Letter to the Honorable Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General at the Department of Justice - Investigation of Agent Mismanagement at Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fireamrs and Explosives

Letter

Dear Mr. Horowitz:

The Committee is investigating retaliation and certain instances of agency mismanagement involving a retired Special Agent (SA) with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Jay Dobyns. I write to request information your office prepared regarding various Dobyns-related matters.

Dobyns has been the victim of repeated abuse and mismanagement at the hands of ATF and the Department of Justice (DOJ), following an undercover investigation of the Hells Angels. I At the conclusion of Dobyns's undercover work, carelessness and inattentiveness by ATF officials resulted in the release ofDobyns's identity and address, exposing him and his family to threats. 2 The threats coupled with ATF's failure to mitigate them led to a settlement agreement in 2007, and subsequently litigation about this agreement in the United States Court of Federal Claims. 3 Among other things; the settlement agreement required A TF to pay more attention to threats to Dobyns and his family. 4 They did not. By this point, however, because of Dobyns's ongoing tussle with ATF, he may have reached persona non grata status with the
Bureau. 5 Despite the 2007 agreement, retaliation and reprisal against Dobyns became commonplace. 6

In 2008, a fire, later determined to be the result of arsonists, destroyed the Dobyns family house. His wife and two minor children were inside the dwelling at the time the fire started. Instead of investigating the arson and catching the criminals, A TF continued its vendetta against Dobyns. An ATF Office of Professional Responsibility report prepared by A TF SA Christopher Trainor examined the actions of two A TF officials-retired SA George Gillett and current SA William Newell. The report found these officials committed serious acts of wrongdoing, including attempting to frame SA Dobyns for the arson. 8

Additional misconduct occurred when an attorney in ATF's Office of General Counsel, Valerie Bacon, attempted to convince the Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division Thomas Atteberry not to reopen the arson investigation because doing so would likely d am age ATF's prospects in an ongoing civil suit. 9 The trial testimony from Atteberry on this is remarkable. He testified:

Q .... Did you get any kind of discouragement in any respect from anyone at ATF with respect to reopening this arson investigation?
A. Yes.

Q. Please explain.
A. When I was seeking guidance to reopen the investigation, I had a phone conversation with somebody from Counsel's office in ATF headquarters.

THE COURT: Can you be more specific, Agent? Do you know who
it was?
A. I believe it was Valerie Bacon.

THE COURT: All right. Proceed.
A. I had a phone conversation, and I also believe I talked to her in person one time when she was in Phoenix, and I believe during the telephone conversation she made a comment to me that if you, meaning myself, reopen the investigation that would damage our civil case. 10

Yet, a subsequent series of events occurred when Higman was caught threatening Trainor, the author of the OPR report. Higman made the threats in connection with the Dobyns v. US trial in the United States Court of Federal Claims. 11 The Special Master, former United States Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola, summarized the Higman incident as follows:

After the court issued its final opinion in this case, an A TF agent, Trainor, left a voicemail message for the judge and said that he had been threatened by another witness, Higman, also an A TF agent, and that one of the Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers who had tried the case before the court had further threatened Trainor with damage to his career if he disclosed the Higman threat to the court. 12

To assist the Committee with its probe, we request that your office provide any investigative reports or similar documents referring or relating to the Dobyns matter, including but not limited to those referenced here and those involving the aforementioned A TF officials Newell, Gillett, Higman and Bacon. 13 If feasible, we would appreciate production of these materials by April 28, 2017.

Please produce all documents in electronic format to the Committees. In addition, please deliver your responses to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Majority Staff in Room 2157 of the Rayburn House Office Building and the Minority Staff in Room 2471 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Should you have questions, please contact Steve Castor of the Committee staff at (202) 225-5074. Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this request.

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