Archived Comments: 09/2009

Author: CUATF Webmaster September 26, 2009 10:44 PM Sent to www.CleanUpATF.org: A Follow-up message to "Message to Agent Cefalu" (below): Vince Cefalu told Sullivan and Carter and Hoover years ago what was happening on that abortion of an investigation in Stockton and they tried to take his job for standing up. He told Melson and Fienstein. Still nothing. Now the truth is here and and Vince is being vindicated. Read the damn comments on the latest Modesto Bee article. The public gets it. Everyone does except you guys. You are embarrassing all of us. I've read this page and swore I'd never write to it but I really am disgusted by HQ right now. I worked with Vince in Atlanta. Some of the stuff they said about him in court is true. He is brash, loud and aggressive. He is an UNDERCOVER AGENT, for God sakes! He did the job you Fresca drinkers never did, never tried, never could, never had the balls to. What he is not is a liar and a cheat. Hoover, you and the boys let your pussy supervisors slander him, but now, due process is taking place and people are going to lose their jobs for lying under oath. Tell your hatchet-woman Loos to look up Title 18 Section 1621 and explain to your witnesses what happens when you perjury yourself. If she can't find it, ask Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby, Barry Bonds or Bernie Madoff how it works. Why do you always have to learn everything the hard way? You did this to yourselves by turning your backs and closing your ears to the truth, but closing your eyes, sticking your fingers in your ears, and doing the "NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH" doesn't make problems go away. I am so f***ing pissed off at my agency right now. Bort lied under oath this week. So did Gleysteen and Downs. Bort also talked s**t about Vince's CHILDREN in a Federal Courtroom! Bort publicly insulted an ATF agent's completely innocent family in open court and on the record, for absolutely no legitimate reason. PS: You ATF "leaders" trumpeted the "glorious" retirement of Vanessa McLemore (who reportedly committed multiple prosecutable offenses as a high level ATF manager), yet Ford won't post notice of the death and services for Agent Mike Russell. What a bunch of cowards and imbeciles you are. ATF disgusts me tonight. ================================= Sent to www.CleanUpATF.org: Message to Agent Cefalu: “Reputation is what others think you are. Character is who you truly are.” I am a resident of Salida, CA. I heard of this site from an article in the Modesto Bee. On behalf of me and my neighbors we want to thank you Agent Cefalu. You have become to the Central Valley what Frank Serpico was to New York City. You have made our community safer by telling the truth and standing up to corrupt police from the inside. Thank You. I think Bob 'Road Dog' Holloway is guilty of something. To much police attention was on him for him not to be. Where there is smoke there is fire. Apparently you thought so to since you investigated him. As much as I can tell from the paper, you have never said Holloway is innocent or the attempt to investigate him was wrong, just corrupt. When our police investigate and prosecute criminals by breaking laws and lying as witnesses the police become worse than the suspects. I can only imagine the frustration you must feel after having to carry the burden to expose dirty cops and then condemned by your own people for doing so. The US Prosecutors here are now defending ATFE agents who lie under oath and denying the testimony of others who appear to have the truth. Destroyed evidence, lost reports, perjury, internal squabbles and the corrupt cops who did it are not the kind of people you want as friends anyway. Your bosses here may not think highly of you but our community needs more of your kind. The personal attacks on you by your own people raised eyebrows but last weeks testimony by Agent Bord with his verbal insult of your kids and the mystery motorcycle sticker broke this camels back. ATFE get the criminals off the street but don’t break the law to do it and then don't lie about it afterward. If there was such a police medal for sacrificing your career and friends for being honest and truthful then Agent Cefalu deserves it. If it doesn't exist, invent one and give it to him. Hey ATFE! Like Ricky told Lucy, "You have some 'splainin' to do." *** ATF is just like the Nixon administration of the early 70's. Deception of the American People. Espionage, cover-ups, perjury, above the law, sacrificing careers, scapegoating, no sense of the greater good, lost evidence and more are commonplace. Nixon resigned before he was impeached. May you should consider that strategy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: 007 September 20, 2009 6:18 PM Pay close attention in the weeks to come. Counsels office has ignored their duties and oath as officers of the court for far too long. We are soliciting any and all unethical and illegal acts perpetrated by ATF counsel members. We have identified their BAR memberships to date. Any falsification of documents, and covering of unethical acts by supervisory attorneys, any misleading or mis representative documents, declarations or interrogatories to any court will be listed. As previously stated, protecting and harboring corrupt and unethical managers ends now. We will be posting emails and other documents for any and all to produce to their own attorney and or congressional representative. Former ATF counsel Richard Hurst submitted false documents on behalf of the Bureau on at least 2 separate occasions with his Supervisor Ms. Loos' knowledge. When asked to explain, he stated clerical errors. We will be posting the documents. You decide whether this is the way a Law Enforcement agency conducts business. We have emails which also may be used by those suffering unethical abuses by Chief counsels office which direct managers in how to conceal evidence on their computers. This information is currently being reviewed by the OSC. It has always been the unwritten rule that Division counsel does not get involved in personnel matters within their own division. This is so that the integrity of the working relationship between the Agents and attorneys remains professional and mutually trustworthy. Recent practices by division counsel in various divisions now suggest that has all changed. Multiple attorneys have represented SACs and ASACs related to whistle blower reprisals against agents in their own divisions. Division counsel is merely becoming an extension of Ms. Loos' shop and will act on adverse actions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Commander Cody replied to comment from CUATF Webmaster September 20, 2009 11:31 AM How is this for an ethics violation? When my brother was deposed, he told the ATF lawyers that the group supervisor in question perjured himself. My brother showed them the EEO investigator reported in which the supervisor said one thing, and then my brother showed them an interrogatory submitted by the supervisor, through these ATF lawyers, in which the supervisor completely contradicted his first statement. As you know, answers on an interrogatory are under oath. Statements made to an EEO investigator as part of an official investigator are also made under oath. So if he says two different things about the same matter, isn't that perjury? And shouldn't lawyers, as officers of the court, do something to correct that? Or is the supervisor going to get prmoted to ASAC like that guy in Boston? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Victory is dependant on investigations and determination September 19, 2009 11:15 PM When I was directed to this blog by my fellow agents, I was, and still am hopeful that some sort of positive change comes from the truth being publicly posted. I routinely review the updated comments on this site and it is painfully obvious that there is a serious, universal problem with ATF's SAC's being deplorable managers, that is, when they actually show up to work. The second, but equally problematic observation is that the SES club is strictly concerned with their career advancement and not with providing the tools to the field agents they need in order to work cases against some of the most violent criminals in the country. The universal observation, from the west coast to the east coast is that as a whole, the management within ATF is egotistic, pathetic and inadequate. It just so happens that I am supervised by a prime example of the typical egotistical, pathetic and inadequate people who have minimal investigative experience, huge egos and are simply punching their tickets so they can join the SES fraternity in the big granite frat house in Washington. So when I read these posts from across the country, I know they must be true because I see the same inadequate leadership in my corner of the country on a daily basis. My question is has there been any indication that some positive change is going to take place from within ATF? If not, has anyone heard any information that our elected representatives plan on force feeding some sort of positive change on the SAC's and the SES gang? Believe me, the sooner the poor management within ATF is scrutinized, the better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: CUATF Webmaster September 17, 2009 9:38 AM Submitted by: Doc Holiday We are in the process of compiling ALL State BAR memberships maintained by the attorneys in ATF Chief counsels office. We are compiling only the most severe ethics violations and we will be filing these complaints once we have sufficient facts to force action by the BAR. Please post any and all KNOWN and PROVABLE significant ethics violations that have occurred by ATF attorneys. There will be more specific information to follow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Commander Cody September 13, 2009 5:52 PM I am the brother of an ATF agent who has given his life to the US Government for twenty years. I can't get too specific about his story because if any bosses are reading this site, they will probably try to track him down if I say too much. A new boss was assigned to his group. Up until then, he didn't have any problems with taking off time to take care of a sick family member under the provisions of the Family Medical Leave Act. However, under this boss, my brother started to encounter resistance and eventually hostility for exercising his rights under a law passed in the early 1990's. I guess it was bad enough for my brother when his GS kept denying him all sorts of training requests while allowing the other agents whatever training they requested. My brother sucked it up as any good cop does. But when the GS told my brother he was denying him leave under FMLA because the GS had allowed everyone else leave during the same week as some bull**** training session, my brother had enough. He needed the time off to take care of a sick family member, but the boss didn't care. My brother filed an EEO complaint, saying that if he were a woman caretaker, there would be no problem. Well, ATF [specifically that Torres guy who ran the EEO office] took over a year to even initiate an EEO counseling session. Maybe they were trying to cover for the GS; after all, his cousin was a HQ guy and another cousin [since retired] was at the top of the ATF hierarchy chart. My brother couldn't afford a lawyer because all his money goes to medical bills, so he fought his EEO battle on his own. The GS started to retaliate against my brother in typical fashion. My brother, who had a sterling record in the government up until then, started getting negative and false comments on his performance appraisal. The boss put him under increased surveillance, going over every report with a fine tooth comb while allowing the other agents to submit reports with the grammatical skill of an ESL student in a Chicago public school. He even demanded to know where my brother was every minute while the other agents were allowed free reign. Funny thing happened when the case started in the EEOC. The boss's excuse, as submitted by ATF lawyers, was that he was ignorant of the FMLA law. Can you believe that an ATF supervisor claimed ingnorance of the law? To me, this ranks right up there with Bill Clinton using the line "it depends on what the definition of is, is." How can ATF lawyers continue to defend this case as officers of the court? Aren't they obligated to do something to correct this? Ignorance of the law is never supposed to be a defense, but I guess it is for ATF supervisors. Do you think my brother [or even me] should report these lawyers to their homestate bar associations? And how do you find out what bar association these lawyers belong to? I think people probably come to this site and think that these stories are exaggerated, if not outright fabrications. But from what my brother has told me, either what he's encountered first hand or what he's been told by other decent, honest agents who unfortunately crossed paths with petty bosses who practice "chickenshit," I would have to advise your visitors that what is being said on this site is probably true. Evil men succeed only when good men do nothing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Liza Beckner replied to comment from 007 September 7, 2009 11:29 AM I'm an idiot. How do I find out about the things you referenced? I have tried to access every website I can for similar cases to no avail. I have retained very competent counsel, however, it never hurts to utilize sources. I just hung up with an ATF ASAC who believes in me and knows I support field agents to the nth degree. Please tell me where to look. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Liza Beckner replied to comment from 007 September 7, 2009 11:24 AM Thank you so much for your . I've not lied about anything. I'm a dedicated employee who feels very poorly about filing against an agency that I truly love (corny but true). I have never even filed a grievance, but feel obligated to go for broke now. How can they even consider taking outsiders' words against an employee who has worked evenings, weekends and holidays to support field agents for no recompense. If you feel I could benefit from your counsel or could contribute to this webpage, please contact me at Liza.Beckner@yahoo.com. I will not be driven out of an agency i believe in by outsiders without a fight. Nobody does it better than we do, especially with the little they give us to do it with. Liza ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: 007 replied to comment from Liza Beckner September 7, 2009 11:06 AM Without knowing your circumstances it is difficult to determine your next course. However, If you have not lied to the OIG like SAC Mclemore, if you have not produced false representations and documents to members of Congress as Chief counsels office has and if you have not been found to knowingly and intentionally disregard ATF and DOJ policies or discriminated You'll probably be OK. If you are not sitting in legal limbo in a position the agency has CREATED while a determination is made if you will be criminally prosecuted for 1001 violations, its a good sign. If you have not falsely reported your G-Ride missing from a fabricated location with your gun inside, you mistakes are probably minor compared. If you have not been found to be a manager who lacks total credibility such as those involved in the recent Office of Special Counsel report related to the treatment of Agents under threat who have blown the whistle, YOU ARE PROBABLY OK. Pay close attention to time lines. The MSPB has a very informative website. Document everything. Seek legal counsel. Pay very close attention to similarly situated employees who have NOT been fired for worse. Pay extremely close attention to managers who have been documented providing false testimony because they may be related to other such cases. Network. Information is your friend. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Liza Beckner September 7, 2009 9:09 AM Good Morning Folks, ATF is proposing to remove me. I have counsel so I can't comment. Let's just say it's devastating after 19 years with ATF. A lot of you know me and I would appreciate any guidance you can offer. They have me working from home with NO ATF equipment. As such, my access is limited to ATF email and Web T&A. I need things to file an appeal that I can't get to. If you can help, please let me know. It will be held in the strictest of confidence.