By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
Special to Liberty Park Press
New York state native turned Floridian Robert Cekada spent just over two hours Wednesday along with four judicial candidates testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.
By all accounts, Cekada passed the test, and he will likely become the next Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“Mr. Cekada has had an extensive career protecting Americans at the state and federal level,” Grassley said. “He served a decade as a police officer, receiving numerous awards. He has also spent two decades at the ATF. He knows how to lead the Bureau because he’s worked tirelessly throughout the chain of command.”
Grassley noted that his committee has received dozens of letters endorsing Cekada for the ATF leadership position, and that Cekada worked closely with his office after an ATF whistleblower revealed ATF’s misclassification scheme and other improper practices.
“Mr. Cekada worked closely with my staff to bring this resolution forward, to make sure no more taxpayer dollars were wasted,” Grassley said. “I commend his fine leadership and aggressive actions to find a solution for this brave whistleblower, and I encourage him to allow more whistleblowers to come forward, to help him understand what’s going on in the Bureau.”
Cekada started his law enforcement career in 1992 as a cadet for the New York City Police Department, where in 1999 he became a detective assigned to the department’s Organized Crime Control Bureau. He has also worked as an officer in Florida, until he joined the ATF in 2005, as a special agent in the Baltimore Field Division. His rise up ATF’s chain of command was swift. In May of last year, he became the ATF’s Deputy Director—it’s number two position.
Cekada’s testimony
Senator Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, introduced Cekada to the committee.
“I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Rob, who is in my view the consummate lawman,” Moran said. “He’s worked beats in New York City, rose through the ranks, and believes in enforcement of law and public safety.”
Moran testified that the ATF is now an agency that insures violent criminals are jailed. He quoted former Attorney General William Barr, who described the ATF as a “can-do agency,” which is worthy of support.
“Robert Cekada is a great nominee to be the next director of the ATF,” Moran said. “I hope you find him favorable to serve in this capacity.”
Cekada testified that his parents fled from communist Yugoslavia in 1966 and became American citizens in 1973.
“They are no longer with us,” Cekada said. “They believed deeply in what this country represents.”
He told the Senate committee that his entire career has focused on “keeping people safe.”
“ATF’s dire mission is public safety. If confirmed, my foremost concern will be making sure ATF supports President Trump’s mandate to make America safer by remaining relentlessly focused on violent crime.”
Legitimate gun owners, Cekada stressed, can stop worrying about the ATF.
“ATF’s mission is not a burden to lawful gun owners or to undermine the Second Amendment,” he said. “The right to keep and bear arms is a constitutional guarantee, and I am committed to protecting and preserving it. Effective law enforcement and respect for civil liberties are not competing goals. They are inseparable obligations. I am equally committed to supporting the men and women of the ATF. They deserve clear mission focus and strong leadership.”
Senators’ questions
Senator Grassley led the committee in questioning Cekada.
“What are your top priorities for the Bureau, if confirmed?” he asked.
“The top priorities for the ATF will remain violent crime, illegal use of firearms, explosives and the illegal use of arson,” Cekada said in response. “We will modernize critical systems, forms and licensing systems, which are over 25 years old and unnecessarily burden people, and we will follow President Trump’s Second Amendment order to review all of ATF’s rules to make sure we don’t infringe upon Americans unnecessarily.”
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois told Cekada he had heard that two-thirds of ATF agents, 1,178 of 2,500, had been assigned to enforce immigration.
Cekada said the actual number was around 75 to 100.
“The remainder focus of fighting violent crime throughout the country on a daily basis,” Cekada said. “I support using agents to fight violent crime, specifically fighting gangs.”
Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah asked about restrictions in place on suppressors, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns.
“From the ATF’s perspective, the ATF is bound by law,” Cekada said. “If Congress moves suppressors out of the (Gun Control Act), the ATF would be supportive of that decision.”
Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, brought up the Memphis Safe Task Force, which has cut crime in the city by 50-percent.
“ATF is a proud partner of the Memphis Safe Task Force,” Cekada said. “Our small team is a significant contributor. We have the ability to use crime gun intelligence. ATF is not driving around neighborhoods or going through people’s homes looking to burden families with our enforcement actions.”
Senator Corey Booker, D-New Jersey, like Senator Durbin, falsely believed that most of Cekada’s ATF agents were assigned to the Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration.
As proof, Booker mentioned a news article he had read in the Trace—a notoriously anti-gun online group paid for by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Booker said the Trace story quoted a former ATF agent named Hamilton. He had the story placed into the Senate record.
“I have no clue about who this Mr. Hamilton is, but I challenge his statement,” Cekada said. “We do have only about 100 people working immigration enforcement.”
California’s Democratic Senator Adam Schiff asked if ATF is seeing a trend with “ghost guns,” which Cekada said the ATF now refers to as “privately made firearms.”
Cekada said his agents have seen privately made firearms and auto-sears, but they are primarily found in jurisdictions with strict firearm restrictions. ATF’s laboratory located in Maryland has found a way to identify them based on their polymers.
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley touted some of the country’s strongest Second Amendment protections found in his home state, which came under fire during the Biden Administration.
“Biden’s DOJ asked a sheriff for a list of his CCW holders,” Hawley said. “Why do you need records of CCW holders in Missouri? Can you commit that under your leadership ATF will go in a different direction than the last administration? That you’ll focus your law enforcement resources on criminals? As opposed to law abiding citizens who have rights under both the federal and state constitutions?”
“Senator, I can assure you that under my watch the ATF has been 1,000-percent successful in going after people who have committed violent crimes. We’re not here to burden the American citizen who has a complete right to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms, and we will not do that in the future if I am so confirmed,” Cekada said. “Unlike some prior ATF directors, I will still be a sworn law enforcement officer. I’ve done this job from a ground level police officer to a task force officer with the Attorney General. I’m not telling people to go out and make the cases. I’ve made the cases myself. I know what it takes. Because we’re a small agency, I’ve worked with every ATF agent that’s out there making cases. We all know each other. We know to stay focused on violent criminals. That’s what you pay us for, and we will continue to do that.”
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