I am a CJA (federally appointed)  investigator. I investigated a case that involved a storefront operations that ATF ran. After I finished the case, I came across evidence that the lead ATF investigator stole funds from the storefront operation. I have made a report to ATF IA and it has been almost one year now and this guy is still working. Is this common? He has multiple working IA cases against him.

CJA? Educate us please. If internal affairs is not acting timely, you should notify DOJ/IG. A year is more than enough time to either CLEAR the Agent, or forward the allegations to ATFs PRB. There are several possibilities as to why this Agent is still on the job. First, he could have been cleared of any wrongdoing. Second, he/she is a boss or favored by bosses at HQ which suggests they tamped down the allegations. They could also be wanting to sweep it under the carpet since we have been getting so much bad press for the way our leadership conducts its internal reviews. If this is significant and symptomatic of the corruption lingering in our upper echelon, might I suggest that the media be engaged. OUR leadership thrives in the darkness and ONLY responds when light is shed on their misdeeds.

Posted Today, 11:09 AM

How disturbing is this? How disturbing is it that ATF leadership denies there is a problem? Mr. Jones, Brandon and Turk are thumbing their noses at the dedicated employees of ATF as evidenced by their refusal to reign in out of control Chief counsels office as evidenced by Mr. Brandon completely ignoring the FAAP recommendations. Does this in fact VALIDATE those Congressional members who resisted Mr. Jones confirmation based upon allegations of reprisals and abuse? YOU BE THE JUDGE. Mr. Jones has been in charge either acting or confirmed for over 2 years. compare the 2010 stats and the steady increase. Sadly, these numbers were taken directly from the Official U.S. DOJ website TODAY..........................

Total number of employees        FBI 35,000+      

Total number of pending EEOC complaints reported end of yr 2012     312    Less than 1%

Total number of employees       DEA  10,000+

Total number of pending EEOC complaints reported end of yr 2012      53      Less than 1%

Total number of employees       ATF    4770

Total number of pending EEOC complaints reported end of yr 2012      1362  More than 25%

SERIOUSLY?????????

Where there is smoke there is fire America.

http://www.justice.g...eeos/nofear.htm

The shame of this is that our Executive Staff has created all of this.Little or no training programs for new Agents. No senior Agents to train new Agents. Over 25% of our gun and badge toting Agents are GS-14, 15 or SES specialized employees, (NOT making cases or advancing our core mission). Supervisors with less than 10 years experience. Whats the point you ask? Senior managers who have failed or proved incompetent to hold leadership positions are NOT demoted or re-assigned, they are merely moved and hidden.Every manager who just goes along with the status quo KNOWS that there will be NO REAL consequences. If the reports by the media are true, and we know THEY AREN'T ALWAYS ACCURATE, The FIRST question that has to be asked is were the RAC, ASAC, SAC or DAD removed or demoted? Was the SAC/DAD of the Milwaukee case demoted (LOSS OF PAY OR BENEFITS), OR was he transferred as a SAC to the VERY Office he had been begging to go to for the last 10 years?  Mr. Jones and Mr. Brandon created the FAAP, (Field Agency Advisory Panel), then completely disregarded their recommendations. The agency has run off nearly ALL of its senior and most experienced agents, with NO mechanism in place to train new field Agents. In one field division, the ASAC was heard to say," well we just don't have enough training Agents, so we'll have to just live with it". Well NOW we are living with it Mr. Vind. Former SAC/DAD Steve Martin was asked, "Once you've run off or fired every senior Agent who questions your judgement, then what"? RESPONSE.......There's a 1000 guys waiting to fill those jobs. Question posed to SAC Martin, how are you going to run a major field division with new hires? Answer.............SILENCE. Headquarters continues to advance the divisions between the Guys and Gals actually doing the work and the bosses overseeing them. This may suggest WHY they have not released the most recent survey results conducted by OPM. We have said it before, but it is worth mentioning again. Headquarters collective field experience amounts to thousands of years of outdated experience. The fields collective experience amounts to TENS of thousands of years of real time experience.. This aint rocket science ladies and gentlemen.

HERE WE GO AGAIN. Another office mired in controversy, and the SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE AND ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENTS IN CHARGE, are attempting to spin and conceal HUGE issues from HQ and have minimized the violations to internal affairs DAD King OBVIOUSLY WITH AD GLEYSTEENS APPROVAL. The violations are blatant, unethical and WILL result in significant investigation and disciplinary actions. As usual, the attempt by Field Division senior managers to conceal and cover-up the allegations will result in disaster. The affected SAC has a proven record of failure(documented), but Mr. Jones apparently thought it a good idea to promote him anyway.

The field division in question is conducting their own internal investigation trying to tamp down the NOW documented abuses and allegations INCLUDING INTEGRITY VIOLATIONS from HQ oversight. It would appear IA is complicit designating the violations as management issues........THEY ARE NOT. Secret meetings with employees, interviewing entire offices conducted by an ASAC and a (Yes man RAC),   DETAILS TO FOLLOW.

CAN ANYONE PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW SUCH ACTIONS ADVANCE OUR MISSION READINESS?

"outstanding"?  "ethical"?   Really?  In a recent ruling by Federal Judge, James A. Parker:

 

"SA Ortiz's testimony ....... was inconsistent."

 

".....given SA Ortiz's extensive experience as an ATF agent in the criminal enforcement division, the Court cannot help but find that the misrepresentation was reckless."

 

"SA Ortiz had an obligation to refrain from making reckless, inaccurate statements....."

 

"......the Court finds......that this statement was reckless."

 

"After carefully reviewing the record, the Court concludes that SA Ortiz acted recklessly...."

 

"......the Court cannot help but find that the misrepresentation was reckless."

 

"The ATF agents involved in this case have repeatedly overlooked details that affect the accuracy of their statements."

 

"SA Ortiz's insouciant attitude is troubling to the Court. It demonstrates a disregard for his duty to accurately present the facts to the magistrate judge."

WHERE WAS THIS TAKEN FROM? Context?

The quotes were taken directly from the Judge's ruling on a Motion to Suppress the Evidence - which has been published on Leagle.com.

WHO ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? Whats your question?

WHERE WAS THIS TAKEN FROM? Context?

Initial thoughts.............if he/she is a boss, they'll be promoted.

On February 10, 2014, at 1:30 pm, at the United States Courthouse in Tucson, Arizona a defendant in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry will be sentenced. 

 

It is anticipated that Kelly Terry, Brian's sister, will deliver a victim's statement to the court.

 

A trigger puller armed by ATF will receive his punishment.  Those in ATF, DOJ and beyond have yet to be held accountable beyond transfers or accommodated retirements.

 

"Justice" is only partially served by the Department of Justice.

 

Attached is a "2013 Year in Review" photograph assembled by a Border Patrolman for the Terry family.  Never forget what Brian Terry sacrificed and continues to stand for even in death.

I BET HE IS. SHAMEFUL

http://www.breitbart...rious-documents

Has anyone seen ATFs response to Congress that were due yeaterday?

B. Todd and Brandon,

 

Your responses to the questions Congress asked on May 16 are due on Monday.  It will be most interesting to see how you choose to answer regarding the Internal Affairs Division, the Professional Review Board and the Bureau Deciding Official inquiries.

 

"We understand that ATF's Internal Affairs Division typically reviews all complaints and allegations involving ATF personnel and generates a report for ATF's Professional Review Board.  The Professional Review Board then assesses each finding of misconduct and determines whether to propose discipline or adverse action to ATF's deciding official."

 

     -Actual Excerpt from letter:

Congressional Letter Excerpt 05.16.14.jpg

 

congressional-letter-to-atf-5-16-14-2013.pdf

 

I know that you know that I know your dirty little secret.  I am not being coy.  I am not legally allowed to discuss this yet.  Numerous people with insider information and amidst your inner circle know as well.  Can you get all of them on board and organized to cover it up or blame me for it by Monday?  This is a very slippery slope. 

 

You guys have a nice weekend now.

 

J

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS

Can anyone make sense of the spinning promotion/demotion of the SAC who was removed from the Ohio field division. If we are tracking this, Oversight or Sen. Sensenbrenner should expand their inquiry. Congress is closely tracking CLEANUPATF. It has been said, "the media and CLEANUPATF are the only way they know whats going on inside ATF". Scary huh? If we are tracking correctly, this SAC was pulled unceremoniously due to a near mutiny. She was then sent to be SAC in Newark BUT NEVER TOOK THE REIGNS. Where was she and what was she doing? SIDENOTE, she would not have been removed without the efforts of the then Ombudsman. This angered MANY SACs who thought the Ombudsmans office had to much power.

After a period as a no show SAC in Newark, she was made an Assistant Director of HR. The after Cleanupatf OUTTED Mr. Jones for even CONSIDERING keep her as a manager, shes now going BACK to a SAC job in Newark. Is this correct? Is there soemthing thats been left out? You cant make this S@#$ up.

June 2 is the deadline for Director Jones to respond to a Congressional inquiry regarding the manipulation of the Titanic deck chairs. AGAIN. I predict something along the lines of, "Sirs" due to privacy act regulations we are currently unable to provide exact responses to your inquiries. HOWEVER, rest assured every attempt was made to hold fully accountable Mr. Zapor and Mr. Milanawski. Due to the scheduling of the professional review board. Mr. Zapor announced his retirement before the agency could act. Much like was the case with George Gillette who stayed in full supervisory pay status until the very last minute when he retired. We would like to point out that Mr. Zapor was demoted one level, (although he was transferring home and didnt lose a dime). As for Mr. Milanawski, we made him come back to headquarters AGAIN and basically hoped you didnt notice. We are however aggressively pursuing actions against Jon Dodson, Vincent Cefalu and Jay Dobyns as well as countless other line agents for exposing the acts of your inquiry. As for transferring multiple SES bosses after less than one year in their current positions, we needed to burn up move money before the end of the year. Yes Mr. Atteberry and others are costing the taxpayers Millions in repeated moves, but at this time we are unable to explain why. We hope this satisfies your concerns with the efficient running of ATF.

Did I get it close?

 

Yet ANOTHER New Deputy Director

 

Will Director Jones fire Brandon and Torres for attempting to defraud the American tax payers and protect another one of their peers? Will our already inept management team be re-organized (shuffled to give the appearance of accountability) AGAIN? Or will Director Jones say " I did not know"? Perhaps the simpler question for House Oversight is "WHAT DO YOU KNOW"?

 

To clarify.

Word on the street is Sen. Grassleys office and members of Congress are looking into ATF funded junkets to ILEA Bangkok, BY SENIOR MANAGERS on a consistent basis which consisted of ten day trips to teach a 4 hour block of instruction. Word is, the affected managers were not subject matter experts, nor did they solicit the experts Bureau wide, and the kicker............................encouraged each other to participate primarily (bragged about), the loose sex trade rules while in Bangkok. Agents are being hammered for an off color email or slight of policy, but these guys are road trippin international?

Bad cases make bad case law. With thugs and gangsters running around shooting up our communities, ATFs leadership somehow thought this case would enhance public safety? This case cleared 3 levels of review inside ATF AND then again by the U.S. Attys Office. SHORT VERSION: RETIRED COP BUYS A GUN AT A BETTER PRICE FOR HIS UNCLE, AND UNCLE REPAYS HIM. VIOLATION? PERHAPS. FEDERAL CRIMINAL INTEREST? YOU DECIDE. I'M REASONABLY CERTAIN A STERN WARNING FROM ATF WOULD HAVE ENDED THE WHOLE MATTER.
http://bearingarms.c...kground-checks/

And the hits just keep on coming.

http://www.guns.com/...erations-video/

If oversight calls career U/C Agents who have had to do it the "right way", these hearings and OIG investigation is going to send shock-waves thru the NEW ATF. A long time U/C Operator made a statement recently that says it all. "Hell, if we could do all this crazy unethical shit back in the day, we could have tripled our arrests too".

Wondering out loud................What does it say when a Director cant find ONE competent Assistant Director INSIDE ATF to run our Congressional and media affairs? Is that why he canned Marianos? To make room for a friend from DOJ? OR, is he so distrusting of his own Executive staff that he wants to control the SPIN to Congress and the media.

Posted under another topic:

The information on Bouman's conduct is flooding in.  The corruption and cover ups of her across the board activity is out of control.  The people who have participated with her to hide it is going far and wide, up and down throughout the agency.  The best soap opera writer couldn't invent a story as good as this on their best day during their best fantasy.  Jones, you can hide her at the Library of Congress but not for long.  The USS Coverup is leaking bad and taking on water.

I will remind the Director, that the mere APPEARANCE of impropriety says it all. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck etc etc etc.

Draconian is the word you are looking for. How is it????? THAT

Mr. Jones and Brandon do not see the impropriety of Rachel Bouman, being the EEOC Administrative executive director for ATF, WHILE still acting in her capacity litigating cases and advising supervisors in the field. Does he think we are all STUPID? Remember, SHE decides which of your allegations are accepted for investigation. And she is protecting her communications based on Atty Client Privilege. Come On Mr. DIRECTOR.

Mr. Brandon et al. make a HUGE exception to the outside employment agreement for McMahon in exchange for his silence no doubt, but can't make an exception for Jon Dodson after they left him hanging in the wind and in some cases attacked him during Fast and Furious?

How is it that ONE of the first things Mr. Jones did upon taking the helm as the ACTING Director was form a Field Agent Advisory Panel which he touted to the media and Se. Grassley and Chairman Issa, BUT almost instantly upon being confirmed, the previous member are going to be removed and the FAAP as a viable mechanism of communication between the ALL KNOWING HQ Executive staff and the field, is now lame duck and being disregarded completely?

Smoke and Mirrors. Not ALL the threats in the world, not all the free leadership books or playing cards will encourage the field to close the gaps or follow this sort of "leadership". Respect and loyalty are EARNED, NOT demanded.

HERE WE GO AGAIN. Another office mired in controversy, and the SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE AND ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENTS IN CHARGE, are attempting to spin and conceal HUGE issues from HQ and have minimized the violations to internal affairs DAD King OBVIOUSLY WITH AD GLEYSTEENS APPROVAL. The violations are blatant, unethical and WILL result in significant investigation and disciplinary actions. As usual, the attempt by Field Division senior managers to conceal and cover-up the allegations will result in disaster. The affected SAC has a proven record of failure(documented), but Mr. Jones apparently thought it a good idea to promote him anyway.

The field division in question is conducting their own internal investigation trying to tamp down the NOW documented abuses and allegations INCLUDING INTEGRITY VIOLATIONS from HQ oversight. It would appear IA is complicit designating the violations as management issues........THEY ARE NOT. Secret meetings with employees, interviewing entire offices conducted by an ASAC and a (Yes man RAC),   DETAILS TO FOLLOW.

CAN ANYONE PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW SUCH ACTIONS ADVANCE OUR MISSION READINESS?

My former RAC and ASAC [both fat ba$tards] gigged me [a lowly GS-13 Plain Old Agent] for three days [the equivalent of a "drum-head courtmartial"] for a pure chicken$hit issue -- I kept on the wall in my office an email I got from a retired ATF RAC [he retired with his dignity and integrity] which cast a light on the bumblings of other bosses, like the one who needed three hours to watch 60 Minutes. Meanwhile, the same Division had no problems with a punk agent mocking my line of duty injuries.

And so the list begins!

Hilltopper,

That is insane. How is such an environment allowed to thrive in a federal law enforcement agency? It is truly embarrassing. It does go to what we have been chatting about here over the past few days. Not only does the current system allow for Princes of the City at the GS 14 level, but it allows for impenetratable cliques. If the agents who refuse to get along faced being moved to seperate corners of the US at some point in their career, then they would care more about learning how to get along with others. With each passing day, I believe it more and more.

I also would love to see some of the failures in this agency demoted or publicly criticized for bad acts. Instead they are brought into HQ, sometimes with a more impressive title. Then they later reemerge emboldened by their promotion believing that they never screwed up at all. At all pay grades from GS5 to DD, punishment should be swift, fair and equal. It's leadership 101 taught at any NCO school.

And the hits just keep on coming. So Mr. Jones got embarrassed by Chairman Issa about transferring Zapor to Phoenix after failing miserably as SAC Minn. and DAD. So after only 9 months, they are demoting Attaberry and transferring him BACK to Phx. Lets do the math.........3 x $150000 per move for 9 months of performance. And we wonder WHY there is no continuity of leadership. Cudos to Mr. Jones for reversing a bad decision, but the musical bosses has to stop. NO ACCOUNTABILITY because none of these guys stay in one place.

Now add in the Chris Shaffer transfer back to HQ after 9 months in Atl. Same with Sweetow, you have to ask, "IS ANYONE THINKING THESE TRANSFERS THROUGH?" Remember, for all those being transferred with barely a year in place, someone needs to be transferred to back-fill their slots @$150000 per move.

Cleary they eased SAC Torres outta Tampa because Brandon(rumor has it) is leaving the DD slot to retire in Tampa. No demotion below SES, no loss of salary.

This ties in directly to what Heisenberg and Hilltopper are saying.Brandon clearly violated ALL of our standards and his conduct clearly contributed to EVERYONE losing their outside Bureau employment approval by letting Mc Mahon DBL dip. Yet NO PRB for him OR Torres. They allowed them to stay until they were forced to act because of the OIG report and Congressional oversight, and then??????????? They lose NOT ONE STEP. Does beg to question why Brandon would stick around after stepping down 3 levels. Doesn't that necessarily IMPACT his credibility and ability to lead? Guess not.

Mr. Jones thru Mr. Brandons memo suggests they get it. They want to hear from you. These posts should be compiled and sent directly to Director Jones. Unless of course everyone is afraid of reprisals as has been the case for his entire 2 yrs. Its time to clean up this mess Mr. Jones, but obviously listening to your executive staff isn't working or you wouldn't need to keep shuffling these guys. The field will KNOW when you are genuine when you quit protecting incompetents, and demand leadership. Until then, it appears to just be more smoke and mirrors.

Maybe trying to resolve some of these disputes in good faith, slowing the multiple transfers and demanding that your staff does their jobs, will enlist the 5000 field employees support.

My former RAC and ASAC [both fat ba$tards] gigged me [a lowly GS-13 Plain Old Agent] for three days [the equivalent of a "drum-head courtmartial"] for a pure chicken$hit issue -- I kept on the wall in my office an email I got from a retired ATF RAC [he retired with his dignity and integrity] which cast a light on the bumblings of other bosses, like the one who needed three hours to watch 60 Minutes.  Meanwhile, the same Division had no problems with a punk agent mocking my line of duty injuries.

 

And so the list begins!

Clearly Brandon and Torres should be demoted from any managerial positions in this Bureau.

Goodworker, haha, right on - name something that Jones has taken any personal accountablity for?  He has no issue allowing his subordinates to take it for him.  Is that leadership?  How nice would it be to hear him say; I run this agency, I own what we do, the problems that I inherited are now mine to fix?

To accept responsibility, would in fact require Mr. Jones to take action and provide solutions. We dont have a one yr plan, a two yr plan or a 5 yr plan. What does that say to the field. He may be bate and switching our problems from Congress(I doubt it), but the field is watching his EVERY move. Outrageous abuses, continued disputes with field Agents, unwillingness to settle clear cut cases of retaliation. I have been tracking CUATF for years. For the first time, highly respected Agents and Inspectors who truly wanted to save this agency are now lamenting that it may not be able to be saved. This is very sad. I hope they are wrong.