Former ATF agent blows whistle on ‘racist’ Biden nominee David Chipman
A conservative watchdog group filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over alleged derogatory racial comments made by President Biden’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms nominee.
“Wow, there were an unusually large number of African American agents that passed the exam this time. They must have been cheating,” the former ATF agent, who remains unnamed, recalls Biden’s ATF nominee David Chipman saying after reviewing results for candidates who had hopes of becoming special agents.
The Detroit-based agent says he was left “incensed” after hearing the comments.
Chipman told Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in writing that he received two Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints throughout his 15 years with the department. Chipman said the complaints were resolved but did not answer when asked if he would be willing to provide his personnel file to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
President of the American Accountability Foundation Tom Jones said he filed two FOIA requests with the ATF requesting records related to any complaints and disciplinary actions taken against David Chipman during his tenure with the agency. The lawsuit asserts that the ATF failed to produce Chipman’s records in the timeframe allotted by the law, and could also produce records related to Chipman’s alleged racial comments.
A former ATF agent says he personally overheard David Chipman making the derogatory comment after reviewing test results for candidates who hoped to become assistant special agents in charge.
The former agent recalls that Chipman “made this remark in front of a bunch of witnesses. It spread like wildfire at the agency. It got tremendous blowback, as it should. Here you have a middle manager saying something like that with absolutely no proof.”
The ATF has not yet clarified how they resolved the matter.
David Chipman’s confirmation hearing will proceed in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.
The Independent Chronicle reached out to Chipman and Cruz for comments but did not immediately receive a response.