Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms And Explosives

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**FILE** Kenneth E. Melson, former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) (Associated Press)

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Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has been accused of a "lack of trustworthiness" in telling what he knew about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' "Fast and Furious" probe involving straw purchases of guns that were then "walked" into Mexico and given to drug smugglers. (Associated Press)

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U.S. Attorney for Minnesota B. Todd Jones, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, acknowledged that the ATF is facing difficult times in the wake of the "Fast and Furious" operation. (Associated Press)

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STALLED: Andrew Traver's confirmation to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives appears to be languishing on the Senate's back burner. (Associated Press)

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Andrew Traver's confirmation to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives appears to be languishing on the Senate's back burner. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

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**FILE** Kenneth E. Melson, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), speaks at a news conference in Houston in April 2009. (Associated Press)

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Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, heads that House panel that wants documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on the decision to "walk guns to Mexico in order to follow them and capture a bigger fish." (Associated Press)

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PHOTOGRAPHS BY BARBARA L. SALISBURY/THE WASHINGTON TIMES Special agents David Stone (left) and Darrell Bonzano with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives walk the beat on a street in the Fairfield Court neighborhood of Richmond during a routine patrol of a Violent Crime Impact Team last month.

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Special agents David Stone (left) and Darrell Bonzano with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives walk the beat on a street in the Fairfield Court neighborhood of Richmond during a routine patrol of a Violent Crime Impact Team last month. (Barbara L. Salisbury / The Washington Times)