Jay Dobyns, Special Agent, ATF

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<p style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:1.4em;font-weight:bolder;background-color:#03F;color:#FF0;padding:4px 10px 5px;border:solid 2px #ccc;">Jay Dobyns, Special Agent, ATF</p>
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<p><strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia....iki/Jay_Dobyns" title="Wikipedia article about Jay Dobyns..." target="_blank"> Jay &quot;Jaybird&quot; Dobyns (aka &quot;Bird&quot;)</a></strong> is a veteran undercover Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and author of the New York Times Best Selling book, &quot;<a href="http://jaydobyns.com.../no_angel.html" title="&quot;No Angel&quot;" target="_blank">No Angel</a>&quot;. He was star college football player at the University of Arizona who decided against a career in the NFL to become a federal agent. He is undoubtedly one of the most widely-known and at times, controversial federal law enforcement agents in modern history.</p>
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<p>Less than a week days after beginning operational duty as a street agent, Dobyns was critically wounded through the back and chest at point blank range by a convicted felon just released from prison. Just as he pulled the trigger, the suspect was killed in a hail of bullets fired by the other agents. Dr. Richard Carmona, who later became the 17th United States Surgeon General, performed the emergency surgery that saved Dobyns' life. Most agents would have taken a medical retirement, but Dobyns was back on undercover operations within months of leaving the hospital.</p>
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<p>During a career spanning more than two decades, Dobyns underwent an incredible transformation from clean cut, blond-haired, yuppie-clothed, all-American &quot;boy next door&quot; college athlete, to street-savvy, badass undercover operator with &quot;sleeved&quot; inked arms and numerous other tattoos, shaved head, bulging biceps and trademark goatee. Through that metamorphosis, he conducted hundreds of high-risk undercover operations against some of the world's most dangerous criminals and criminal organizations, repeatedly risking his life, and pushing or at times, by his own admission, exceeding the limits. He amassed numerous decorations and accolades, including the coveted &quot;Top Cop&quot; award. He also gained international notoriety after &quot;Operation Black Biscuit&quot;, during which he, contrary to outraged denials from the gang itself, <em>successfully</em> infiltrated the infamous Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang. However, in the aftermath of the case, in which internal squabbles between street agents, ATF management and government prosecutors allowed many of the key Defendants to escape with minor sentences, Dobyns became <i>persona non grata</i> and a pariah in the button-down, &quot;go-along-to-get-along&quot; world of ATF management politics.</p>
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<p>After immersing himself in the Black Biscuit case for years, under constant threat of discovery and death and almost losing his family, Dobyns expected ATF management to protect him and his family from validated threats of murder against himself and the gang rape and murder of his wife and daughter. But ATF management deliberately and illegally turned their back on Dobyns and his family. Dobyns repeatedly attempted to resolve the matter through proper channels within the ATF chain of command, only to be illegally retaliated against over and over. ATF repeatedly subjected him to transfers, psychological evaluations and threatened disciplinary action aimed at cowing him into silence. However, to their considerable surprise, Dobyns not only refused to be intimidated, but filed a comprehensive lawsuit and embarked upon an aggressive &quot;in their face&quot; campaign to expose ATF management for the arrogant lawbreakers that they are. Outside investigations also found that ATF management repeatedly failed in their obligations and illegally retaliated against Dobyns. ATF management eventually agreed to a settlement in which they explicitly promised to protect Dobyns and his family and to stop retaliating against him<a href="http://motemarketing.com" target="_blank">.</a> Not surprisingly, they eventually violated nearly every important provision of that agreement.</p>
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<p>When Dobyns' house was torched in an act of obvious arson while his wife and children slept inside, ATF management officials such as William Newell and George Gillette (central players in the shocking &quot;Operation Fast &amp; Furious&quot; scandal, and who Congressman Darrell Issa characterized as &quot;paid answerers&quot; for their obviously perjured testimony) not only declined to properly investigate, but deliberately <em>obstructed </em>investigation efforts by a few good agents, withheld critical information from ATF Headquarters, and even attempted to frame Dobyns himself as a &quot;suspect&quot; in order to further smear, discredit and retaliate against him.</p>
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<p>In direct response to ATF's outrageously unlawful conduct and flagrant breach of contract, Dobyns again filed suit in federal court. DOJ/ATF responded with a laughably frivolous counter-suit alleging that Dobyns had &quot;damaged&quot; ATF by writing his New York Times Best Selling book, &quot;No Angel&quot;, even though ATF management was aware of the book years before and had given him explicit permission to proceed. Despite the fact that Dobyns, then and still a federal employee, had supposedly done things worthy of a federal lawsuit, not once did ATF management ever pursue even the most trivial form of disciplinary action against him. Moreover, the depositions taken in the case have clearly established a pattern of corruption, retaliation, malice, perjury, obstruction of justice and other unlawful acts so shocking and reprehensible, that once Dobyns wins his lawsuit and the records are unsealed, actual jail time is a serious possibility for several senior ATF managers. Once the actual facts can finally be made public, many will have a far different view regarding Jay Dobyns and the management of ATF.<br />
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There is no question that Jay Dobyns is highly controversial. He is virulently hated by many, particularly in the criminal and ATF management communities (that distinction being rather hazy these days). Some consider him too ostentatious or flamboyant. He is unconventional, often scornful of authority, profane and seemingly arrogant, and those not privy to the actual facts may view his disputes with ATF as purely &quot;self-serving&quot;. But to those who genuinely know him, Jay is a surprisingly self-effacing, soft-spoken good guy; kind and generous, wonderful with children and a blast to hang out with...a <a href="http://motemarketing...marketing.html" target="_blank">far</a> cry from his cocky, in-your-face, &quot;take no prisoners&quot; tough guy public persona. He has also been an exceptionally articulate and reasoned spokesman for the causes championed by CUATF.org and others who've had enough of the rampant corruption at the highest levels of DOJ and ATF. And based on the hundreds of messages we receive here at CUATF.org, he is widely respected and viewed as a genuine American hero by many, both in law enforcement and citizens in the U.S. and abroad.</p>
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<p>Love or hate him, Jay Dobyns is, by most measures, the most well-known personification of those that have aggressively and successfully stood up to the rampant corruption, dishonesty, fraud, waste, abuse, retaliation and institutional arrogance that defines the management of the today's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and its Department of Justice masters. He was also instrumental in inspiring the tidal wave of justified outrage that resulted in the launching of CleanUpATF.org, and the powerful voices of the many good people that have finally stepped up to the plate in Jay's footsteps.</p>
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<p style="font-size:1.4em;color:#03F;line-height:1.3em;background-color:#FF9;padding:15px 20px 20px;border:solid 1px #F90;line-height:1.3em;"><strong>www.CleanUpATF.org salutes Jay Dobyns for his steadfast refusal to lay down in the face of overwhelming odds, constant threats of death and violence, and incredibly vicious attacks by ATF management backed by the full weight of the United States government, and for standing back up every time he's been knocked down. We also honor his family for enduring so much and hanging in there.</strong></p>
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