Sen. Durbin tries to duck ATF nominee racism report missed by corporate media

by WorldTribune Staff, August 4, 2021

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has rejected a request by Republicans for an emergency hearing to investigate allegations of racism against Team Biden’s nominee to head up the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Durbin

Sen. Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat, dismissed a report by Reload in which the nominee, David Chipman, was accused of making racist remarks while working at the ATF’s office in Detroit.

In a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP senators who demanded a new hearing for Chipman, Durbin wrote: “Now comes the latest salvo — a claim published by an anti-gun safety website, allegedly based on the accounts of two anonymous individuals, that Mr. Chipman had made racially discriminatory remarks when he served at ATF. As with the other claims manufactured by Mr. Chipman’s opponents, there is no evidence to support these allegations.”

Stephen Gutowski, who runs the Reload, defended the report:

“Americans deserve full transparency for the man President Biden wants to lead the ATF. The existence of the Equal Employment Opportunity complaints against David Chipman is not in dispute. ATF agents told me he has been accused of making racist comments. The public deserves to see the contents of the complaints,” Gutowski told the Washington Examiner.

Reload reported that two ATF sources heard that Chipman had denigrated black agents while assigned to the agency’s Detroit bureau.

“He made some comments that he was surprised by the number of African Americans who have made it onto a specific promotional list,” an ATF official said. “So his insinuation was that they had to have cheated, which is kind of despicable.”

The corporate media ignored Reload’s report of racism allegations against Chipman. The Washington Post Editorial Board offered a glowing endorsement of Chipman, blaming the “gun lobby” for the delay in Chipman’s confirmation to head up ATF.

The editorial did not mention that ATF agents had accused Chipman of making racist remarks. The Post did, however, manage to get in a shot at Americans who own AR-15s: “In fact, AR-15s are unnecessary for hunting, protection or any other legitimate civilian application, and their popularity reflects poorly on supposedly responsible gun owners.”


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