WASHINGTON, D.C. –-(Ammoland.com)- A leak provided to AmmoLand News by our inside sources shows the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is starting to investigate COVID relief fraud.
The ATF Financial Investigative Services Division (FISD) is looking at financial crimes centering around the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Congress passed the CARES Act, and President Trump signed the law into effect in March of 2020. The economic stimulus package cost the American taxpayer $2.2 trillion.
The CARES Act consists of several different programs. These programs include unemployment insurance (UI), pandemic unemployment assistance, economic impact payments (EIP), payment protection program (PPP), and the economic injury disaster loan (EIDL) program. These government programs have been wrought with fraud and cost taxpayers millions and maybe billions of dollars in schemes to defraud the government.
Local special agents (SA) and industry operations investigators (IOI) are now expected to investigate for signs of COVID relief fraud. For example, IOIs are now expected to look for signs of fraud during their visits to gun dealers. If an IOI finds what they believe to be COVID relief fraud, the ATF employee will contact FISD, which will assign a forensic auditor to investigate the tip.
IOIs do not have experience in investigating or detecting financial crimes. The ATF is not offering IOIs any type of training classes. By the same token, special agents also do not have any skills in detecting financial fraud. The ATF has not informed any branch offices if they plan on holding any future training classes dealing with CARES Act fraud.
If the tip turns out to be legitimate, the ATF FISD forensic auditor will gather evidence of fraud before contacting the corresponding agency. The ATF has begun to circulate a “cheat sheet” of what agencies are responsible for investigating what CARES Act program. It is unknown if other agencies are investigating CARES Act crime that falls outside their mission.
Some inside and outside of the ATF worry about the Bureau’s investigations into the CARES Act. They believe that these investigations show “mission creep.” Mission Creep in the federal government is when an agency strays from its core mission and starts to veer into areas that they have not been tasked with by the government.
A few people within the gun world who spoke to AmmoLand News believe that the ATF is trying to justify its massive budget. By using resources to investigate COVID relief fraud, the Bureau can show that it is using all its funding and needs more to be effective.
Others see these moves as just another example of an out-of-control federal government agency. The ATF, in recent years, has been expanding its power by using things like Chevron deference to develop de facto laws. The ATF used deference to ban bump stocks and now using the same power to change laws surrounding pistol braces and unfinished receivers and frames.
The ATF has also used IOIs to retroactively run background checks on gun owners that are exempt from the required background checks. The ATF also tasked untrained IOIs to look for gun-running to Mexico. There are many examples of the ATF overstepping its boundaries.
The ATF did not respond to AmmoLand’s request for comment.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
Last time the BATFags tried to justify their budget, an entire religious community was mass-murdered. F-troop will screw this up on purpose as well, possibly with devastating consequences.
When you are doing stuff out of your job description I don’t want to hear you complain you don’t have the budget or manpower to do your job. Focus on your job! Not someone else work.
You mean like the Center for Disease Control researching ‘gun violence?’ Got it. These are all signs of rogue federal agents and rogue federal agencies all adding up to a rogue federal government. This is the only place where we need a reset.
The CDC’s “gun violence research” is not a sign of “rogue” federal agents. Trump provided them the first funding in 24 years to do this “research.”
Why do you keep attempting to perpetuate this myth?
Also, this is not the only place we need a “reset.”
Most state, county, and city/town enforcers are on authoritarian power trips – they need to be put on a short leash and reminded that “civilians” are in charge. There are hundreds of hours of video proof for your viewing pleasure.
Absolutely NO authority to investigate that
WAY past time to fire them all and dissolve atf and fbi, move few needed functions to a new agency with civilian over-site
How about investigating Communist Chinese Collusion on the part of our federal politicians? I nominate Sen Mark Kelly and Sen Diane Feinstein as test cases.
Thank You John:
“The ATF also tasked untrained IOIs to look for gun-running to Mexico.” IF this IS TRUE, Every person, from the president of America all the way down to the janitors at the ATF MUST be investigated, ARRESTED, CHARGED and PROSECUTED for GUN-RUNNING to Mexico and to Afghanistan! The EX-secretary, and cabal, responsible for many Arkancides MUST be investigated!!!!!
you left out obummer and his laky aturncoat general
When the ATF ends up spending its full time checking the licensing of shoe shine boys, and gets off the back of legitimate 2nd Amendment activities, that will be nice.
How does this Mission Relief fund have anything to do with alcohol, tobacco, firearms or explosives? BATF is a walking clusterf*ck dealing with the above items on a daily basis and can screw up an anvil on their best of days. Now under puppet Biden, his handlers want to expand their “authority” (which is unconstitutional to begin with)? Dark days ahead my friends, dark days indeed.
Much of Colorado’s population likes getting jabbed in the a s s, and not just metaphorically.
I wonder what year the BATFE expanded their organization to include forensic auditors.
Whew. Now they’re supporting an ever-growing federal law enforcement organization.
You guys should take a deep breath.
Government employees are:
Yet people still worship government employees.
Some people only learn the stove is hot by touching it themselves.
I should have included that one specifically.
Obviously, there are many, many more.
The government is so vast and powerful and many people still think government employees (and/or ex-government employees) are the answer.
They are the problem.
Savage.
But true.
Vichy Republican lockdown artist Abbott? After Cuck Abbot & House Speaker Phelan facilitated the quorum bust, it came out out that they’d taken 100s of 1000s of dollars from an outfit that turns boys into girls. No surprise they refuse to put genital mutilation & chemical sex change of minors on the special session agenda. See Texas Scorecard for more on Vichy Texas Rs.
This might have gone under the radar if BATF were still a taxing agency under Treasury, but as an enforcement agency under DHS they have absolutely no jurisdiction to do this.
The ATF needs to be sent back to the IRS to collect taxes on imports.
Leave the rest of us the fuck alone.
It’s not “mission creep”. It’s all part of Xiden’s all-out war on guns. Attack on any front. The mission is to eliminate private gun industry and ownership.
federal taxes will take it all back in short order. people will be crying why do I have to pay so much. bills do come due even for governments ,soviet union is proof without trade even economics of scale has its limits even slave labor could not save them, china’s saving grace has been that only small parts are modern, as that changes governability by force will become impossible
JFC. Haven’t they all earned at least charges of treason yet?
https://nationalfile.com/texas-abbott-patrick-house-speaker-received-250k-from-clinic-that-chemically-castrates-transgender-kids/
Yep. Someone write their Vichy Republican Senator and demand he tell us how very very angry he is about this and ask us for money!