USA –-(Ammoland.com)- Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was informed of management corruption and abuse issues at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) before allegations of “gunwalking” surfaced, but opted to do nothing about it. That allegation comes from veteran Special Agent Vince Cefalu, who recently informed Gun Rights Examiner of his efforts to persuade the powerful Democrat to investigate documented instances of gross mismanagement and perjury.
Cefalu is the veteran street agent who was served termination papers last June for his efforts to bring management wrongdoing to light, a move perceived by other whistleblowers and observers as not just retaliation, but direct defiance of Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and concerns he articulated as Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
“When they showed they were going to tee it up on me and others out of sheer abuse and covering their national screw-ups, I wrote to Feinstein,” Cefalu told this correspondent.
“I listed a series of corrupt acts, gross mismanagement and abuse of employees, etc. Through her aide, she sent a strongly worded inquiry,” he elaborated. “There was no follow up until I called and emailed a dozen times. Finally ATF responded nine months later, basically stating they have done no wrong, and thanks for inquiry.
“I then provided the now fairly public open letter to the Director* outlining dozens of abuses and ATF’s misrepresentations in their response. Nothing. I then pounded on her main aide in the DC office after Anderson Cooper verified a lot of what we alleged as well as Fox and other media,” Cefalu claimed.
“Her aide’s response was ‘We are looking into it.’ The ultimate outcome was something to the effect that ‘although these are serious matters the EEOC or the OIG may be better suited to pursue these matters,’” he related.
“She had been provided tons of information regarding not only my disputes and the perjury, waste, fraud and abuse, etc., but I also included Jay’s [Dobyns] evidence, which was directly related to Phoenix integrity and ethical issues, and which later allowed the out-of-control leadership to fester and advance their self-serving agendas unfettered. Enter F and F. NO big surprise to those of us watching,” Cefalu concluded.
Deliberate indifference to ATF abuses on the part of Congressional Democrats is nothing new. Gun Rights Examiner documented attempts to alert the then-Democrat controlled House Oversight Committee back in 2009 being met with silence. Now that their refusal to address their oversight responsibilities has enabled the Fast and Furious disaster, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., has become a leading critic of Chairman Issa’s investigation, dismissing it as partisan politics and using the hearings to instead stump for new anti-gun measures. And Feinstein, who according to Cefalu’s account, washed her hands of the matter, is no exception, saying “perhaps mistakes were made, but I think this hunt for blame doesn’t really speak about the problem.”
What does Feinstein think would? Per The Daily Caller, citing her comments at last November’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing:
“[T]he problem is, anybody can walk in and buy anything: .50-caliber weapons, sniper weapons, buy them in large amounts, and send them down to Mexico.”
Borrowing Special Agent Cefalu’s observation, that’s no big surprise to those of us watching.
*Note: Gun Rights Examiner has a copy of this letter and will include it in a follow-up to this column.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He is a field editor for GUNS Magazine, and a blogger at The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance. Read more at www.DavidCodrea.com.
