Despite ‘Fast & Furious’ Questions, Biden Praises New ATF Director

Vice President Joe Biden said the administration “couldn’t have picked a better man or woman for the job” as chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives than director B. Todd Jones.

Jones has served as the acting ATF director since August 2011 when the previous acting director Kenneth Melson resigned at the height of the scandal over Operation Fast and Furious. He was confirmed by the Senate despite questions about whether he was intimidating agency whistleblowers and taking other questionable actions regarding the investigation into the botched Justice Department sting program that allowed hundreds of guns to flow to Mexican drug trafficking organizations. The program was halted in December 2010 after two guns from the program were found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Delivering remarks during Jones’ ceremonial swearing-in for Jones at the White House, Biden said the ATF needs to move beyond a string of acting directors to a permanent director to properly enforce the nation’s gun laws.

“We’re finally putting the ATF back in business,” Biden said. “They’ve been in my view over the last period of time been marginalized, or attempted to be marginalized by the process, but no longer.”

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