Breaking: ATF Agents Corroborate Existence of Racial Complaint Against Biden Director Nominee, Fear Reprisals and Hit to Agency Effectiveness

[Charlie T Waite]

The entrance to the national headquarters of the ATF / Stephen Gutowski

ATF Agents Corroborate Existence of Racial Complaint Against Biden Director Nominee, Fear Reprisals and Hit to Agency Effectiveness

Multiple ATF sources back up the existence of a complaint alleging President Biden’s nominee to lead ATF, David Chipman, made racist comments during his previous stint at the agency.

The agents, who have decades of experience at the agency, told The Reload they heard the accusation that Chipman denigrated black ATF agents up for promotion. The officials said they heard about Chipman’s alleged comments before they were referenced in a recent lawsuit seeking the release of the complaint.

“He made some comments that he was surprised by the number of African Americans who have made it onto a specific promotional list,” a current ATF official told The Reload. “So, his insinuation was that they had to have cheated. Which is kind of despicable.”

A former ATF agent who worked directly with Chipman said he heard the same story.

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“That one had to do with what’s called the assessment center, which would be to get promoted,’ the former agent told The Reload. “Somebody would have had to file a complaint against him if he were a supervisor making those statements.”

The current ATF official said the allegation ended his time in Detroit.

“He left Detroit because of that,” he said. “He did not leave Detroit on the best of terms. His reputation was that he was not nice to people.”

The details of the story told by the agents closely match those outlined in a Daily Caller News Foundation interview with Tom Jones, the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) president, on one of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaints being sought by his group. That Freedom of Information Act lawsuit alleges there were two EEOC complaints filed against Chipman. One of those complaints relates to comments Chipman made implying black agents could not have performed as well as they did on a promotions assessment.

Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) asked Chipman about the complaints in written questions for the nominee. Chipman admitted the complaints existed but did not reveal their contents and said, “both complaints were resolved without any finding of discrimination, and no disciplinary action was taken against me,” according to Fox News. The details of the racist comments Chipman is accused of making had not been corroborated before now. The Reload has not been able to verify the veracity of the allegation Chipman made racist remarks, only that the allegation exists and was known to some agents before the filing of the AAF lawsuit.

Jones said the Senate should force the complaints to be made public.

“The Senate must refuse to move on Chipman’s nomination until these hidden files are made public,” he said in a statement. “The Senate cannot ignore possible charges of racism.”

April Langwell, chief of the ATF’s Public Affairs Division, told The Reload the agency “cannot comment on nominees” and referred questions on the complaint and lawsuit to the White House and Department of Justice. The White House and DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.

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A third longtime agent, Rick Vasquez, said he hadn’t heard the specific allegation but confirmed Chipman was reassigned to the Detroit office after nobody else would take the job. He described it as a troubled office with a history of washing out supervisors.

“He got sent to Detroit against his will,” he said. “I know that. Detroit has always been a mess.”

Concerns Over Effectiveness

Vasquez also worked with Chipman during his time at the agency. Like the other former agent, he said his personal interactions with Chipman had been positive. He said decisions made by President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland are more important to the overall direction the ATF takes than who the director is. Still, he said the agency needs leadership after a string of short-term acting directors—though he doesn’t believe Chipman will be confirmed due to “absolutely stupid, asinine” comments about AR-15s and his inability to define what an “assault weapon” is during his confirmation hearing, despite wanting to ban the guns.

“I watched his confirmation hearing, and I just said, ‘What in the hell?’ I thought he would have prepared himself for some of these questions,” he said. “But ATF is in a mess. They need a supervisor in there. The relationship with ATF in the industry is probably the lowest it has ever been.”

They said Chipman’s reputation for being an anti-gun activist, earned after years of working for some of the most prominent gun-control groups in the country, would impact how closely licensed gun dealers are willing to work with the agency. And that could hinder its ability to put away gun traffickers.

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