Acting ATF chief steps down in wake of Mexican gun debacle
By Richard A. Serrano, Tribune Washington Bureau August 30, 2011
B. Todd Jones, a federal prosecutor in Minnesota, was appointed acting director of the U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms after a scandal in which the agency lost track of weapons that ended up in the hands of drug cartels in Mexico. Photograph by: US Department of Justice handout, AFP/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — The head of the beleaguered Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. attorney in Phoenix were removed from their jobs by Justice Department officials hoping for a fresh start for an agency whose employees had expressed a lack of confidence in their leadership.
But congressional Republicans vowed to ratchet up their investigation of the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracing program, which sent hundreds of guns to Mexican drug cartels. They are preparing for a new round of hearings into who else was involved at other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Justice Department itself.
The announcements Tuesday that Acting ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson and U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke were leaving their posts came after Obama administration officials said they had received a series of messages from ATF employees expressing a deep "lack of confidence" in the leadership.
"We heard from special agents-in-charge and field agents, they reached out to us," said an administration official.
Melson was called to the deputy attorney general's office on Friday and told it was in the "best interest" of the bureau that he move on, and he agreed, sources said. He is being transferred to senior adviser on forensic science in the Office of Legal Policy, a division in the Justice Department that helps on long-range planning issues.
Burke, whose office provided the legal guidance for Fast and Furious, acknowledged to Justice officials in Washington earlier this month that a clean slate in Phoenix was needed for federal law enforcement officials working the U.S.-Mexico border, according to congressional sources.
In addition to Burke, Emory Hurley, the top assistant federal prosecutor in Phoenix, was moved Monday from the criminal division in the U.S. attorney's office in Phoenix to handling civil matters instead.
In an email to the ATF staff, Melson, who has maintained he was kept in the dark about the operation details of the guns program by his staff, did not mention Fast and Furious. Instead, he said, "I look forward to hearing nothing but good news and great accomplishments from ATF. Godspeed."
During a closed-door session with congressional investigators earlier this month, Burke defended Fast and Furious as a valid and legitimate operation. But he also acknowledged that mistakes were made and he was accountable. The months of controversy have worn on him; sources said he was not sleeping and had lost weight.
Despite the management changes in Washington and Arizona, congressional investigators remained determined to get to the bottom of the Fast and Furious debacle. Some 2,000 guns were illegally purchased under surveillance and then lost by agents trying to follow them. During the 15-month program, a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed and numerous Fast and Furious weapons turned up at crime scenes in Mexico.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said his panel "will continue its investigation to ensure that blame isn't offloaded on just a few individuals for a matter that involved much higher levels of the Justice Department."
"This isn't going to change anything," one congressional investigator said of the management shakeup.
In the Senate, John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Melson should leave altogether.
"Instead of reassigning those responsible for Fast and Furious within the Department of Justice," he said, "Attorney General (Eric) Holder should ask for their resignations and come clean on all alleged gun-walking operations." But B. Todd Jones, the U.S. attorney in Minneapolis who was picked to replace Melson as ATF acting director, sent an email broadcast to "All ATF" employees, saying, "I know it's been a challenging time for this agency, and for many of you." He added that "we have important work to do" and that Holder had tasked him with providing "stability and leadership" to the long troubled agency.
But the White House is still hoping to get Senate confirmation for Andrew Traver, head of the ATF in Chicago, who the president nominated as permanent director last year. His nomination has stalled over opposition by the National Rifle Association, a group that has opposed a string of selections to run the ATF.
An administration source said Tuesday that Jones is a former Marine and has extensive leadership experience to help the agency move past the Fast and Furious scandal.
"He's got a really good management reputation, which is certainly what they need right now," the official said. "There was a premium put on that. He can get in there and turn the page, give them a fresh start."
He added, "It's time to get past this."
Melson, a career Justice Department employee, became acting ATF director after the Obama administration took office in January 2009. Fast and Furious began in the fall of 2009. Democrats on the House committee released parts of Melson's sealed transcript from a July 4 closed session with committee staff, in which he said William Newell, the then-ATF supervisor in Phoenix and deputy assistant director William J. McMahon, never advised him about how Fast and Furious was being carried out. When he did learn about the program's tactics, he said, he remembered his "stomach being in knots."
Democrats also released portions of Burke's testimony on Aug. 18. "I take responsibility. I'm not going to say mistakes were made. I'm going to say we made mistakes," he told them. Burke added that "I'm not falling on a sword or trying to cover for anyone else."
Holder praised the outgoing acting director. "Ken brings decades of experience at the department and extensive knowledge in forensic science to his new role and I know he will be a valuable contributor on these issues," the attorney general said.
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