During remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) spoke about an investigation into the misuse of taxpayer money by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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NewsTranscript
00:00As my colleagues know, I've done a lot of ATF oversight work dating back more than a decade.
00:08The Obama-Biden administration covered up in Fast and Furious is just one example.
00:18But today, we don't need to go back to 2011.
00:24Today, we'll start in January 2018.
00:30According to emails provided to me by ATF whistleblowers,
00:37ATF leadership was notified in January 2018
00:43that some non-law enforcement positions were misclassified as law enforcement.
00:52That misclassification costs taxpayers tens of millions of dollars
01:01because law enforcement gets paid more than non-law enforcement positions.
01:10Specifically, in these ATF emails from January and June of 2018,
01:20whistleblowers alerted ATF officials that positions in the Human Resource Division were misclassified.
01:31The positions were classified as law enforcement, but they performed no law enforcement duties.
01:44This is an example that I keep telling my colleagues.
01:48We need to pay more attention to information that comes from these patriotic people we call whistleblowers.
01:58Accordingly, these positions were misclassified in violation of law.
02:10That's what oversight by Congress is all about,
02:15to make sure that the executive branch faithfully executes the laws according to the Constitution.
02:23Emails from July 2019 show that whistleblowers contacted the Justice Management Division
02:34at the Department of Justice headquarters about these very problems.
02:40The whistleblowers informed the Justice Management Division
02:45that they notified ATF management of the misclassified positions
02:52and that ATF hadn't corrected this illegal conduct.
02:58Based on what whistleblowers have told my office,
03:03the Justice Department didn't even bother to get back to the whistleblowers.
03:10Then in July 2019, one whistleblower reported the matter to the Office of Special Counsel,
03:19and the other whistleblowers made their report to that same office April of 2020.
03:27After the second whistleblowers reported ATF misconduct to the Office of Special Counsel,
03:36that office opened the claim for investigation in May of 2020.
03:44On June 9, 2020, the Office of Special Counsel determined there was a substantial likelihood
03:54both whistleblowers' allegations disclosed violation of law, of rule, or regulation,
04:04a gross waste of funds, and gross mismanagement,
04:11once again emphasizing tens of millions of dollars wasted here.
04:18The Office of Special Counsel referred the matter to the Attorney General for investigation.
04:26Then November 2, 2020, the Office of Personnel Management
04:32partially suspended ATF's position misclassification authority.
04:41That office did so after preliminary findings from their investigation
04:48revealed that certain ATF non-enforcement positions
04:55were misclassified in violation of statute and regulation.
05:02On March 1, 2021, the Office of Personnel Management
05:07issued their final report substantiating the whistleblowers' claims
05:13and found, I quote, ATF leadership had acted outside of the merit system principles
05:22and demonstrated disregard for the rule of law and regulations, end quote.
05:30This illegal scheme came to light because of brave whistleblowers.
05:37The ATF whistleblowers we now know were right.
05:44All those government bureaucrats should have listened to the whistleblowers from the beginning.
05:53Instead, ATF rudely ignored their evidence
06:01and obviously ignored whistleblowers doing what they thought was right for our country.
06:09So, I wrote Attorney General Garland and then acting ATF Director Richardson
06:22concerning these findings on October 6, 2021.
06:28I asked for copies of the final Office of Personnel Management report
06:33and accounting of how much taxpayer dollars were wasted due to the ATF's illegal misconduct.
06:42I also asked how long ATF unlawfully misclassified positions
06:50and the total number of misclassified positions within all of the ATF.
07:00On December 15, 2021, the Justice Department responded
07:09that it couldn't provide answers because of various ongoing investigations.
07:16How tired I am of hearing from our law enforcement agencies in the federal government
07:23that they can't comment to oversight investigations by the Congress
07:29because of quote-unquote ongoing investigation.
07:33It's an excuse to avoid what they promise us every time they come before Congress
07:40that they'll answer our questions.
07:43Going on now, April the 7th, six months later in 2022,
07:51the Justice Department provided me with a redacted copy of their investigative report,
07:58which they submitted to the Office of Special Counsel March the 29th of 2022.
08:06But they still failed to fully answer all of my questions.
08:13So, let me remind the executive branch yet again,
08:18the United States Congress maintains independent constitutional authority
08:24to investigate the federal government's irrespective of any ongoing federal investigation.
08:34After the conclusion of the investigation, which was May 2, 2023,
08:42the Office of Special Counsel notified President Biden that, quote,
08:50whistleblowers' allegations were wholly substantiated, end of quote.
08:57That investigation found, to quote once again, substantial waste, mismanagement,
09:05unlawful employment practices at the ATF, end quote.
09:11It also found, to quote again, for years, the agency intentionally misled jobs,
09:21I'm sorry, misclassified jobs as law enforcement and paid those employees benefits
09:31to which they were not entitled, end of quote.
09:35The Office of Special Counsel also found that ATF's illegal scheme
09:42wasted at least $20 million taxpayers' dollars.
09:49When is the government going to learn that it needs to listen to whistleblowers
09:56in treating these patriotic whistleblowers like skunks at a picnic?
10:03ATF could have saved the taxpayers at least $20 million
10:09if they would have listened to these brave whistleblowers.
10:14Then on November 6, 2023, the Office of Personnel Management wrote to ATF
10:24and the Justice Department.
10:27Now, incredibly, if you can believe this,
10:31that letter restored ATF's position classification authority effective immediately,
10:40even though ATF was unable to provide the necessary evidence to support
10:48that its updated position classifications were proper and within the law.
10:58This restoration doesn't bring this matter to a close.
11:05On January 30th this year, my colleague from Iowa, Senator Ernst,
11:11and I wrote to the Justice Department and to the ATF.
11:17In that letter, we noted that ATF's Internal Affairs Division
11:23had been investigating the illegal scheme.
11:28We asked for answers and for findings relating to that investigation.
11:35Those government employees who were notified of the illegal misconduct
11:41and did nothing to investigate or stop it must be held accountable,
11:47because in this town, if heads don't roll, nothing changes.
11:54Of course, that applies the same, of course,
11:57to those who participated in that scheme of misclassification.
12:03No one is above the law.
12:06But as of right now, because of ATF's failure to give any update
12:15on the internal investigation, all Congress knows
12:20is that nobody's been held accountable.
12:24It's very clearly hypocritical of the Biden administration's ATF
12:31to revoke the licenses of firearms sellers for innocent clerical heirs,
12:40but at the same time refuses to hold its own employees accountable
12:46for an illegal misclassification scheme.
12:50Finally, in our January 2024 letter,
12:59we also noted that whistleblowers alleged to us that the ATF
13:05had been illegally misclassifying positions
13:09for more than the five-year period reviewed
13:13by the Office of Personnel Management.
13:17The Office of Special Counsel noted in their letter to President Biden
13:22the evidence suggests that ATF engaged in this illegal activity
13:28since at least 2003-2004.
13:33The whistleblowers also alleged to us that hundreds of employees
13:39across all ATF field divisions and offices
13:44occupied positions that were identified as misclassified.
13:52Accordingly, if true, the cost to taxpayers for these misclassifications
13:58is likely significantly higher than $20 million.
14:04And if true, the review done by the Office of Personnel Management
14:09was really, really narrow.
14:14Clearly, the Justice Department and the ATF have a lot of explaining to do.
14:22The taxpayers deserve to know how much of their money
14:26ATF wasted.
14:29The taxpayers deserve to know who was held accountable
14:33and how they were held accountable.
14:36And if nobody was held accountable, why not?
14:41The entire matter is an example of the important role
14:45whistleblowers play in shining light on government waste, fraud, and abuse.
14:53Without the continued persistence of these brave whistleblowers
14:57to report wrongdoing that they know about
15:01and maybe the people in the head of the departments don't know about,
15:05ATF's illegal misclassification scheme,
15:09substantial waste of taxpayers' funds,
15:12and gross mismanagement would have likely continued.
15:18I commend the grit of these whistleblowers.
15:23Senator Ernst's and my oversight on this issue will continue.
15:30I suggest the absence of a quorum.