ATF Receives Letter from ACLU After Censorship of Fast and Furious Whistleblower

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms has received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union after censoring ATF Special Agent and Operation Fast and Furious whistleblower John Dodson. Dodson is expected to publish The Unarmed Truth: My Fight to Blow the Whistle and Expose Fast and Furious in January 2014, but has been told his manuscript doesn’t meet ATF’s “outside employment guidelines.”

“The backstory of how Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed by guns under ATF surveillance ignited national debates over gun policy, border security, whistleblower protections, and the techniques deployed in Operation Fast and Furious. Agent Terry's death and the law enforcement techniques it helped to expose attracted attention from the press, Congress, and the Justice Department Inspector General's office.

But now that one of the agents involved in the operation wishes to add his version to the public record on Fast and Furious, he has been forbidden from doing so by the very agency that sparked this national policy debate. We believe that both the procedures used to support ATF's publication denial, as well as the prohibition on Agent Dodson's manuscript itself, run afoul of constitutional protections for public employees,” a letter from ACLU Attorneys Lee Rowland and Mike German to ATF Deputy Director Thomas Brandon states.

Although the book is set for publication, is already on Amazon and has backing from Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell and Issa and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley, Dodson has been told by ATF supervisors “there will be consequences” if he moves forward.

The intimidation and retaliation against Dodson up to this point from the Department of Justice and ATF for exposing Operation Fast and Furious has been fierce and calculated. Dodson has been screamed at by supervisors in front of other agents for speaking out, reassigned and even had his weapons taken away while on duty without cause.

Dodson was punished for “jumping his chain of command” by telling the truth about an operation that has left hundreds of people dead.

After being put under internal investigation by ATF, Dodson was cleared of any wrongdoing earlier this year.

The ACLU is urging ATF to approve Dodson's request for outside employment and to rewrite its outside employment policies in compliance with the First Amendment.

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