Division Counsel

Thanks for the pump Goodworker, but not necessary. Ms. Ritt and ATF has sworn testimony and declarations which prove I have done NOTHING wrong. I didnt lack Candor, I WAS acting as a whistleblower by law in exposing retaliation (or at least Chairman ISSA and the 3 yr long OSC investigation says so),and not ONE act of misconduct has been identified. Fabrication, and reprisal is all thats on the table. But of course, AS IS ALWAYS the case, I cannot provide you or anybody else the proof positive, because the FIRST thing ATF did was request a protective order on said proof. The truth NEVER changes, only the lies do.

If Erika Ritt is reading this post, please keep in mind that Vince is an honorable and courageous man with the best of intentions. We all know how the base less rumors fly around this agency and highly trained investigators and attorneys need to examine the facts more critically before casting judgement. There are plenty of people who have made excessively more extreme transgressions in this agency for less than honorable reasons who were never punished. This is not to imply that Vince did anything wrong. We need more agents like Vince, Jay, Dodson, Casa, et el. Mr. Brandon has the right idea and honorable intentions.

A disturbing trend has manifested itself over the last five or six years. SAC's such as J. Torres, Martin, Gleysteen and Newell have utilized their assigned Division counsel for adversarial disputes with employees. We now know, that many of these disputes were with corrupt intent. That then corrupts the Attorneys in the fields eyes. These Attorneys are acting as Private Attorneys to SACs NOT related to mission or regulatory functions.

Mr. Jones MAY or MAY NOT be aware of this destructive practice. HOWEVER, Mr. Brandon and Mr. Turk are well aware of our historical mandate to rely upon Ethics and Administration Attorneys and NOT local counsel to be the adversarial arm of the Bureau.

The reason for this is that Agents and Inspector need to be able to trust local counsel regarding regulatory and enforcement issues which MAY at some point subject the Bureau to liabilities, and they can NOT and will NOTinteract freely with these Attorneys, if they believe that their peers are justifiably or unjustifiably being attacked by those Attorneys. Case in point, Martin utilized the Late Larry Nickell to weigh in on matters regarding clear cut Whistle blower(the emails are well documented), reprisals and retaliation against Jim Tokos and Others. I knew Larry for over 20 years and loved and respected him. Others who did not, reserved any further communication with him due solely to THAT fact.

I would now ask for input regarding Ms. Erica Ritt, Alternate BDO and Division Counsel for Director Nominee/SAC Denver Andy Traver. She is as most know, the alternate Bureau Deciding Official on My and others pending terminations etc etc. My attorney asked for her simple recusal based on numerous factors, the main one being, she is Division Counsel to Director nominee Andy Traver. As I have been honest and vocal publicly, and to Congressional members and in writing related to Mr. Travers shortcomings related to leading our Bureau into the future, it seemed like a COMMON SENSE request to everybody, EXCEPT Ms. RITT. Ms. Riit, however refuses to recuse herself, stating in substance, she was/is not aware of any of my public opinions related to Mr. Travers nomination. That there is NO appearance of impropriety.

That either suggests to me she is either not in very close communication with Mr. Traver who is CERTAINLY aware of my public opinions, (EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE BUREAU AND IN AMERICA SEEM TO BE.CLEARLY INTERNAL AFFAIRS HAS MADE MY OPINIONS THEIR BUSINESS) or she is lacking candor. Either way, THIS is why local counsel should be prohibited from interacting in adversarial disputes. Its that simple.

If Erika Ritt is reading this post, please keep in mind that Vince is an honorable and courageous man with the best of intentions. We all know how the base less rumors fly around this agency and highly trained investigators and attorneys need to examine the facts more critically before casting judgement. There are plenty of people who have made excessively more extreme transgressions in this agency for less than honorable reasons who were never punished. This is not to imply that Vince did anything wrong. We need more agents like Vince, Jay, Dodson, Casa, et el. Mr. Brandon has the right idea and honorable intentions.

Vince, please get with me because I have a friend that has just the information you need on Erica Ritt!!!

Seems like there is an ample supply of lawyers in the agency - perhaps enough that division counsel could remain focused on field activity and not jeopardize the working relationship many have with them? It's been my experience thus far that the division lawyers are more mission oriented (they don't view agents and inspectors as debate opponents). Why risk tainting them or drawing their focus away from what appear to be already full plates?

A disturbing trend has manifested itself over the last five or six years. SAC's such as J. Torres, Martin, Gleysteen and Newell have utilized their assigned Division counsel for adversarial disputes with employees. We now know, that many of these disputes were with corrupt intent. That then corrupts the Attorneys in the fields eyes. These Attorneys are acting as Private Attorneys to SACs NOT related to mission or regulatory functions.

Mr. Jones MAY or MAY NOT be aware of this destructive practice. HOWEVER, Mr. Brandon and Mr. Turk are well aware of our historical mandate to rely upon Ethics and Administration Attorneys and NOT local counsel to be the adversarial arm of the Bureau.

The reason for this is that Agents and Inspector need to be able to trust local counsel regarding regulatory and enforcement issues which MAY at some point subject the Bureau to liabilities, and they can NOT and will NOTinteract freely with these Attorneys, if they believe that their peers are justifiably or unjustifiably being attacked by those Attorneys. Case in point, Martin utilized the Late Larry Nickell to weigh in on matters regarding clear cut Whistle blower(the emails are well documented), reprisals and retaliation against Jim Tokos and Others. I knew Larry for over 20 years and loved and respected him. Others who did not, reserved any further communication with him due solely to THAT fact.

I would now ask for input regarding Ms. Erica Ritt, Alternate BDO and Division Counsel for Director Nominee/SAC Denver Andy Traver. She is as most know, the alternate Bureau Deciding Official on My and others pending terminations etc etc. My attorney asked for her simple recusal based on numerous factors, the main one being, she is Division Counsel to Director nominee Andy Traver. As I have been honest and vocal publicly, and to Congressional members and in writing related to Mr. Travers shortcomings related to leading our Bureau into the future, it seemed like a COMMON SENSE request to everybody, EXCEPT Ms. RITT. Ms. Riit, however refuses to recuse herself, stating in substance, she was/is not aware of any of my public opinions related to Mr. Travers nomination. That there is NO appearance of impropriety.

That either suggests to me she is either not in very close communication with Mr. Traver who is CERTAINLY aware of my public opinions, (EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE BUREAU AND IN AMERICA SEEM TO BE.CLEARLY INTERNAL AFFAIRS HAS MADE MY OPINIONS THEIR BUSINESS) or she is lacking candor. Either way, THIS is why local counsel should be prohibited from interacting in adversarial disputes. Its that simple.