(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives official Peter Forcelli, who blew the whistle on the Obama-era Operation Fast & Furious scandal, is reportedly one of the names under consideration to be the next ATF director.
“Those said to be under consideration are: Blake Masters, a far-right conservative in Arizona who is close to the financier Peter Thiel and who mounted a failed bid for a House seat; Peter J. Forcelli, a former bureau official who wrote a book on the ‘Fast and Furious’ scandal; Larry Keane, the head of the gun manufacturers’ trade association; and several current and former top A.T.F. officials, including Robert Cekada, Daniel Board and Rick Dressler,” the New York Times reported over the weekend.
Headline USA has reported extensively on Forcelli’s disclosures, which he chronicled in a book he published in March entitled The Deadly Path: How Operation Fast & Furious and Bad Lawyers Armed Mexican Cartels.
As his book explains, the Fast & Furious scandal entailed the U.S. government allowing illegal gun purchases under the guise of tracking organized crime. The operation never resulted in the arrests of any organized crime leaders, and it became a national scandal when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed by a Fast & Furious firearm in 2010.
Forcelli said in an interview in February that he believes that the government is still allowing the streets to be flooded with illegal weapons.
“The U.S. Attorney is turning a blind eye to straw purchases, which is fueling what’s going on in Mexico,” he said.
“The prosecutors who work there haven’t changed their ways. They have a habit of kicking the can down the road and not taking straw purchase cases. These are not purchasers who are buying guns for target shooters. These are guys who are sending guns to Mexico to slaughter human beings.”
Forcelli also accused current ATF Director Steven Dettelbach of being a “tool for the gun-control lobby.” Dettelbach, for his part, has reportedly said he plans to quit before Trump takes office.
However, the Times also reported that Trump isn’t expected to choose an ATF director until the spring, though transition officials reportedly cautioned that he is “just as likely to tap somebody on impulse, at any moment.”
Second Amendment activists cheered Forcelli’s potential nomination.
Honored and humbled by Cam’s comments here. Truly honored. https://t.co/2SCsra6SIe
— Peter J Forcelli (@Forcelli_Author) December 16, 2024
“Forcelli didn’t just write a book on Operation Fast & Furious. He was one of the whistleblowers who called attention to the gunwalking scandal, and suffered retaliation from higher-ups in Obama’s Justice Department for his actions,” wrote journalist Cam Edwards.
Responding to the reports of his candidacy, Forcelli said he knows all of the other candidates besides Masters, and that Cekada, Board and Keane would all be an improvement over current ATF leadership.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
