By Danny Fenster and Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Now comes more shakeups at ATF over the controversial program Fast and Furious.
ATF confirmed Thursday that three officials have been detailed to headquarters in non-operational positions pending the outcome of an Inspector General report into the Fast and Furious program, which encouraged Arizona gun dealers to sell to middlemen, all with the hopes of tracking the weapons to the cartels. Some guns surfaced at crime scenes, causing a furor on Capitol Hill.
The latest shakeup was first reported by the website Sipsey Street Irregulars.
Those transferred to headquarters included: William Hoover, the acting head of the Washington Field office; Mark Chait, head of the Baltimore field division, and William McMahon, the deputy assistant director of the ATF’s Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations.
Scot Thomasson, chief spokesman for ATF issued a statement on the matter, saying:
“Taking into consideration the depth and breadth of the Fast and Furious investigation a decision to detail ATF Deputy Assistant Director William McMahon, Special Agents in Charge William Hoover and Mark Chait from operational positions with oversight responsibilities to non-operational positions was made by the Deputy Director Thomas Brandon. These new assignments will remain in effect pending the outcome of the OIG investigation.”
Interestingly, the three had already been transferred once before as a result of Fast and Furious.
Before the first transfer, Hoover was the acting Deputy Director of the ATF, the number 2 spot; Chait was the Assistant Director in Charge of Field Operations and McMahon was Deputy Assistant Director of Field Operations.
The Fast and Furious Operation is still stirring controversy in Washington.
US Attorey General Eric Holder is expected to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding Operation Fast and Furious on Feb. 2.
