Sipsey Street Exclusive: More whistleblower retaliation. Just one more criminal act in a criminal administration.

Sipsey Street Irregulars, in conjunction with David Codrea's War on Guns, has been provided a copy of a recent letter by Congressman Darrell Issa to Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the continuing efforts of ATF and DOJ to retaliate against whistleblowers, including Agents Jay Dobyns and John Dodson. The letter, obtained from a source close to the investigation, indicates that the woefully misnamed Department of Justice of the Obama administration continues to commit criminal acts against its own employees that it perceives as threats to the cover-up of the Gunwalker scandal.

Here is the letter:

June 1, 2012

The Honorable Eric Holder

Attorney Genera

l

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

On October 12, 2011, I wrote to you to to express serious concerns about retaliation by the Department against whistleblowers who provided information to the Fast and Furious investigation. (1) I now write regarding reports that another whistleblower, Special Agent Jay Dobyns, has also been retaliated against for speaking out about mismanagement and abuse at ATF. Agent Dobyns has been helpful to Congress throughout the Fast and Furious investigation in providing information related to your fatal gun trafficking program. He was also instrumental in encouraging several whistleblowers with firsthand knowledge of Fast and Furious to come forward and speak with Congress. I urge supreme caution when disciplining a Department employee for alerting the public about internal misconduct.

ATF has earned a reputation for vindictiveness when it comes to retaliating against its employees. Unfortunately, despite prior assurances from senior ATF officials, it appears that Acting Director B. Todd Jones has yet to change this reputation, as he recently upbraided Special Agent John Dodson in a private meeting at ATF headquarters. These apparent attempts to silence critics of the Bureau are potentially illegal and certainly counterproductive.(2) As I have previously stressed, direct communications with Congress are both vitally important and protected by law.(3)

It appears that ATF has not received instructions from Department leadership that retaliation is not to be tolerated in any Department component. Please ensure that ATF receives the necessary instructions reiterating this policy.

Sincerely,

Darrell Issa, Chairman

cc: The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Minority Member

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

(1) Letter from Senator Charles Grassley and Chairman Darrell Issa to Attorney General Eric Holder (Oct. 12, 2011.)

(2) See 5 U.S.C. S. 7211 ("The rights of employees, individually or collectively, to petition Congress or a Member of Congress, or to furnish information to either House or Congress, or to a committee or Member thereof, may not be interfered with or denied.")

(3) See Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, P.L. 111-117, 1213 Stat., S 714 (2010) (setting prohibitions on restricting communications of federal government employees with Congress); see generally, Government Accountability Office, "Department of Health and Human Services-Chief Actuary's Communications with Congress," B-302911 (Sep. 7, 2004) (discussing the history and background in support of the government-wide prohibition on attempts to prevent direct communications with Congress); SEE ALSO 18 u.s.c. s. 1505 (providing that obstructing or impeding a Congressional inquiry is also a criminal violation).

This column reached out to Agent Dobyns for reaction to this letter, but he had "no comment" pending the outcome of on-going disciplinary actions against him. Calls to Dobyns' attorney Jim Reed were not returned, perhaps because of the Independence Day holiday.