ATF Head Reassigned Following Scandal

Former Acting Director Kenneth Melson in an ATF file photo. (Courtesy of ATF.gov)
The head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is being reassigned to another agency, following a botched investigation that resulted in firearms going to Mexico and drug cartels.

The Justice Department announced the decision Tuesday, which will move Kenneth Melson to a new post in the DOJs Office of Legal Policy, where he will take a role as a senior adviser for the country's forensic science policy.

The U.S. attorney in Minnesota, B. Todd Jones, will take Melsons place as interim head of the ATF.

Officials also said that Dennis Burke, U.S. attorney for Arizona, is resigning in the wake of the scandal that took place during the Operation Fast and Furious program.

ATF agents told lawmakers that they were ordered to stand down while gun buyers bought weapons that the agency knew went to Mexican drug cartels. They were then told to not make any arrests but instead to follow where the guns wound up. Usually, the weapons would not be discovered unless they were found at a crime scene.




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