ATF Director Steven Dettelbach prepares to testify before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday.

ATF agents cut off the electricity to Bryan Malinowski’s Little Rock home before executing their search warrant March 19. None of the agents wore body cameras, and they covered Malinowski’s doorbell camera with tape to hide their actions. Fifty-seven seconds after kicking down the front door, Malinowski was fatally shot in the head. His wife, Maer Malinowski, was pulled out of her home wearing only bedclothes and forced into the back of a squad car, where she was held against her will for four hours in 34-degree weather, despite her frequent pleas to check on her dying husband.

“If that isn’t weaponization of government, I don’t know what is,” Congressman Jim Jordan, R-OH, said Thursday morning, during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, which he chairs.

The hearing, which was held in the Rayburn House Office Building and was called “Oversight of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives,” lasted more than three hours. ATF Director Steven Dettelbach was the only witness.

Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee tried to force Dettelbach to answer questions about Malinowski’s killing.  However, as expected, he declined to answer and tap-danced around the members’ questions, citing the ongoing criminal investigation by Arkansas officials as an excuse. Dettelbach was also questioned about ATF’s zero-tolerance policy for gun dealers, which has led to a dramatic increase in revocations of Federal Firearm Licenses (FFL). Other lawmakers asked the ATF director about his agency’s confusing new rule, which requires anyone who sells firearms “predominantly to earn a profit” to obtain an FFL.

Dettelbach appeared before the committee wearing a grey suit, white shirt, pale blue tie and an ATF lapel pin. He sat alone at the witness table, which was covered with several folders and piles of paper.

Jordan’s questions about the Malinowski killing were on-point, accusatory and unrelenting.

“When you make up the rules as you go, bad things happen. People might even get shot. That’s what happened to Bryan Malinowski. What were you trying to hide, disabling the doorbell camera, cutting the electricity and not wearing body cameras? Jordan asked.

“We’re not trying to hide things. After the incident, along with Little Rock Police, we called for an independent investigation, which is being done by Arkansas State Police,” Dettelbach said. “Mr. Chairman, the reason we called for the investigation is we’re not trying to hide anything, but I am not going to talk about the investigation out of fairness. I’m not commenting on pending (legal) matters. It’s not fair to people.”

In his opening statement, Dettelbach claimed ATF goes after trigger-pullers, shooters and gun traffickers, which he called the “the worst of the worst.” He never mentioned that Malinowski had never been arrested and had no criminal record.

Dettelbach claimed “gun violence” was the leading cause of death for children, which Congressman Troy Nehls, R-TX, and several other Republican lawmakers completely debunked.

Nehls, a former Sheriff who said he never allowed no-knock search warrants or “SWAT teams coming to doors dressed like ninjas,” asked Dettelbach what policies ATF has in place to mitigate risk to agents and the public during search warrants.

“We do a thorough job of training, and we have operations planning,” Dettelbach replied.

“Executing search warrants at pre-dawn hours, how does that mitigate risk?” Nehls asked.

Dettelbach declined to answer, citing the ongoing criminal investigation, adding “Police are entitled to due process, too.”

“When you kick down a door and you don’t even announce who you are, what do you think is going to happen,” Nehls asked. “Were you aware he had no criminal history?”

Nehls cited a growing lack of trust between police and the communities they serve, which he said was exacerbated by ATFs lack of body cameras.

“This stinks to high heaven,” Nehls said. “I highly recommend you cooperate with this committee. You’ve got to get your priorities in order. It seems like there is a coverup here.”

Two ATFs

“You’ve accused a dead man of a crime,” said Congressman Darrell Issa, R-CA. “Did you allege he had committed a felony?”

“The judge did find that,” Dettelbach said, again citing the ongoing investigation by Little Rock officials.

“I hope they find that you blew it badly enough that criminal charges are filed,” Issa said. “The Hunter Biden (investigation) is over. Why didn’t you do a no-knock on him?”

Issa, a frequent ATF critic, said he knew what really transpired March 19.

“You’re playing one of the games that the Chair and I didn’t like during Fast & Furious,” Issa said. “If some group of 10 carloads of people showed up and kicked in the door in the dark of night, we would be talking about a planned murder of somebody who had every right to have a weapon in their home, an expectation of a weapon in their home, and an expectation they may use it. Mr. Malinowski was killed doing what any normal citizen does when people enter their home during the dark of night, and they don’t know who they are. I believe he had a very real belief he was defending his wife and family, and you killed him. Those are the facts. I have been investigating ATF for many years. I’ve consistently seen two ATFs: One we need and deserve, and one that plays fast and loose. It would have been reasonable to arrest him at work. If you’d done that, he’d be alive today.”

Criminalizing FFLs

Congressman Matt Gaetz, R-FL, asked a simple question: “How many firearms does someone have to sell to be engaged in the business of firearms?”

“The rule has 16 pages and there are 400 pages of explanation,” Dettelbach said. “The factors are conduct-based, not numerical-based.”

“No number? For a regular person trying to figure out how many guns they have to sell before registering as a dealer – for a regular person, more information is less helpful,” Gaetz said.

Gaetz pointed out that at Texas court had enjoined ATF’s new rule, finding that the agency had exceeded its authority.

“It seems you’re trying to criminalize an entire enterprise,” Gaetz said.

Congressman Tom McClintock, R-CA, asked Dettelbach if he had ever “expressed remorse to Mr. Malinowski’s widow and family.”

“I will now and have before,” Dettelbach said.

McClintock asked if Dettelbach knew of the raid in advance.

“I first heard after the fact,” Dettelbach said.

“Who have you disciplined? What have you done?” McClintock asked.

“We went together with the Little Rock Police and requested an outside investigation. And we have fully cooperated,” Dettelbach said.

Congressman Jordan asked about the status of the investigation.

“The Arkansas State Police turned over the investigation file to Pulaski County – state prosecutors,” Dettelbach said. “I believe this is all public. I believe they’re reviewing it. That part we know.”

Congressman Tom Tiffany, R-WI, then said he has noted a “dual standard of justice in America: Hunter Biden vs. Bryan Malinowski.”

Not one of the Democrats on the committee asked a probative question. The hearing concluded at 1:30 p.m.

Story courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.

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44 COMMENTS

  1. Well if Malinowski would have been black Little Rock would be burning right now.
    Whites are either a bunch of pu$$ies or they believe in a just criminal system.
    Ain’t nothing going to happen, theBiden’s hit squad will go on unabated and reinforced by their last JRB approved botched raid success.
    Filthy fcking government paid murder’s.
    God bless you Randy Weaver.

    • The ATF hit squad will go on unabated no matter who happens to be president, as demonstrated by your reference to Weaver, until their LEO powers are rescinded.

      • Never going to happen theBiden is a hydra.
        It has been cloaked for many years and now it is powerful enough that it can rear its ugly heads.
        They have the surveillance, the have the technology, they have We the People using credit to purchase their foreign imports.
        theBiden gave and We the People took, now they can take and take it appears they are.

  2. A growing lack of trust between the police and the communities they serve.
    Well golly gee, I wonder why?

  3. A growing lack of trust between the president and the Country he serves.
    Well golly gee, I wonder why?

    • Waddya mean, FJB already told us he doesn’t work for us. He scolded that guy at a factory, ” I don’t work for you!” Their future plans only include us as fertilizer.

  4. The Weekend at Burnie bunch that is running the country from the White House isn’t done murdering citizens yet. I’m sure they can send the AFT out to execute a few more innocent gun owners before the election. After all that is clearly the most effective way to persuade old George Soros to create a few thousand more votes in the swing states.

  5. So Dettelbach spent a couple hours getting grilled by a Congressional committee, and deflecting, denying and deriding.

    Other than losing a little bit of lifespan, there will be no repercussions. Until that starts to change, he and the ATF have no reason to change their behavior.

    • Isn’t “Contempt of Congress” an actual crime or does Dettelbach have immunity from that too?

        • Remember as a student at Columbia Univ in NYC Obama’s ( o ( kholder was nabbed with a stolen handgun after illegally occupying a campus building demanding be turned into a black student union crib yet faced no state nor federal charges.

  6. Nothing changed after Waco. Nothing changed after Ruby Ridge. Nothing changed after Fast and Furious. Nothing will change after this.

    Every federal agency needs to burn down and disappear. They’ve done nothing but harm to this country and this world.

    • Yeah brother!

      Fuck the VA and all those vets. Useless one legged, no legged, maybe one arm and one leg, two legged and one arm……..Er, whatever, fuck them all!

        • Wow. reallt. they were dumb enough to enlist.
          Ever hear of the draft? They didn’t have a choice.
          The va is a total cluster fuck but to say that about the vets, especially those that volunteered, makes you a worthless POS

          • Also the va is only two letters not 3. But they do make up for it with all their BS

  7. The baseline should be if an appointee does not truthfully and wholly answer questions that should be an immediate removal. I know as a federal gov’t employee I have no rights and if I do not be forthright when questioned by security they can remove me instantly.

    • I think if you showed up with your ” Barbque gunm” the BATFE would shute you though.
      A person has to remember, exercising The Second Amendment can get you killed.
      Is JRB in fear he may loose the presidential election over all of his bad decisions? Not at all. He is good to go for 4 more years or until America isnt America anymore which ever comes first. And by the looks of it America isn’t America anymore.

  10. Dave Chipman might not have been so bad after all. Probably the reason he did not get nominated into the BATFE’s director position is that he had somewhat of a heart.
    What we have with Dettlebach is a killer.
    Hitlers henchmen type guy.
    Are you remorseful for the death of Malinowski?
    “I am now.”
    WTF is that?
    I am now.

    • Steve Dettelbach reminds me of Adolf Eichmann. A mid level apparatchik following his masters unwritten orders.

    • Chipman was good for one thing and one thing only ie. his facial expressions, they helped launch a thousand memes.

      Now to the important issue why are “Hebrews” such as ChipMAN and DettleBACH so opposed to civilian firearm ownership, don’t they know their “tribe’s” history? No need to answer I and others already know.

  11. Anyone who thinks anything will change because of them is a retard

  15. atf incompetence on display…
    ĵhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=yw9zNfhXpvw&feature=shared

  16. The tyrants want to make us afraid for our lives. They keep the the definition of what constitutes a crime secret. If you can’t be sure you haven’t engaged in malium prohibitum then they win by depriving you of your rights.

    Stay in line or we will un alive you is the standard mantra of ATF.

    • As I possum I have difficulty staying in line. It’s just the way we walk, and running, lol, forget about that, our tails go west when our asses go north.

  19. After this Malinowski fiasco any person working for the BATFE is a real piece of shit.
    Killers of American citizens. Hired by theBiden.
    4 dead in Ohio caused quite an uproar and that was accidental( kinda).
    What is going to become of this? The ATF will be better armed with bigger breaching vehicles and larger groups of Enforcers.
    It not going to be mandatory body cameras, accountability, due process, or “Common Sense Law Enforcement”
    It will be Blitzkrieg raids with more then enough manpower to get the job of execution done expeditiously. No questions asked.
    We have met the enemy and ‘our’ tax dollars pay them.

  21. I’m glad this hearing was held and the questions were asked of government officials. Believe it or not. This is how our government is supposed to work. Openly asking questions.

    You couldn’t ask questions in the USSR.
    Remember. Nobody went to prison for issuing a shoot to kill order at Ruby Ridge. But hearings were held.

    This is why we have the Second Amendment. Everyone should have access to machine guns, rocket launchers, land mines, etc. And have the ability to mount guns or cannon from their fishing bosts. Or on a Cessna.

    This is the only real check against this from happening, on a daily basis in this country.

    And no. The bumpstock is not a waste of ammunition. Nor is any acceleration device.
    But the will cost the average working man a lot less $$$ to acquire.

    Also remember in Minecraft games single shots are more effective. A machine gun is only for psychological purposes. And used sparingly.

    btw
    I really enjoyed building and shooting off model rockets as a kid. With my grandfather. On this Memorial Day rest in peace this WW2 veteran.

  22. Biden and his Clown Car are Stepping up Enforcement of their Agenda Across the board before they get the Boot From the WH.
    So, Instead of Due Process and Legal Procedure, ATF has Opted for “Cover-of-Darkness Raids’, and simply Killing ‘Offenders” instead of doing the Legal Stuff.

  23. Ohs nos! The ATF director had to sit in front of a bunch of Congressmen/women and respond to their questions for a few hours! And some of the Congressmen’s/women’s questions and comments were harsh!!!

    Why do I suspect that the ATF director snickered all the way back to his office after the hearing?

    Until the scumbags who do this stuff pay significant personal penalties, said scumbags will only accelerate their scumbaggery.

    • All I can say is : Holy Shit, the definitions of ” Grilled ” and “Testified ” sure have changed since I was a kid. I couldn’t tell from the video if Shuttlecock, er, Dettlebach had a teleprompter he was reading from, but I almost expected him to do a Bribemesque ” repeat ” a couple of times during his performance.
      Our priest surprisingly summed it up at mass yesterday – TEOTWAWKI won’t be between the Eagle and the Bear like we were taught as kids, but between the Left and the Right.
      And sooner than any of us would like.

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