EXCLUSIVE: Biden ATF promoted agents involved in 'illegal' scheme to inflate salaries, GOP senators say

Two Senate Republicans are calling for contiguous corrective enactment astatine the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), accusing bureau officials of important misconduct, mismanagement, maltreatment of powerfulness and imaginable transgression misconduct aft supervisory unit allegedly disregarded national directives and standards successful bid to inflate their salaries. 

What's more, alternatively of being disciplined, the supervisory agents who allegedly turned a unsighted oculus to the misconduct – and successful immoderate cases allegedly retaliated against whistleblowers trying to exposure it – were promoted nether the Biden administration, the senators say.

"As a effect of ATF’s amerciable conduct, ATF unit assigned to these positions performed administrative enactment but unlawfully received enhanced instrumentality enforcement wage and benefits to which they were not entitled, wasting millions of payer dollars," Iowa's Republican senators, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, wrote successful a missive transmitted Friday to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and ATF acting Director Daniel Driscoll. 

ARMY SECRETARY DAN DRISCOLL TO LEAD ATF, REPLACING FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL

In their letter, the senators cited 2 interior investigations from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which concluded successful 2020 and yet suspended the ATF's classification authority, and the ATF Internal Affairs Division (IAD), which was completed successful aboriginal 2024. Despite the suspension from OPM successful 2020, which was lifted successful 2023, ATF officials disregarded OPM directives and continued to re-classify bureau employees improperly, according to the senators.

Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are calling for contiguous corrective enactment astatine the ATF, accusing supervisory agents determination of turning a unsighted oculus to a transgression strategy to inflate their salaries and, successful turn, getting rewarded for it by the Biden administration. (Getty Images/Fox News)

In their letter, Grassley and Ernst singled retired 2 supervisory agents, Lisa Boykin and Ralph Bittelari, who they accidental the IAD audit shows not lone allowed the continuance of this misclassification strategy – contempt knowing it violated OPM directives and standards – but besides retaliated against whistleblowers trying to exposure it. 

Furthermore, the senators claim, Boykin and Bittelari were promoted earlier President Joe Biden near bureau and proceed to enactment astatine the ATF nether President Donald Trump.

In 1 instance, according to the senators, Bittelari and Boykin decided to determination guardant with the relocation of an ATF instrumentality enforcement serviceman successful Phoenix to an administrative presumption astatine ATF office successful Washington, D.C., contempt OPM identifying the presumption arsenic misclassified. The IAD study allegedly shows Bittelari initially agreed to rescind the occupation offer, but pursuing a consequent speech with Boykin decided to determination guardant with the unauthorized relocation anyway.

SENATOR WARNS OF ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’ JUDICIAL OVERREACH AHEAD OF SCOTUS SHOWDOWN

Furthermore, the senators alleged successful their missive that the IAD study shows Bittelari attempted to fell the "unlawful assignment" by submitting the promotion straight to payroll for processing.

During different lawsuit erstwhile Bittelari sought to improperly classify a presumption statement for the main of ATF's Workforce Wellness and Services Division (WWSD) arsenic law enforcement, the senators said a quality resources classification specializer was threatened with insubordination aft recusing herself from the substance and sending an email notifying unit it was a usurpation of OPM directives and standards. 

The senator's missive besides highlighted Boykin's "troubling deficiency of candor" regarding the installation of the main of WWSD. According to the senators, Boykin told IAD investigators she was unsure if the main of WWSD had been installed anterior to the presumption statement ever being adequately approved. However, the senators said, Boykin's emails showed the idiosyncratic attended meetings and functions with Boykin arsenic WWSD main anterior to receiving approval, and a draught presumption statement was created jointly by the brace weeks earlier the authoritative WWSD main presumption statement was approved.   

"The findings successful the IAD study contiguous wide grounds that corrective enactment indispensable beryllium taken for, astatine minimum, Ms. Boykin’s and Mr. Bittelari’s gross misconduct," the senators wrote. "Yet, the Biden ATF and DOJ enactment not lone failed to clasp Boykin oregon Bittelari accountable for their gross misconduct, but legally protected whistleblower disclosures provided to our offices amusement these vocation DOJ bureaucrats were promoted aft the decision of the IAD probe that harshly criticized their actions."

The senators constituent retired successful their missive that Boykin was promoted to main diverseness serviceman nether Biden, but successful January 2025 her rubric was switched to "Senior Executive." Meanwhile, the senators besides pointed retired Bittelari was promoted to elder advisor astatine the Justice Department's Justice Management Division (JMD), and aboriginal acting lawman manager of quality resources wrong JMD.

ATF ACCUSED OF ‘CIRCUMVENTING’ TRUMP ORDER TO PLACE DEI STAFF ON PAID LEAVE

"In closing, the findings successful the IAD and OPM audit reports further substantiate the claims whistleblowers made to our offices that elder ATF bureaucrats, Ms. Boykin and Mr. Bittelari, engaged successful gross and important waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct astatine the disbursal of taxpayers successful furtherance of ATF’s amerciable misclassification scheme, retaliated against whistleblowers for exposing it, and past were promoted for it," stated Grassley and Ernst's missive to Bondi and Driscoll. 

"Their implicit disregard for the instrumentality contempt being ‘fully alert of the imaginable consequences’ amusement Boykin and Bittelari should not person enactment positions astatine the Justice Department oregon its components."

The ATF has antecedently travel nether occurrence for "circumventing" a directive by President Donald Trump to curbing DEI efforts astatine national agencies. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

In summation to calling for corrective action, Grassley and Ernst requested that nary aboriginal than May 23 the Justice Department taxable a effect connected however it plans to code the issues laid retired successful the IAD study and their letter. 

The Justice Department declined to remark for this article, portion the ATF did not respond to Fox News Digital's inquiries.