According to a person with knowledge of the situation, fresh FBI Director Kash Patel sworn in as acting commander of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on Monday, taking over the head of two distinct and spacious Justice Department departments.
Patel was sworn in at ATF office shortly after he assumed his position as FBI director, according to the people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were never authorized to discuss the matter.
President Donald Trump’s intentions for the ATF blog and what the government’s plans are for the organization, which has long been a Republican goal, are not immediately known. White House and the Justice Department didn’t listen to a request for comment right away.
Patel will then monitor the bureau of about 5, 500 workers that’s responsible for enforcing the world’s laws around firearms, explosives and fire. Among other things, it’s in charge of licensing national weapon retailers, tracing weapons used in crimes and analyzing knowledge in shooting studies.
Democrats expressed concern about Patel’s nomination for FBI director because of his lack of management experience in comparison to previous directors and because of a long list of burning previous statements, including calling Trump’s critics “government gangsters.”
Gun Owners of America, a gun rights organization that criticized Patel’s election as FBI chairman, highlighted his support for the ATF’s demise. The party described Patel as a “patriot who understands that the Second Amendment right of the People to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED” in a social media post.
Patel said at the Gun Owners of America meeting last year,” My objective is your mission and use it to fight the most damaging operation in U.S. history.” And that is why unelected bureaucrats seize our constitutional rights from you every time and squander your freedoms every morning.
Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the best lawyer from the organization last year, so Patel was appointed as ATF chairman.
Bondi claimed on Friday in a Fox News meeting that she fired Pamela Hicks as general counsel because the company was “targeting gun users.” Hicks, who spent more than 20 decades as a Justice Department prosecutor, said in a social media post that be ATF general counsel was the “highest pride” of her job.
