Biden's most dangerous nominee: Waco agent David Chipman to run the ATF
Some of President Joe Biden's nominees, such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, have been met with bipartisan praise. Some have been met with the typical partisan complaints by the party out of power. At least one, Twitter troll Neera Tanden, proved so toxic...
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by
Tiana Lowe, Commentary Writer |
| May 26, 2021 04:15 PM
Some of President
Joe Biden's nominees, such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, have been met with bipartisan praise. Some have been met with the typical partisan complaints by the party out of power. At least one,
Twitter troll Neera Tanden, proved so toxic that she ultimately withdrew herself from consideration. But none — not even Xavier Becerra, our Health and Human Services secretary, nominated with zero healthcare experience during a pandemic — is less suited for a specific job than David Chipman, Biden's nominee to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
At his Wednesday hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chipman could not define what constitutes an "assault weapon," despite being asked by multiple Republicans. At one point, he seemed to concede that it's whatever Congress decides it is. At another, he defined it as "any semi-automatic rifle capable of accepting a detachable magazine above the caliber of .22." This definition would encompass the overwhelming majority of rifles in a nation where private individuals own hundreds of millions of rifles.
A law enforcement officer who spent a quarter-century serving in the ATF, Chipman is extreme in his opposition to basic Second Amendment rights. That's bad enough, but he isn't just a radical in ideology. He's a radical in terms of practical violence and a conspiracy-theorizing kook.
Chipman testified before Congress that an image of himself standing in the ashes of the ATF's disastrous Waco raid was digitally manipulated. But the truth is not much better.
Chipman
was indeed a case agent in the Waco siege of the Branch Davidian compound. The incident was a massacre of civil liberties and the rule of law, in addition to the 82 lives it ended unnecessarily. Rather than bring up credible sexual assault charges against cult leader David Koresh, who could easily have been arrested during his jogs around the compound and jaunts into town, the ATF staged a militarized and performative military action against American citizens.
The Waco stunt, endorsed by the Clinton administration as a part of its crackdown against the Second Amendment, also found a quiet defender in then-Sen. Biden. Even after evidence emerged that the ATF had whipped up baseless charges about a meth lab in order to secure helicopters and charge firearms violations, Biden proved a partisan,
opposing oversight hearings that were certain to damage the Clinton administration.
"``There’s a big difference between mistakes and malevolence,″ Biden said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the investigation into the siege.
According to the
Associated Press, the Delaware Democrat also noted that "angry right-wing groups have seized on the Waco and Ruby Ridge failures 'to suggest that law enforcement is our enemy.'″
Chipman has publicly defended and justified the Waco raid.
"I worked for the government for 25 years, and I understand how trust in government has been harmed," Chipman
wrote in response to a question on Reddit about Waco's ramifications on public trust. "Please remember, however, that it was agents on the ground who let the public know the truth about these incidents when some sought to cover-up inconvenient truths."
In that same thread, Chipman lied that "cult members used 2 .50 caliber Barretts [sic] to shoot down two Texas Air National Guard helicopters." In reality, none of the helicopters — again, secured thanks to government officials' lies about a meth lab — were successfully shot down.
Chipman has offered the same derision for the Second Amendment that almost any other potential Biden nominee would. On his LinkedIn page, he called for all illegal gunfire to be investigated as "potential homicide." Since retiring, he has worked with Gabby Giffords's gun control organization.
Elections have consequences. With Democrats in total control of Congress and the White House, Republicans can't expect every nominee to be much more than merely qualified. But Chipman is an authoritarian who opposes gun rights and believes in the use of government-sanctioned violence to achieve leftist ends. This isn't someone who just participated in one of the most militarized and unjustified civilian massacres that resulted in the death of dozens of children.
He makes excuses for it even now. If he can justify using lethal force that put children in danger, he can easily justify seizing your AR-15 or whatever other gun he decides is an assault rifle.
Not a single Republican should even consider confirming Chipman. Centrist Democrats would be wise to use their political capital to nix his nomination. Better yet, pull a Reagan and attempt to end the ATF. With lunatics like Chipman just one vote away from power, it is evident that the bureau itself is a problem.
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