ATF’s former Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations, William McMahon, has been found double dipping his chip into the salsa. The man who had a significant role in Operation Fast & Furious is still fully employed by the ATF, while at the same time fully employed as Executive Director of the Global Security and Investigations Group at J.P. Morgan in the Philippines.
The government allowed guns to walk into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels in Operation Fast & Furious. It is tied to the murders of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, 300+ Mexican citizens, and more than 1,000 guns are still missing. No one has been held accountable. Those connected to the operation have either been allowed to resign quietly or reassigned to a different position, like Mr. McMahon.
Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and Ranking Member Charles Grassley sent a letter to Acting ATF Director B. Todd Jones for some clarification on “this unusual arrangement.” Chairman Issa and Senator Grassley express their dissatisfaction that Mr. McMahon was allowed to stay at the ATF considering his role in Fast & Furious. They wrote:
“Despite these failings, ATF not only continues to keep him on its payroll, but also authorized him to take several months of annual leave while earning a six-figure salary from ATF and an even larger salary at the same time while working in the private sector.” (emphasis mine)
Under personnel regulations, the ATF management was under no obligation to approve McMahon’s additional employment. Chairman Issa and Senator Grassley point out this approval “raises a host of questions about both the propriety of the arrangement and the judgment of ATF management.”
Unlike the whistleblowers of Fast & Furious, the ATF is protecting one of the men involved in the scandal. This arrangement also allows Mr. McMahon “to reach retirement eligibility while on extended leave for four to five months and simultaneously begin a second career before separating from government employment” and they did this before the Inspector General finished his report on Fast & Furious. Special Agent John Dodson, the first whistleblower, was told “he must wait until the Inspector General’s report is complete before the agency will even consider his simple request for a statement retracting the false statements made about him by agency leadership.”
The man who blew the lid on a very dangerous program has to wait until the Inspector General’s report is finished just to get the ATF to retract damaging statements against him, but the man who had a significant role in the program is lavished with money and job security.
Luckily for Agent Dodson, the IG report was distributed to the ATF and Department of Justice after a long 20 months. Hopefully he can get those statements retracted soon.
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