ATF chief reassigned in wake of gun debacle

WASHINGTON – The head of the beleaguered Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. attorney in Phoenix were removed from their jobs by Justice Department officials hoping for a fresh start for an agency whose employees had expressed a lack of confidence in their leadership.

But congressional Republicans vowed to ratchet up their investigation of the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracing program, which sent hundreds of guns to Mexican drug cartels. They are preparing for a new round of hearings into who else was involved at other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Justice Department.

The announcements Tuesday that Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson and U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke were leaving their posts came after Obama administration officials said they had received a series of messages from ATF employees expressing a deep “lack of confidence” in the leadership.

Melson is being transferred to senior adviser on forensic science in the Office of Legal Policy, a division in the Justice Department that helps on long-range planning issues.

Burke, whose office provided the legal guidance for Fast and Furious, acknowledged to Justice officials in Washington earlier this month that a clean slate in Phoenix was needed for federal law enforcement officials working the U.S.-Mexico border, according to congressional sources.

In addition to Burke, Emory Hurley, the top assistant federal prosecutor in Phoenix, was moved Monday from the criminal division in the U.S. attorney’s office in Phoenix to handling civil matters instead.

During a closed-door session with congressional investigators earlier this month, Burke defended Fast and Furious as a valid and legitimate operation. But he also acknowledged that mistakes were made and he was accountable.

Despite the management changes in Washington and Arizona, congressional investigators remained determined to get to the bottom of the Fast and Furious debacle. Some 2,000 guns were illegally purchased under surveillance and then lost by agents trying to follow them. During the 15-month program, a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed and numerous Fast and Furious weapons turned up at crime scenes in Mexico.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said his panel “will continue its investigation to ensure that blame isn’t offloaded on just a few individuals for a matter that involved much higher levels of the Justice Department.”