The Daily Caller reports Joe Biden ATF nominee David Chipman allegedly made a racist comment in 2007 about black applicants who passed a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) exam.
The Daily Caller notes a former ATF agent claimed Chipman was reviewing exam results from individuals wishing to be a Special Agent in Charge when he allegedly said: “Wow, there were an unusually large number of African American agents that passed the exam this time. They must have been cheating.”
Another ATF agent told the Daily Caller News Foundation, “[Chipman] made this remark in front of a bunch of witnesses. It spread like wildfire at the agency. It got tremendous blowback, as it should. Here you have a middle manager saying something like that with absolutely no proof.”
The Daily Wire pointed out Chipman was “the assistant special agent in charge of the Detroit Field Division” when the comment was alleged to have been made.
In writing, Chipman told Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) that there were two Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints filed against him during a 15-year timeframe. Chipman indicated, “[Both were] resolved without any finding of discrimination and no disciplinary action was taken against me.”
The American Accountability Foundation filed two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits in May of this year in order to verify the allegation, but the ATF did not hand over the documents in the allotted timeframe.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced Monday she will oppose Chipman’s confirmation to head the ATF.
Fox News reported Collins referred to Chipman as an “unusually divisive pick,” noting, “Mr. Chipman has been an outspoken critic of the firearms industry and has made statements that demean law-abiding gun owners.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.