1315 replies to this topic

[Doc Holiday]

Word is that Ms. Ficaretta ordered that a memo be drafted which was knowingly FILLED with false and misleading data related to the importation of M-1 rifles which had already been cleared by the State Dept.The "blood in the streets memo" had the sole intent of getting the State Dept. To rescind the permit. Why would ATF blatantly circumvent a lawful importation? Remember ATF, we are supposed to be "A" political. Could this type of interference be why the industry doesn't trust us? Word is that HQ is trying to reverse this act due to the FOX news story and congressional inquiries.

[1911idpa]

First Hello. New to the forum. Have many friends in ATF and strong desire to come on myself. Currently GL11 with someone else. Been trying for a long long while for ATF. Disturbing what I read here. My name was recently submitted to the "targeted recruitment" in two different divisions. Didn't go anywhere because "I do not currently reside in either district". I had nearly 10 years experience with a state investigative agency where I had extensive experience in dope and violent crimes prior to my current gig.
I will not be posting much of anything on here as i'm not on the inside, and can't contribute as such, but I will keep lurking and reading. Thanks to ya'll on here trying to make the agency a better place.

Captian Who

I can tell you what I know about recruitment. Mr. Melson has directed every Divsion to supply ten minority applicants for consideration. He calls it targeted hiring. Now if you were around in the 90's, you were called to a mandatory meeting with a representative of counsels office. At that meeting you were advised of the outcome of the now famous minority lawsuit. A settlement that continues to effect ATF to this day at untold costs. One of the issues of that lawsuit was the use of Schedule A hiring authority to hire minority agents. It was a clever way to hire agents wihout requiring them to pass the TEA exam. The claim was that being hired as a "Schedule A" stigmatized the agent and that had a negative impat on their career. Now I know the conventional logical response was,had it not been for that hiring process, those agents would not have become agents and could not have sued. All past history, so lets fast forward to the present. Mr Melson proposes to now again target a certain population and hire them as he says, to make ATF a reflection of Amerca. I cannot help but think of that saying, if you do not learn from your mistakes you are destined to repeat them. Mr. Melson also says we have to be more businesslike. I believe that coporate America has learned that the road to success is to hire the best person for a job. Now I will concede that each and every one of the ten names submitted by each Division may be the best people for the job, but how will we know, if we eliminate a large pool of candidates. I ask, is there not a chance of these new hires claiming at some time in the future, that they are stigmatized. Mr Melson, I suggest you take the time to read the settlement documents and learn from our mistakes.

[Thor God of Thunder]

I thought you might like to know about this article: http://www.washingto...0073004120.html This article was sent to me and I just wanted to share.

[Thor God of Thunder]

Two very intelligent and insightful comments came from postings below; Avatar's observation that ATF is "without any apparent champion" to fight for us; and Doc Holiday's accurate assessment that ATF has leadership positions filled with people who have "no investment in ATF".

Not a single person in our Executive staff since Magaw has been able to walk into a Senator's office and command respect or speak face to face with the Attorney General and carry any clout. It seems like all of them have abandonded doing what is right for ATF in exchange with what is best for themselves.

AMEN!

[VINCENT A CEFALU]

Much love to Don V. Speedy recovery brother. Props to the teams. You guys make us proud to be ATF Agents. Vince

[avatar]

In the post-9/11 changes, Congress moved explosives issues authority from the Secretary of the Treasury (the "Secretary") to the Attorney General (although some sections of 18 USC still say "the Secretary"). Except in 18 USC 856 ("In addition to any other investigatory authority they have with respect to violations of provisions of this chapter, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, together with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, shall have authority to conduct investigations with respect to violations of subsection (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), or (i) of section 844 of this title.") the jurisdictional authority lies with whomever the Attorney General delegates it to. The Attorney General delegated investigative duties to the Justice Department investigative agencies (like ATF and the FBI) best prepared to handle the duties. If the ATF DD told the DAG that ATF's authority comes from Congress, a reasonable response from the AG could have been "No, MY authority comes from Congress and I'll delegate it as I see fit;" perhaps putting ATF out of the explosives arena altogether. It was reasonable to simply showcase ATF expertise, make the case that ATF should do what it does so well, and hope that reason prevailed. It, perhaps, did not play out to the pure benefit of ATF, but I'm not sure that ATF didn't make its best case in the fight. Is it a surprise that the FBI has more clout? (Did anyone really expect that the FBI would settle for a "compromise" that didn't give them the leverage to do as they please?)

There are a lot of reasons ATF may get systematically dismantled, and I'll tell you why I think that, but want to start with an example of similar LE feuding. Every President since Theodore Roosevelt tried to merge Customs and the Border Patrol. Different cultures, personalities, and turf perceptions and lack of Congressional interest in getting involved kept that from happening until the wake of 9/11. Customs was pulled from Treasury, the Border Patrol component was excised from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (which the Congress formally abolished), and both entities were relocated to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) component of DHS. They still don't get along.

ATF is likely to come out on the short end in a joust with the Department of Justice for several long-standing reasons, in addition to the FBI's hatred of ATF (there's really no other way to put it). Perhaps the most salient is the fact that ATF comes out of the Department of Treasury culture; and as an ATF employee put it to me over lunch one day, "Treasury didn't give a [expletive deleted] what we did. At Justice it's different, they take the law seriously there." The context of the conversation was a discussion of the open-ended "registration period" for shotguns ruled to be Destructive Devices" which (1) lasted lasted from March 1, 1994, to May 1, 2001, some 7 years and 2 months, and (2) violated the NFA and ATF's own regulations by allowing unregistered NFA firearms to be registered during other than an amnesty period. ATF put itself in the position of requiring these DD shotguns to be registered, yet lacked the statutory authority to allow their registration. This is an example of ATF doing what it felt like doing to get something accomplished. I use it as an example because it is convenient, and because the ATF employee told me: "Justice would never allow ATF to do that. Treasury did because they didn't give a [expletive deleted]. This is what I mean by "different cultures."

It wouldn't take much to reorganize the Alcohol and Tobacco components of ATF into the Food and Drug Administration, and there seem to be noises about doing that.

The issue of Firearms is interesting. From what I can determine, the FBI wants absolutely nothing to do with regulating firearms and enforcing federal gun laws. ATF has been signaling "institutional incompetence" in some ways, such as in contradictory rulings by the Firearms Technology Branch (FTB), and the lack of scientific standards for evaluating firearms. FTB is not a certified lab. FTB also recently issued a letter (well known to Special Agents on the West Coast) declaring that a pistol-gripped firearm that is at least 26" in overall length can also have a barrel less than 18" in length and NOT be subject to the NFA. What kind of havoc is that going to wreak when a street agent encounters a person in possession of such a weapon? The FTB letter will probably cause a U.S. Attorney to refuse prosecution---just the existence of the letter represents a problem, no matter what subsequent letter or ruling FTB concocts. My view is this situation arose from some ATF attorney getting into an ego-driven match with somebody at FTB, and thus publishing a "new" policy in the November 2009 FFL Newsletter to prove his ding dong was larger than the FTB person's ding dong. In my judgment, that's NOT the way ATF ought to be run.

Have any of you thought about the implications of ATF adding transactions in NFA firearms and devices to the Form 4473 in its August 2008 revision? Since the manufacture, distribution and subsequent transfers of NFA firearmsm have been recorded in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) since 1934, would not this added paperwork burden be an example of "waste" of public funds because it duplicates what another system is already doing? The short answer is that the NFA Branch loses, destroys, misclassifies and God knows whatever else to NFA paperwork, to an extent that the NFRTR has become inaccurate, incomplete and, therefore, unreliable. Why is ATF doing traces on NFA firearms now? This is supposed to happen if they are used in crimes, but if the NFRTR is inaccurate, what then? Or maybe the traces are done for other reasons. None of this is any secret to SOTs. Again, this is a "big picture" example --- why duplicate an existing NFA firearm registration/transfer system, by adding it to the Form 4473 process? Both defense counsel and budget-cutters in the Congress may have questions about that. Also, you might take a look at page 18 of the "LESSON OBJECTIVES" for the recent slide presentation entitled "OVERVIEW OF NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT: ROLL CALL TRAINING" which discusses that there is an "official" NFRTR and the implication that there has been an "unofficial" NFRTR used to establish probable cause. Note that the "LESSON OBJECTIVES" distributed with this slide presentation were directed specifically to "Special Agent and Industry Operations Investigator personnel," and it thus seems appropriate to refer to it here. This is the kind of stuff that can and probably has caused Department of Justice attorneys to gag, and it doesn't help ATF.

Another reason ATF is in a difficult position is that the FBI is simply better positioned, bureaucratically and historically, to wield vaster influence. ATF is not only coming late to the Justice family, it is doing so without any apparent champion and with the lack of a permanent Director. The lack of a permanent Director; the Obama administration's obvious reluctance to name and back a permanent Director for confirmation; and the "hands-off" attitude the Congress has displayed, leaves ATF open to get picked clean.

I'd like to end this post on a more positive note, by saying what I think that Special Agents and others can do to right the listing ATF ship; and make no mistake, the ATF ship is listing.

In a different earlier post that I'll not repeat here, I suggested that the folks who run CleanUpATF decide on a credible, savvy spokesperson and open communications with the Subcommittee on Appropriations --- that will bypass the foisting off of concerns expressed here, and take them to where it really matters. How money gets spent, and how much, is the lifeblood of any federal agency. Make the case yourselves that your leaders will not, directly to the Subcommittee on Appropriations. And make sure your spokesperson is articulate, intelligent, can think on his or her feet, and is impeccably politically savvy.

[Antigone]

In the post-9/11 changes, Congress moved explosives issues authority from the Secretary of the Treasury (the "Secretary") to the Attorney General (although some sections of 18 USC still say "the Secretary"). Except in 18 USC 856 ("In addition to any other investigatory authority they have with respect to violations of provisions of this chapter, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, together with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, shall have authority to conduct investigations with respect to violations of subsection (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), or (i) of section 844 of this title.") the jurisdictional authority lies with whomever the Attorney General delegates it to. The Attorney General delegated investigative duties to the Justice Department investigative agencies (like ATF and the FBI) best prepared to handle the duties. If the ATF DD told the DAG that ATF's authority comes from Congress, a reasonable response from the AG could have been "No, MY authority comes from Congress and I'll delegate it as I see fit;" perhaps putting ATF out of the explosives arena altogether. It was reasonable to simply showcase ATF expertise, make the case that ATF should do what it does so well, and hope that reason prevailed. It, perhaps, did not play out to the pure benefit of ATF, but I'm not sure that ATF didn't make its best case in the fight. Is it a surprise that the FBI has more clout? (Did anyone really expect that the FBI would settle for a "compromise" that didn't give them the leverage to do as they please?)

[Doc Holiday]

We have been warning of the meltdown at ATF for months and months and the consequences of hide the ball from Congress and America regarding the TOTAL lack of leadership and accountability. This is just the beginning. When an acting Director or in this case a DD trys to stand side by side with Mueller and Napolitano and other career agency heads, they are going to lose every time. When we have leaders who have no investment in ATF, they are just laughed at and told to go sit in a corner. The negotiation for our explosive laws was embarrasing and potentially fatal to our very existence. The next thing to fall is our firearms jurisdiction to CBP. There are horror stories surfacing across the country where ATF is being dismissed By CBP regarding gun cases and the U S Attys are backing CBP and FBI. The best Mr Melson has and can do apparently is shuffle the SAME managers who have repeatedly lied to him, to other equally important positions. No one has been removed. NOT one. Not Loos, Not Ford, Not Martin, NOT Newell, Not one. Ford is dragging his feet regarding his assignment as AD OSII. He is disregarding DD Melsons mandate hoping he can get to Chicago or stay where he is if Traver gets in. Some of the SACs are openly mocking "the old man" knowing that #1 he WON'T do anything to them and # 2 anything he's says is only temporary. Again, WHY did we even submit a proposal to DOJ trying to justify our standing with regards to exploisves jurisdiction? Why didn,t Mr. Melson just politely tell DOJ "Our authority comes from the U S Congress and until that changes, we will do our job"? I think we know why. Poor counsel from an executive staff who has NO other concern that how will this affect my next promotion. Seriously, we just handed the purse strings to a SAC who even THOUGHT it was a good idea to spend taxpayer money for Cadillacs, SERIOUSLY? The same SAC who thought it was OK to use ATF resources to help the Directors nephew with his college home work? Seriously Mr. Melson, Seriously?

[ProConfesso]

"FBI/ATF squabbles are hurting bombing inquiries.." http://www.washingto...er=emailarticle

[Patriot]

Captian Who I can tell you what I know about recruitment. Mr. Melson has directed every Divsion to supply ten minority applicants for consideration. He calls it targeted hiring. Now if you were around in the 90's, you were called to a mandatory meeting with a representative of counsels office. At that meeting you were advised of the outcome of the now famous minority lawsuit. A settlement that continues to effect ATF to this day at untold costs. One of the issues of that lawsuit was the use of Schedule A hiring authority to hire minority agents. It was a clever way to hire agents wihout requiring them to pass the TEA exam. The claim was that being hired as a "Schedule A" stigmatized the agent and that had a negative impat on their career. Now I know the conventional logical response was,had it not been for that hiring process, those agents would not have become agents and could not have sued. All past history, so lets fast forward to the present. Mr Melson proposes to now again target a certain population and hire them as he says, to make ATF a reflection of Amerca. I cannot help but think of that saying, if you do not learn from your mistakes you are destined to repeat them. Mr. Melson also says we have to be more businesslike. I believe that coporate America has learned that the road to success is to hire the best person for a job. Now I will concede that each and every one of the ten names submitted by each Division may be the best people for the job, but how will we know, if we eliminate a large pool of candidates. I ask, is there not a chance of these new hires claiming at some time in the future, that they are stigmatized. Mr Melson, I suggest you take the time to read the settlement documents and learn from our mistakes.

[Doc Holiday]

It is being reported to CUATF that AD Ford has and is diregarding Mr. Melsons directive to report to OSII and has been delaying his new assignment openly stating that he can "outlast the old man" and just wait until Traver gets here. We didn't know you could disregard the Deputy Director. It is also well known that AD Ford has been identified by senior ATF managers under oath, as having lied to congress on multiple occasions with the support and guidfance of Ms Loos' office. This is not a skill set which will elevate the OSII. In fact, wqith zero integrity and zero credibility, one must question why he remains in ANY position of authority?

[CaptainWho]

I'm looking for info on the agency initiative to recruit agents from within ATF that are under represented minorities, does anyone have any info on this.

[Snake bite]

[quote name='Hiram A' date='25 August 2010 - 12:45 AM' timestamp='1282711517' post='920']
Anyone know of agents being arrested and being suspended after? You do not have to call names here but send me a message!

Thanks,

Hiram
[/quote

I know of two diffrent RAC's who were arrested for DUI. As I recall each only received one day off. One of the managers was driving his G-ride and actually fled to another state before being arrested. No big surprise, they both climbed the ATF management ladder to bigger and better things. I have to say, both of these guys are good guys who just made a mistake. The rub I have is if a career 13 made those mistakes this outfit would have fed them to the lions.

There is also the glory hole IOI guy in New Orleans. I have not heard about his being suspended, but he did get a cozy desk in the crystal palace, just like the former Atlanta SAC. I don't know if the inspector was suspended after being arrested for multiple felony charges for placing an entire hotel full of people in danger. The only thing I can say for sure is that I have not heard anything about his being suspended. Again, if he was a street agent or a street IOI, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have been looking for a new job. The hypocrisy in this agency is rampant.

[Hiram A]

Anyone know of agents being arrested and being suspended after? You do not have to call names here but send me a message! Thanks, Hiram

[Thor God of Thunder]

Mr. Melson,
You allowed your PGA to publicly state to CNN that representations regarding the retaliatory and vindictive practices taken against your field agents and employees by Ms. Loos and Chief Counsels Office were slanted and taken out of context. Now you have sworn testimony from senior managers stating unequivicaly that Ms.Loos has a history of being overzealous and unnecessarily adversarial when dealing with employee disputes. We hope you will cause Mr. Thomasson to retract his statement to CNN, apoligize to the agent who provided the information and take proper action against Ms. Loos and any of her subordinates who have used these tactics against members of "The ATF Family". The continued practice of signaling compromise and settlement of disputes only to reverse the offers on the table cost the agency credibilty and create ill-will, and insure protracted litigations. They are government attorneys who should be held to higher standards.They are not defense attorney hacks.....or are they? Discovery abuses, witholding documents and fabricating events cannot be tolerated and are only going to deepen the divide and the US/THEM mentality that exists in our Bureau. The fact that sworn testimony now supports the allegations that AD Ford has knowingly and with the guidance of counsel, lied to U.S. Members of Congress MUST result in an immediate investigation and appropriate disciplinary action.

I AM BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

My silence should not be mistaken with the fact that I may be scared because Mr. Melson called me out. I was attempting to give Mr. Melson and his minions the opportunity to do the right thing....not the half right thing....but the right thing. In the last 90 days, Mr. Melson has failed miserably with only a few minor concessions. Yes he let the SACs and everyone down his chain know that retaliation would no longer be tolerated however, nothing has been done to right all of the wrongs of the past that Mr. Melson has inherited. Mr. Melson like other Directors is choosing to look the other way rather than solve the problems. Mr. Melson is maintaining the quid pro quo that exists in ATF. Mrs. Loos continues to provide advice and counsel in the background. No announcement has been made as to her reassignment or discipline.....nothing...nada!

Mr. Melson should have met with or spoken with the supervisor that had the "balls" to stand-up and say this is wrong, while he was in Atlanta. Unfortunately, he did not and this was a missed opportunity to do the right thing and least get truthful information.

There have been several missed opportunities to do the right thing so the struggle will continue between good and evil. Mr. Melson and his minions being evil and the employees that stand up for justice and their rights being good. I include Mr. Melson because he has chosen to believe the lies that he is told about people he does not know.

You know the Shirley Sherrod story demonstrated that government employees are done wrong on a daily basis and that we as employees should not stand for it. She didn't and we should not either. In the end, we will tell our story.

The remarks in the CNN video said it best where the supervisor said that we need a Director that is not going to put up with this "bullshit".

How can someone lie to Congress and not be locked up and still work for ATF? Maybe they should appoint a Special Counsel to pursue criminal charges...and see how that goes...? It would make for an interesting news week...

[Doc Holiday]

Mr. Melson, You allowed your PGA to publicly state to CNN that representations regarding the retaliatory and vindictive practices taken against your field agents and employees by Ms. Loos and Chief Counsels Office were slanted and taken out of context. Now you have sworn testimony from senior managers stating unequivicaly that Ms.Loos has a history of being overzealous and unnecessarily adversarial when dealing with employee disputes. We hope you will cause Mr. Thomasson to retract his statement to CNN, apoligize to the agent who provided the information and take proper action against Ms. Loos and any of her subordinates who have used these tactics against members of "The ATF Family". The continued practice of signaling compromise and settlement of disputes only to reverse the offers on the table cost the agency credibilty and create ill-will, and insure protracted litigations. They are government attorneys who should be held to higher standards.They are not defense attorney hacks.....or are they? Discovery abuses, witholding documents and fabricating events cannot be tolerated and are only going to deepen the divide and the US/THEM mentality that exists in our Bureau. The fact that sworn testimony now supports the allegations that AD Ford has knowingly and with the guidance of counsel, lied to U.S. Members of Congress MUST result in an immediate investigation and appropriate disciplinary action.

[Doc Holiday]

We in the field are not the only ones watching. The lack of consistent leadership and gross mismanagement is a serious issue that confronts our Bureau.

[Doc Holiday]

Word is that Traver if selected will only be yet another ACTING Director, so the administration doesn't have to answer why we havent had a real Director for over 5 yrs. If that's the case, Mr. Melson will clearly be leading the Agency with Traver sitting in the seat. Now Mr. Melson has made some pretty tall representations but has yet to resolve any of these existing bad management that has occurred. He looked the FLEOA reps right in the eye and made inferences. Make them happen sir. Side-note: Early outs sounds good, BUT who's gonna train the new guys? In some field divisions the avg. time on the job is less that 6 yrs. We will lose our institutional knowledge and experience. How about cutting some of the million SES jobs that used to be done by GS 13's. Quit with ALL the specialty programs. Lets do what we do and that is..................Buy guns, dope and bombs from bad guys. Lets respond to EVERY fire or explosives incident no matter how big or how small. Let remind them of who ATF is.

[Valkyrie]

Maybe Atlanta thought life was getting better with disgraced former SAC Vanessa McLemore gone, but word on the street is some are still getting “special” attention. It seems last week the Atlanta division had their “all hands” conference down in Savannah and word was quietly spread days before to many black agents and inspectors to wear dark suits to class for a special members only picture. After the all employee group photo was taken and people walked away, about a dozen of the division’s black employees gathered up and took their own private photo right in the hotel lobby in front of coworkers – but no white or Hispanic employees allowed. Where was SAC Gant in this? He was gone on photo day down to Louisiana at a different conference. Word is SAC Gant has been busy lately helping out a select group of employees with special access in the form of lunches, phone calls and private meetings. Atlanta is reportedly buzzing about the photo and the tension in the division

[just gotta shake your head]

I thought the Chicago team was in Phoenix Field Divsion management team, along with the tag-a-long wannabe.

[x1811]

Very marginal agent, uninspiring manager. Nuff said. Great guy to have as a neighbor, but has never had an original idea and doesn't have an opinion that he hasn't cleared with superiors.

Is this going to be an infusion of Chicago style politics into ATF management?

[Doc Holiday]

Very marginal agent, uninspiring manager. Nuff said. Great guy to have as a neighbor, but has never had an original idea and doesn't have an opinion that he hasn't cleared with superiors.

[ISpy]

Heard the same thing. Grapevine has it that he was really kissing up to Obama or his folks before and after the election and then strutting around about how he was going to be the next Director. I have to wonder if he knows Blago.

[Enufsenuf]

Is that a good thing?

Uh, no! A typical yes man who has no backbone. IMHO

[Mallard Duck]

Is that a good thing?

[Thor God of Thunder]

The word on the street is that SAC Chicago for Director of ATF.

[Doc Holiday]

A Director is NOT good enough. It must be a leader with STRONG law enforcement background. Enough Lawyer Buresucrats. It must be someone who has gotten dirty and been exposed to what it is we really do. We are behind the curve and don't have time to school up a career bureaucrat, no matter how good of an administrator he or she may be. We are at almost the exact same strength we were 25 yrs ago. We have far more responsibilty and a lot more toys, but our jurisdictions are being stolen right before our eyes. I believe Mr. Melson is an honorable public servant who continually receives poor counsel from those very same people on the executive staff and counsels office who have gotten us into this position in the first place. We have asked for 37 new positions for the border. Big deal. Steve Martin and Mike Gleysteen alone ran off 15 senior and already trained and working employees for trivial retaliatory reasons as the SAC and ASAC of the SFFD. Newell and Torres same story. Now we get to rehire and retrain new agents. Hopefully they will find new managers who know how to address personnell matters beyond just run them off or fire them right before they make their probation. That's a very costly practice.

[Thor God of Thunder]

The rumor is that there is someone in waiting for the Directorship in ATF. I was asked to keep it confidential. I just hope that it will not be another 5 years before we get a new Director.

[Doc Holiday]

More than likely ATF was just told to stay home, and they did. Clearly when Mr. Melson is negotiating with the FBI within DOJ to keep the Explosives in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and EXPLOSIVES, we are probably in a bad way.

[Doc Holiday]

More than likely ATF was just told to stay home, and they did. Clearly when Mr. Melson is negotiating with the FBI within DOJ to keep the Explosives in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and EXPLOSIVES, we are probably in a bad way.

[abteilung]

see "ATF Needs a Little Love in Times Square"
May 7th by Jeff Stein
http://voices.washin...t.com/spy-talk/

Embarrassing.

If all ATF did was, in fact, a firearms trace, then does that justify our existence? I know there are bosses out there who claim that guns are our "bread and butter," but does the ability to conduct traces warrant an agency? We've gotten away from trafficking. I'm not even sure what we actually do. And if ATF did more than just trace a gun and actually did significant forensic or investigative work, then our bosses should've been pushing for agency recognition.
Guess bosses only want recognition for themselves.

[ProConfesso]

see "ATF Needs a Little Love in Times Square" May 7th by Jeff Stein http://voices.washin...t.com/spy-talk/

[Doc Holiday]

In fairness, Vido had alot of help from Gleysteen and Martin in destroying the credibility of the SFFD. Look at the Vang Pao case, what an embarrassment across the board. The FBI is still making jokes about that case. The seizure of a Black Rhino horn, Seriously? Lest we forget about the 3 million dollar case that netted 11 defendants. do the math. Approx. $285,000 PRE prosecution/incarceration expense PER DEFENDANT. Although your pleas to Mr. Melson are being heard, I'm afraid he does not have the integrity or the guts to do what needs to be done. He is NOT a law enforcement executive, he is a career lawyer and a bureaucrat. He recently told a high ranking executive that he knows about the Vidos, Martins, Newells, Loos', Potters, Crenshaws, Fords, Gleysteens and Albrittons of the agency (obviously not an all inclusive list), but his hands are tied. He stated I cant just move them around, that wont do any good, and it would be very difficult to demote or discipline them. Sorry Mr. Melson but we are ATF. WE DO DIFFICULT stuff everyday.

[Snake bite]

Doc, You are right on about Vido and Albritton. They don't care about any of the men and women who go out and work for their paychecks. That is unless an agent is willing to bow down and kiss their rings. One agent actually brings Vido homemade cookies as a way to "suck up" to Vido. In return she always receives the pick of the litter when new cars come in . Albritton shuns caucasian employees, directs that African Americans under his command pass their work off on caucasian employees. After about a year of this discrimination, Albritton was smacked with another EEO complaint. The complaint was settled with absolutely no individual punishment for Albritton. He has had several EEO complaints filed against him, but ATF keeps Albritton in a position of power. As for your statement that "Vido and Albritton blatantly and flagrantly ignored and disregarded threats against a couple of their own Agents without any consequences". There are more than a couple of Agents in the Louisville FD that Vido and Albritton have gone out of their way to ignore threats of violence against the agents and their families. ATF HQ noticed the reality of one threat and moved a good, hard working agent out of the LFD so his family could be safe. It was a win win for this agent because he was able to keep his family safe and he was able to escape the Vido rein of terror. ATF HQ doesn't care that Vido and Albritton don't provide their employees the tools they need to do the job correctly, nor do they care that "Fatman and Robin" ignore their employees concerns and well being. It is known in the crystal palace that both Vido and Albritton are incompentent, but HQ just lets this dynamic duo run free with no personal reprocussions. Mr. Melson, if you want to change ATF for the better, demote the likes of Albritton and Vido. Quit allowing these two clowns to continue to be in charge when they have a proven track record of poor decisions, deceit and ineptness. Look at the mess Vido left in SF and the mess he has created in LFD. Ask anyone who worked for Albritton in NC, if they are honest, they will tell you that he was a laughing stock. Talk to some of the agents on NRT, they will tell you that Albritton is clueless when it comes to what NRT does and that he is merely a figurehead who gets in the way. The old ATF created Albritton and Vido, your job is to change the mistakes of the past and get this agency pointed in the right direction. Go back and check the personnel records, more agents, IOI's and clarical employees have left each field division that Vido has been tasked with destroying than at any other time before Vido showed up or after he left. That should be a big red flag. Vido is a an atrocious leader who needs removed from his position of power. We need help and we need help now!

[Doc Holiday]

Clearly Vido was playing way outside his league in SF. Vido lasted barely a year before he had a heart attack and transferred to Louisville. Two move in a yr. Now thats resource management. He allowed and assisted ASAC Gleysteen in running the division into the ground and ensuring that every senior Agent could not stand the abuse and retired. SAC Martin put the finishing touches on running it into the ground. The taxpayers got the bill for the massive legal expenses which resulted and some of which are still ongoing from the waste fraud, and abuse and gross mismanagement. We would expect nothing different from the team of Vido and Albritton. Their is a very high profile situation in Louisville where Vido and Albritton blatantly and flagrantly ignored and disregarded threats against a couple of their own Agents without any consequences.

[Snake bite]

If SF wants Vido back we will give him to them plus a first round draft pick if they promise to not send him back. Vido does $hi* on people, just because he can. He has the classic little man complex. Somewhere in is pityful little life somebody stole his milk money and now he is taking it out on his "underlings". CLEAN OUT THE LOUISVILLE FIELD OFFICE! VIDO and ALBRITTON MUST GO!