{"id":611633,"date":"2021-08-04T18:05:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T22:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=611633"},"modified":"2021-08-04T18:05:31","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T22:05:31","slug":"optics-senate-judiciary-republicans-sat-on-atf-nominee-racism-charges-for-nearly-two-months-records-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/optics-senate-judiciary-republicans-sat-on-atf-nominee-racism-charges-for-nearly-two-months-records-show\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Optics\u2019: Senate Judiciary Republicans Sat On ATF Nominee Racism Charges For Nearly Two Months, Records Show"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Foptics-senate-judiciary-republicans-sat-on-atf-nominee-racism-charges-for-nearly-two-months-records-show%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=611633&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>Republican Judiciary Committee staffers were first informed of a racism charge against President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, nearly two months before GOP lawmakers took any action on the allegation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The staffers received contact information on June 10 for the former ATF staffer who allegedly reported the nominee, David Chipman, in 2007 for making racist comments about black ATF agents, but did not make any effort to reach out to the agent due to \u201coptics,\u201d records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Republican\u2019s initial hesitancy to pursue the racism charge comes less than three years after Democrats on the Judiciary committee aggressively pursued sexual misconduct allegations during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s confirmation hearings.<br \/><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Republican staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee first learned of racism charges concerning President Joe Biden\u2019s anti-gun nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms nearly two months before GOP lawmakers on the committee took any action on the allegation.<\/p>\n<p>Records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation show that Republican staffers were provided contact information on June 10 for the former ATF agent who allegedly reported the nominee, David Chipman, around 2007 for suggesting black agents \u201cmust have been cheating\u201d on a promotional assessment because an \u201cunusually large number\u201d had passed the exam. Chipman was an ATF manager at the time he allegedly made the comment.<\/p>\n<p>The Republican staffers were informed in mid-June that the former ATF agent was willing to talk with the committee about the incident, communications reviewed by the DCNF show, but one of the staffers said their hands were tied and that the committee couldn\u2019t reach out to the former agent to corroborate the allegation on their own due to \u201coptics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>GOP members of the Judiciary Committee didn\u2019t take any action on the allegation until late July, following reports by the DCNF and <a href=\"https:\/\/thereload.com\/atf-agents-corroborate-existence-of-racial-complaint-against-biden-director-nominee-fear-reprisals-and-hit-to-agency-effectiveness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Reload<\/a> quoting former and current ATF agents who said they had heard about Chipman\u2019s alleged comments around the time of the incident. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/22\/american-accountability-foundation-david-chipman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: \u2018They Must Have Been Cheating\u2019: Watchdog Group Sues For Records Relating To Derogatory Comments Biden\u2019s ATF Pick Allegedly Made Against Black Agents)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A former ATF agent told the DCNF on June 22 that Chipman\u2019s alleged comments \u201cspread like wildfire at the agency\u201d at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe made this remark in front of a bunch of witnesses,\u201d the former ATF agent said. \u201cIt got tremendous blowback, as it should. Here you have a middle manager saying something like that with absolutely no proof.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking member of the Judiciary committee, confirmed in a statement that committee staff first learned of the racism allegation by a third party.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA single, initial allegation was relayed by a third party to committee staff and the Ranking Member\u2019s office quickly moved to seek a new hearing and additional details once that single allegation was corroborated by additional reporting and sources this past week,\u201d Grassley spokesman George Hartmann told the DCNF. \u201cCommittee Republicans are not keen to repeat their Democrat colleagues\u2019 shameful practice of relying on uncorroborated allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hartmann did not address why committee staffers didn\u2019t take action back in mid-June when first informed of the allegation.<\/p>\n<p>Republican hesitancy to pursue the Chipman racism allegation comes less than three years after Democrats on the Judiciary Committee nearly derailed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s confirmation process due to their aggressive investigation into sexual misconduct allegations.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee recently <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/22\/democrats-fbi-sexual-misconduct-brett-kavanaugh-investigation\/\">revived<\/a> the Kavanaugh sex abuse allegations. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Chris Coons sent a letter to the FBI in late June demanding why the FBI only deemed a handful of the 4,500 tips it had received in the matter to be \u201crelevant\u201d for review by former President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7252565\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"40\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7252565\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7252565 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/David-Chipman-September-Hearing-scaled-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/David-Chipman-September-Hearing-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/David-Chipman-September-Hearing-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/David-Chipman-September-Hearing-620x413-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/David-Chipman-September-Hearing-768x512-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/David-Chipman-September-Hearing-1536x1024-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/David-Chipman-September-Hearing-2048x1365-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7252565\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent and Giffords Law Center senior policy advisor David Chipman (R) testifies before U.S. House Judiciary Committee during a hearing on assault weapons in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill September 25, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Every Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee signed a <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/29\/david-chipman-atf-judiciary-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter<\/a> on July 29 to committee chairman Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois demanding a new hearing for Chipman to address the racism charges. The senators said in the letter they had \u201crecently received news reports\u201d about the allegation, but the letter did not disclose that committee staffers were informed of the allegation before the press covered the story.<\/p>\n<p>Durbin rejected the Republican request for a new Chipman hearing in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/Letter%20to%20Committee%20Republicans%20re%20Chipman%20-%208.2.2021%20-%20Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter<\/a> Monday, saying the request was \u201cjust the latest in a string of efforts meant to unfairly derail Mr. Chipman\u2019s nomination and tarnish his record and reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Durbin said in his letter that there was no evidence to support the racism allegation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCommittee staff from both sides of the aisle reviewed Mr. Chipman\u2019s extensive background investigation,\u201d Durbin said. \u201cAfter that review, both sides \u2018cleared\u2019 the background investigation and agreed that Mr. Chipman\u2019s nomination should proceed to a hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Durbin added that Chipman told Sen. Ted Cruz in writing that he had received two Equal Employment Opportunity complaints during his time as a manager at the ATF, both of which Chipman said were resolved without any finding of discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>However, Chipman did not answer Cruz when asked if he would be willing to provide his ATF personnel file to the Judiciary Committee for review.<\/p>\n<p>The American Accountability Foundation, a conservative watchdog group, filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in late June for records related to Chipman\u2019s disciplinary records during his 25-year tenure with the agency. AAF President Tom Jones previously told the DCNF that the lawsuit could produce records related to Chipman\u2019s allegedly racist comments in 2007 about black ATF agents performing too well on a selection exam.<\/p>\n<p>Durbin\u2019s office did not return a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate Judiciary Committee split along party lines during a June 24 vote on Chipman\u2019s nomination. Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not yet scheduled a vote to discharge Chipman\u2019s nomination from the committee, a procedural move that would allow the full Senate to vote on his nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Chipman faces long odds even if the full Senate considers his nomination. He would likely need to win the support of the entire Democratic caucus, plus a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris as he is unlikely to garner any Republican support due to his anti-gun advocacy.<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/08\/david-chipman-joe-biden-atf-tiger-king\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: \u2018Like Tiger King\u2019: Biden\u2019s ATF Pick Mocked First-Time Gun Buyers In An Interview Last Year)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Just one Democratic holdout could tank Chipman\u2019s nomination. Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, has reportedly signaled to the Biden administration and his Democratic colleagues that he does not support Chipman\u2019s nomination, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/08\/03\/biden-aft-nominee-resistance-king-502341\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Politico<\/a> reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>A group of seven former ATF agents with a combined 185 years of experience at the agency wrote a <a href=\"https:\/\/thereload.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Retired-ATF-to-SJC-Regarding-Chipman.pdf\">letter<\/a> to Durbin and Grassley on Tuesday urging them to vote against Chipman\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDavid\u2019s strong personal beliefs on firearms issues will create serious and long-lasting problems for the Bureau and the effective execution of its law enforcement mission,\u201d the former ATF agents wrote in their letter, which was first reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/thereload.com\/former-atf-colleagues-write-letter-opposing-biden-director-nominee-wrong-person-for-that-job\/\">The Reload<\/a>. \u201cUnfortunately, if David were confirmed, ATF partners would see someone who is coming to the agency with his top priority being to implement a divisive gun control agenda. The suspicion and hostility his leadership will bring will destroy those partnerships, and the prosecution of gun crimes and other violent crimes, will suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican Judiciary Committee staffers were first informed of a racism charge against President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, nearly two months before GOP &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-611633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}