Patrick Crosby, a former spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, blasted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco for issuing him a subpoena in a case involving an ATF agent.
Crosby, who now runs an Atlanta-based media relations company, GeorgiaNewsmakers.com, represents controversial ATF agent Vince Cefalu, who has a whistleblower lawsuit against the government for allegedly retaliating against him on the job. Crosby said he and Cefalu got to be friends when Cefalu was an agent in Atlanta.
Crosby said the Civil Division of the San Francisco Office has issued a subpoena in the civil suit and has asked him to turn over “any and all documents or information of communications between Vince…and me, his friend whose firm does his PR.” Cefalu currently works in the California-Nevada area for ATF.
“This wide-ranging subpoena in my opinion, goes far beyond a civil case involving a whistleblower and his job, and wastes even more resources. For what?,” Crosby said in a statement. He said he found it highly unusual for the government to go after client communications from a public relations firm.
“Next will the US Attorney’s Office seek cellular taped conversations between Vince and his PR firm? “This is exactly what the Justice Department, where I worked for 15 years, is trying to get away from—wasting the taxpayers money on something that has nothing to do with Justice.
“They’ve actually filed this. This odd and invasive tactic speaks for itself. I can tell you that most communications between Vince and his PR firm are quite boring, and it usually involves Vince not being able to afford to pay his bills.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco declined comment Tuesday when called by ticklethewire.com.
