Thread: ATF whistle-blower fired, claims complaints about 'Fast and Furious' played role

ATF whistle-blower fired, claims complaints about 'Fast and Furious' played role

By Judson Berger
Published October 11, 2012
VIDEO AT LINK

A well-known whistle-blower in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed to FoxNews.com that he was fired this week, and he claims his complaints about Operation Fast and Furious played a role in his dismissal.

Vince Cefalu said he was served his termination papers Tuesday in a Denny's parking lot in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. But he doesn't plan to go quietly.

"It will be challenged," he said.

Cefalu, who's served as an ATF special agent for 25 years, was first notified of the plan to fire him more than a year ago but had been on administrative leave until now. He said officials told him he was being canned for "lack of candor," in reference to a handful of statements he made in testimony in a separate court case.

However, Cefalu has been outspoken against ATF practices for years and told FoxNews.com that his whistle-blowing on Fast and Furious "was the final straw."

Cefalu was one of the founders of the website CleanUpATF, a virtual platform for complaints about the agency. He was among the first to speak up about Fast and Furious, the failed anti-gunrunning operation that let thousands of guns slip across the U.S.-Mexico border. Weapons from the program were founded at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

An inspector general report on the operation released in September was highly critical of both the ATF and officials at the Justice Department.

The ATF, though, has previously denied that it was retaliating against Cefalu.

ATF spokesman Drew Wade confirmed that Cefalu "separated" from the agency on Tuesday, though Wade could not comment further.

"Because of privacy laws and internal policies, we can't talk about personnel matters," he said.

Cefalu's first run-in with higher-ups at ATF came when he objected to what he considered to be an illegal wiretap in a 2005 case unrelated to Fast and Furious, which didn't launch until years later.

He told FoxNews.com last year that those complaints marked "the beginning of the end."

Read more: ATF whistle-blower fired, claims complaints about 'Fast and Furious' played role | Fox News

ATF whistleblower Cefalu parking lot termination secretly recorded

OCTOBER 11, 2012

BY: DAVID CODREA







Yesterday’s termination of Special Agent Vince Cefalu in a South Lake Tahoe, Nev., Denny’s restaurant parking lot by managers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was video-recorded from afar, Gun Rights Examiner learned this evening.

The termination was reported yesterday in this column and by Allan Lengel of the federal law enforcement news website,TickleTheWire.com, and picked up today asa major story by Fox News. Seattle Gun Rights Examiner Dave Workman also shared his observations in a column published this afternoon.

The video, shaky at times from being handheld, and with color imbalance streaking happening inadvertently in the uploading to YouTube, was recorded by a confidential source and shows Cefalu approached by two ATFmanagement representatives including Joseph M. Riehl, Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Division, which encompasses Northern California and Nevada field offices, the latter being in the news of late because the Reno U.S. Attorney’s Office has refused to prosecute local ATF cases until as yet unidentified issues are resolved, prompting congressional inquiries to find out why.




Video: Cefalu Termination

Riehl, seen talking to Cefalu through his Jeep window and reportedly telling him he couldn’t leave because he had to sign papers, had been criticized on the CUATF forum, and Gun Rights Examiner is attempting to track down audit reports to determine what an independent assessment reveals about the allegations there. But the bottom line is, an employee with over 25 years of service who has been a leading spokesman for whistleblowers was unceremoniously canned in a public parking lot by senior division management.

In a forum entry this morning on the CleanUpATF whistleblower website he helped found, Cefalu issued a public statement about his termination admitting being “constrained by certain procedural and legal orders demanded by the U S Attorney in San Francisco,” but advising his colleagues to “be strong and HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE. “

That statement was echoed by Special Agent Jay Dobyns, who promised readers “If you don't know Vince you will soon understand that this is not the end, it is just the beginning.”

ATF whistleblower Cefalu parking lot termination secretly recorded - National gun rights | Examiner.com

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