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Firearms designer Len Savage sent me an email this morning calling my attention to a post on attorney David Hardy's Of Arms and the Law blog.
Access to the CleanUpATF.org website is being blocked from Department of Justice computers. Users attempting to visit it are reminded that they're being watched and noted.
Why?
Here's a screenshot posted on the CleanUpATF forum:
We've discussed CleanUpATF numerous times here at Gun Rights Examiner. They're the group of ATF employees who are fed up (pun intended) with corruption and incompetence at the bureau, and who formed "a non-profit organization dedicated to returning integrity, accountability and decency to the management of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE or 'ATF')."
A few of the more egregious examples of what has compelled them to speak out:
Managers, Counsel, Internal Affairs and staff of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (BATFE or "ATF") have repeatedly given false testimony, concealed substantial waste, fraud and abuse, abused their lawful authority, and waged systematic campaigns of reprisal against their own employees that dare to speak out. This website is intended by members of the ATF community to promote restoration of integrity, accountability and responsibility to ATF's leadership, and regain the trust of the American taxpayer.
and
In recent years, ATF management has become widely and officially known for corruption, self-service, and at times, overt incompetence...In the last two years alone, there have been nearly 400 employee complaints. In an organization with only about 5,000 employees...Recently publicized cases have involved malicious and carefully orchestrated management campaigns to smear, discredit, and professionally destroy agents who have repeatedly risked their lives for ATF and the public, solely in reprisal for the filing of legitimate complaints...The Bureau's leadership has also miserably failed or even deliberately refused to meet its responsibility to protect highly decorated undercover agents from documented threats...
Here's the thing--most private companies and government agencies have web use policies. After all, you don't want to be paying someone to do a job only to find they're squandering work time abusing Internet privileges. So is it unfair for CleanUPATF.org to complain about government abuse and waste and then turn around and complain they can't surf the web?
Here's what the Department of Justice has to say about that:
Personal Use of Government Property
An employee should recognize her responsibility to protect and conserve government property and resources, and to make an honest effort to use official time and government property only for official business. 5 C.F.R. § 2635.704 through .705 Use of Government property, and Use of official time.
An employee may not use the official time of another employee for anything other than official business. The use of any government property, including computers and the Internet, for any partisan political activities is always prohibited.
Department of Justice employees are generally authorized to make minimal personal use of most office equipment and library facilities where the cost to the Government is negligible and on an employee's own time. 28 C.F.R. § 45.4. This is the Department's de minimis use policy, and would permit an employee to send a short, personal electronic message to another individual. However, personal messages sent to large groups of people and messages sent to disseminate information on non-Governmental activities, such as charitable events and causes, commercial activities such as personal businesses, and religious observances, are prohibited.
If an employee of the Department of Justice has questions about the Department's rules covering the limitations on personal use of government equipment and resources, or questions about whether planned personal use of office equipment is permitted, she should consult with her supervisor, or her ethics official.
Assuming these requirements are being adhered to, what do we see happening at Justice? Some representative comments from CleanUpATF:
I equate this to the censhorship that occurs in China. The Chinese government will not allow its people to search Google. ATF will not allow its employess to go on cleanupatf.org....who is worse?
I checked the american cancer society which is a .org and that site came up. So it must just be cleanupatf.org.
You might notice that they do not cite the "DOJ policy" that "requires" ATF to block ATF employees from viewing a website that relates directly to ATF policy and current affairs. Naw. In classic ATF management knee-jerk fashion, rather than encouraging free discussion and debate, and instead of actually addressing the critical issues raised on this website in a straight-up and constructive manner, we'll simply block the site! Problem solved!
The CUATF Webmaster makes a prediction:
Hey Melson (and cronies), here's a news flash for you. This will not prevent our message from getting out.
Indeed. If that was the intended consequence, we find management judgment once more in question.
Why not forward this column's link to newspapers in your area, and ask them why they continue to remain silent on issues of ATF abuse?
Related Articles
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Why do ATF employees question fitness of agent in 'toy gun' seizure?
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Comments
Meh. Companies and govt orgs do that all the time. I really question the competence of any ATF agent who actually accesses that site from a work computer.
If they're accessing a site like this, on their lunch breaks, and/or before or after their shifts, there's no possible way it's infringing on the de minimis use policy. And since when has repression of free speech, even for the governmental employees still capable of independent thought, as a bastion of their policies? Something smells of feces, methinks...
Just an idea... why don't they just look at it from home?
Right after they resign and find an honest job, of course.
The BATFE has no justification for existence. They have NO legitimate function at all.
The law only applies when they decide it does, and when it is not working for them they change it!
"I really question the competence of any ATF agent who actually accesses that site from a work computer."
"...but I repeat myself." --Will Rogers
Granted, as per the Code of Federal Regulations, a few minutes of computer time on a government issued computer is government employee misuse of Government property and employee time.
In that same vein, the Attorney General needs to remind the white house with a similarly strong memo that O’Bobblehead needs to reimburse We The People for his wife and daughters’ trip to Broadway to take in the 21 and 22 March performances of Memphis” and “The Addams Family” respectively.
I believe that government vehicles (ground and air) along with several employees, to the tune of several hundreds of thousands of dollars, were used for that little personal pleasure jaunt.
But, then that’s the Chi town way, isn’t it? Sorry David, couldn’t help myself.
[W-III]
Any BATF agent/employee who does not a bull's eye painted on their back and every move they make on government time checked should only log onto this site from some place off site perferably not their home IPO address.Why set yourself up. You, as an AFT employee, are a valuable inside source for the American taxpayer and we cannot afford to have you dismissed. Give management their little victory becuase all they have done is shot themselves in the foot in reality.
"You, as an AFT employee, are a valuable inside source for the American taxpayer and we cannot afford to have you dismissed."
I can't buy this. I've read CleanUpATF and don't recall ever seeing any mention of the injustice the bureau does to Americans. It's all about how put-upon "street agents" are by management. Screw'em. If ATF agents had any integrity at all, they'd work elsewhere. Just because they don't like ATF management doesn't mean they're on our side.
Joel--I certainly don't imply they are--but having insiders come forth with evidence of wrongdoing is something that ought to prompt oversight hearings and media coverage. I would think gun rights supporters would want that.
It won't happen unless enough light is put on this and enough noise is made. Meaning if it's left to CUATF website and an occasional post here on GRE, it won't happen at all.
How is that the better course?
It is probably being blocked because the originating server domain it resides on is a known spammer.
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