeting about earmark spending rules in the spring of 2021. The recording was posted online. Appropriations Committee spokesman Evan Hollander wrote in an email, "For a group that purports to concern itself with ethics, using fake identities, misrepresenting themselves as Congressional staff and surreptitiously recording meetings is hypocritical in the extreme."[13] Founder Tom Jones told Fox News, "I'm never doing anything illegal but just because it's impolite to log into an earmark training seminar and offend the morals of Capitol Hill staff, that's not going to stop me from doing it."[4]
Launched with the Help of the Conservative Partnership Institute
AAF lists itself as in care of the Conservative Partnership Institute in its 501(c)(3) application, and in CPI's 2021 annual report, it described that AAF was part of a "new dimension" to the group's work. The report states, "Before the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), conservatives didn't have a group performing research on Biden's woke nominees-- even though plenty of liberal groups were digging up (or manufacturing) dirt on our side."[14]
AAF Founder Tom Jones
Founder and executive director Tomas Jones was the Legislative Director to Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Senior Policy Advisor to former Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Opposition Research Director for Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, and served as the President of both the339 Group and the Cannon Research Group.[15] He also served as legislative director forJohn Ensign of Nevada.[6]He told Fox News that AAF wants to "take a big handful of sand and throw it in the gears of the Biden Administration"and that, unlike other opposition groups, AAF is based not on individual clients but on "causing trouble for the new administration".[4]
Funding
Funding information for AAF is not publicly available as of July 2022.
the trace
no lnx
Biden’s ATF Pick Hangs by a Thread After a Barrage of Lobbying and Misinformation
Former agent David Chipman has faced a steady drumbeat of allegations since his nomination in April.
By Nick Penzenstadler and Brian Freskos Aug 4, 2021
David Chipman, President Biden's nominee for Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Graeme Sloan/AP
This article was published in partnership with USA TODAY.
President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Justice Department’s gun agency hinges on a final decision by Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, that could kneecap a key plank of the gun violence prevention agenda.
David Chipman, a former agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, has faced a steady drumbeat of allegations since his nomination in April, ranging from complaints that he made discriminatory comments about Black agents during his tenure to fears that he would attempt to radically limit Second Amendment rights.
Chipman’s supporters launched a final full-court press on King with private meetings this week at the end of a bruising nomination, which had featured millions spent in lobbying on TV, radio and the internet, alongside disinformation about the former agent and his family that turned bizarre and threatening.
Advocates are hoping for a floor vote before the Senate breaks for its August recess this weekend. All Republicans are expected to vote against the nominee, meaning Senate Leader Chuck Schumer could afford no defections if he is to eke out a tie that could be broken by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Republicans maintain that Chipman’s recent work with gun control groups like Everytown and Giffords disqualify him from the position that holds law enforcement power over the nation’s gun manufacturers, importers, and sellers. (Everytown provides grants through its nonpolitical arm to The Trace, which partnered with USA TODAY in this coverage).
Read Next The ATF Catches Thousands of Lawbreaking Gun Dealers Every Year. It Shuts Down Very Few. In a sweeping investigation, The Trace and USA TODAY found the federal agency charged with policing the gun industry let dealers get away with falsifying records and selling firearms without background checks.]
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the president knew the Chipman nomination “wouldn’t be easy,” citing the lack of a confirmed director for the last six years. “We’ve been eyes wide open into the challenge from the beginning,” she said Wednesday at the White House press briefing.
When asked about the opposition by King, who caucuses with Democrats, she instead pointed to the GOP, “We are disappointed by the fact that many Republicans are moving in lockstep to try to hold up his nomination and handcuff the chief federal law enforcement agency tasked with fighting gun crimes.”
Gun control advocates said this week that the focus had shifted to King, despite unknown votes by other moderate Democrats, including Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia and Montana’s Senator Jon Tester. Two leading gun violence prevention advocates met with King by phone Wednesday morning.
One of them was Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. He’s been an outspoken supporter of Chipman and appeared with President Joe Biden in the Rose Garden in April to roll out the president’s gun control proposals.
After the meeting with King, Guttenberg told USA TODAY that he “gave us the time, and I think it mattered.”
“At this point, it’s on him to take any additional steps on a final decision because he has become the crucial piece in this conversation, and the gun lobby knows it,” Guttenberg said. “This has been ugly, and it’s not about the nominee. As someone who has to visit his daughter in the cemetery because of those tactics, I’m disgusted.”
Po Murray, an organizer with the advocacy group Newtown Action Alliance, said she told King on Wednesday to consider the views of families and survivors of gun violence “more than the smear campaign from the corporate gun lobby.”
David Trahan, executive director of Sportsman Alliance of Maine, said his influential gun-rights group of 50,000 members lobbied against Chipman hoping to sway King.
“Our biggest objection is over-politicizing a law enforcement agency and the ramifications it would have around the country to impact a fragile relationship with groups like ours and gun owners,” Trahan said. “I served with (then Maine Governor) King in our state Legislature, and I know he’ll do what’s best for the country.”
A spokesperson for King, traditionally a Biden ally, said the senator “continues to review the nomination” and declined to say if he’d meet again with Chipman.
Chipman would have oversight of both the ATF’s law enforcement investigations and regulatory infrastructure to hold the nation’s gun shops accountable. A recent USA TODAY/The Trace investigation highlighted the lax punishment many of the worst offenders face after inspections.
No new hearing despite calls for more info
The political fight picked up steam this week with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and others calling either for a second hearing for Chipman or for the White House to withdraw the nomination.
That came on the heels of answers to Senator Ted Cruz of Texas about two Equal Employment Opportunity complaints from ATF employees alleging discrimination by Chipman. In written testimony, Chipman acknowledged that he was the subject of the complaints, but said both “were resolved without any finding of discrimination and no disciplinary action was taken against me.”
Conservative media outlets and a gun-rights website amplified the complaints and concerns over Chipman’s interaction about Black recruits to the agency.
Tom Jones, president of the American Accountability Foundation – a conservative group that does opposition research on Biden nominees – said the group had filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for Chipman’s personnel files.
“AAF has known for months that David Chipman is a toxic nominee and unfit to lead the agency,” Jones said in a statement. “Make no mistake: his history of racist and derogatory comments have only come to the public’s awareness because of AAF’s tireless efforts.”
Grassley and others also called for the ATF to release more personnel files. An ATF spokesperson said that, as a retired agent, Chipman’s full personnel file is held by the National Archives and generally not releasable without Chipman’s consent.
Chipman declined to comment for this article.
In response to calls for both another hearing and allegations of discrimination, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois wrote Monday that the effort was part of a campaign to “derail Mr. Chipman’s nomination and tarnish his record and reputation.” He said he would not hold another session.
Durbin also took time to point out disinformation distributed by Chipman’s opponents throughout the nomination.
He cited a widely circulated image of an armed FBI agent standing at the Branch Davidians compound in Waco, Texas, who was erroneously identified as Chipman, and a report that Chipman had misplaced his service weapon as an ATF agent – a claim denied by Chipman and the agency.
On Wednesday, Fox News published a report accusing Chipman of intentionally hiding an appearance on Chinese television from 2012, which quickly took off on social media with charges of treason and memes depicting the former ATF agent as Chairman Mao.
A group of Republican congressmen led by Montana’s Representative Matt Rosendale distributed a draft impeachment document to file against Chipman should he be confirmed, alleging he will fail to defend the Second Amendment and that he lied to Congress when he denied losing his service weapon while on duty.
Gun-rights groups added pressure. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group, ran television ads against Chipman in West Virginia and Maine, and the National Rifle Association urged members to tell their senators to reject his nomination.
Confirmation spilled into Chipman’s personal life
The nomination fight brought out waves of hyperbolic memes featuring Chipman in vulgar settings. His presence at the Waco siege days after the violence was merged into misinformation that is digitally tethered online to his image as “Crispy Kids Chipman” and “Waco Dave.”
Others took aim at Chipman’s wife, Tara, who until her retirement in July was a division chief in the ATF’s public affairs office. Anonymous bloggers and social media sleuths claimed victory for her resignation after posting about what they called a “massive conflict of interest.”
Tara Chipman told USA TODAY that she retired to avoid the conflict of working under her husband’s leadership or staying on in the aftermath of a failed nomination.
She cited cases of online harassment, including conspiracy theories tied to her mother, Olivia Cajero-Bedford, a former Democratic state senator in Arizona who proposed a ban on the bump stock devices now banned nationwide.
“The negative attention was more than either of us expected, especially me as a spouse,” Tara Chipman said Wednesday. “I don’t know why anyone would want a Senate-confirmed position in government.
“I feel kind of powerless because, of course, I want to go after these people, but I don’t want to do anything to endanger David’s nomination.”
In June, an anonymous Twitter user posted an address in Virginia that purportedly was the Chipmans’ home.
Tara Chipman said the address is actually a rental property the couple owns and she feared for her tenant. She reported the post to Twitter, but the company declined to remove it.
Confirmation always a long shot
Biden announced Chipman’s nomination in April, alongside executive actions to restrict homemade, unserialized “ghost guns” and the widely popular firearm accessory known as a pistol-stabilizing brace, used to kill 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket in March.
Chipman had advocated similar measures. In 2018, for example, he co-authored a report calling for tighter controls on stabilizing braces and criticizing the ATF’s inconsistent approach to regulating them.
Many observers believe the odds were stacked against Chipman from the beginning, given his statements in favor of gun control.
“He has advocated an assault weapons ban, and there are a lot of pro-gun people who would never support him based on that fact alone,” said Norm Bergeron, a former ATF agent who retired in 2017. “With the Senate essentially split 50-50, it doesn’t take much to hold up a confirmation, and everybody has their own opinion.”
During his June confirmation hearing, GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee lambasted Chipman for his gun control advocacy work and past statements on firearm ownership, including when he compared first-time gun buyers to zombie apocalypse preppers.
Grassley, the committee’s top Republican, said giving Chipman reign over the ATF was “like putting a tobacco executive in charge of Health and Human Services or antifa in charge of the Portland Police Department.”
The committee ultimately deadlocked along party lines over advancing Chipman’s nomination, requiring Democrats to jump through procedural hoops to bring it to a vote by the full chamber.
The ATF has been overseen by a series of acting leaders since 2006, when gun lobbyists swayed Congress to take away the president’s power to appoint the bureau’s director without Senate approval. Since then, every nomination has stalled with the exception of B. Todd Jones, who was confirmed in 2013 after an intense lobbying effort by Democrats.
Jones stepped down two years later, and President Barack Obama did not put forward a replacement.President Donald Trump tapped Chuck Canterbury, former head of the national Fraternal Order of Police, but eventually withdrew the nomination after Republicans expressed doubts over his commitment to gun rights.
“No matter who the nominee is, people are going to dig into their background and find one little thing that they said or one group that they may have connected with, and they’re going to exploit that for their own political means,” said Joseph Bisbee, a former ATF agent in Seattle.
Bisbee said the lack of confirmed leadership has undermined morale among the rank-and-file agents and made it difficult for the bureau to set long-term priorities.
“It would be nice to have someone who has the experience and exposure and knows what needs to be done and how to navigate it,” he said. “But the way it’s currently set up, I don’t know that that’s ever going to happen.”
Nick Penzenstadler is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team, focusing primarily on firearms and consumer financial protection. Contact him at npenz@usatoday.com or @npenzenstadler, or on Signal at (720) 507-5273.
Brian Freskos is a senior researcher and data analyst for the Conflict Awareness Project. He was previously a Chicago-based staff writer for The Trace, where he covered gun trafficking and community-based violence prevention.===
duck 7 23
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Apr 8, 2021Gun rights groups are expressing concern over President Biden 's decision to name gun-control advocate David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
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Sep 9, 2021Washington — President Biden withdrew the nomination of David Chipman to serve as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Thursday amid bipartisan...
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Sep 9, 2021CNN — The White House withdrew the nomination of David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, President Joe Biden announced in a statement Thursday.
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May 26, 2021President Biden's choice to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) struggled under questioning from Republican senators at his confirmation hearing Wednesday, declining...
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May 4, 2021President Biden is nominating David Chipman, a former federal agent and adviser at the gun control group Giffords, to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives....
:{Who Is David Chipman, Biden's ATF Nominee? : NPR:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
Apr 8, 2021President Biden is nominating Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Andrew Harnik/AP President Biden will nominate David Chipman, adviser to a major gun...
:{Who Is Biden's ATF Nominee, David Chipman? : NPR:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
May 24, 2021One former ATF agent once likened it to walking into a buzz saw. Now, that same former agent, David Chipman, is President Biden's nominee to lead the ATF. Chipman's nomination has garnered strong...
:{'This Was a Failure': Biden's A.T.F. Pick Says White House Left Him ...:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
Sep 29, 2021Sept. 29, 2021 David Chipman's confirmation odyssey began with a short congratulatory buzz from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in April and ended, he said, with a long, rueful call from...
:{Biden's most dangerous nominee: Waco agent David Chipman to run the ATF ...:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
A law enforcement officer who spent a quarter-century serving in the ATF, Chipman is extreme in his opposition to basic Second Amendment rights. That's bad enough, but he isn't just a radical in ...
:{Biden ATF Pick David Chipman Hangs By a Thread - The Trace:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
Biden's ATF Pick Hangs by a Thread After a Barrage of Lobbying and Misinformation Former agent David Chipman has faced a steady drumbeat of allegations since his nomination in April. By Nick Penzenstadler and Brian Freskos Aug 4, 2021 David Chipman, President Biden's nominee for Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
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:{Déjà Vu: Biden Doubles Down On Weaponizing ATF:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;background-color:#ffff66;"):}:
Jun 29, 2022NRA Blog Help Déjà Vu: Biden Doubles Down On Weaponizing ATF by Jason Ouimet, Executive Director, NRA-ILA posted on June 29, 2022 News, Features Support NRA America's 1st Freedom
:{Dueling Messages Muddle Biden's Agenda on Guns:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
Mar 4, 2022WASHINGTON — In late January, days before President Biden reiterated a vow to halt the sale of parts used to make deadly "ghost guns," the federal official responsible for enacting that policy...
:{Fallon: Biden Administration Weaponizing ATF Against Law-Abiding ...:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
Mar 23, 2023WASHINGTON — Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Pat Fallon (R-Texas) opened today's joint subcommittee hearing by slamming the Biden Administration's recent actions infringing upon Americans' Second Amendment rights.
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Jul 12, 2022Biden was forced to withdraw Chipman's nomination in September after opposition from Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, who caucuses with Democrats. The ATF has been overseen by a series ...
:{Joint Hearing Wrap Up: Biden Administration has Weaponized the ATF to ...:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
Mar 23, 2023The Biden Administration has weaponized the ATF to target law-abiding gun owners through regulation and Congress must step in to prevent this regulatory overreach. ... Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.) broke down how arbitrary rules from the ATF which get promulgated with little warning, can create criminals out of law-abiding citizens. ...
:{How the A.T.F., Key to Biden's Gun Plan, Became an N.R.A. 'Whipping Boy ...:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
May 2, 2021Mr. Biden has ordered a ban on the homemade-firearm kits known as "ghost guns," a prohibition the A.T.F. will have to enforce. To help set gun policy, he has charged the A.T.F. with undertaking...
:{Gun stores shut down by ATF for flouting federal laws revealed - USA TODAY:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
Mar 30, 2023ATF regulators revoked gun shop licenses in 2021 and 2022 under the zero-tolerance policy across 30 states. Texas had 11 shops revoked, the most in the nation. Texas historically has been home to ...
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Apr 11, 2022Washington, DC, April 11, 2022 Tags: 2nd Amendment With Steve Dettelbach's nomination to Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Joe Biden has chosen to put an anti-Second Amendment advocate in charge of the agency responsible for regulating America's firearms industry.
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Get a Free Mystery Grab Bag ($40 Value) @Tacpack with code GNG at → https://bit.ly/3EPNzi5White House Release: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/blog/...
:{The Biden Plan To Weaponize The ATF - Bearing Arms:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;vertical-align:top;display:inline-block;max-width:100%;text-wrap:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis"):}:
Joe Biden's pick to run the ATF didn't do himself many favors on Wednesday during his confirmation hearing; from claiming that his anti-gun advocacy will have no bearing on his job performance...