By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
ATF Director Robert Cekada was flying with Todd Blanche, the 88th Attorney General of the United States, Sunday night when the two men started talking.
Of course, the recent midterm election losses were discussed, as were ATF’s priorities.
Cekada said Monday that his response to the election was simple: He will not change.
“We’re forging ahead,” he said. “I am pushing all of the rules that we told everyone to modernize. We are going to repeal all of the old Biden rules.”
Once the ATF rules are formalized, everyone will have protections that they need, Cekada said.
“It takes almost two years to change the rules,” Cekada said. “That gives Congress a lot of time.”
Cekada said he has no plans to resign after the election losses were tallied.
“I am not going anywhere unless the President fires me,” he said. “I am not going anywhere.”
Cekada is still angry about the ongoing actions of some former staffers, like former ATF assistant director Marianna Mitchem, who is now an official with Everytown for Gun Safety and constantly providing false information and fictitious stats to the anti-gun media.
“Everytown would love to see me go, but they should be ready for a fight,” Cekada said. “Especially when former ATF employees are spewing lies over there.”
Unique history
Cekada’s changes to the ATF almost defy belief.
He inherited an agency that was nothing more than the despised law enforcement arm of Joe Biden’s anti-gun mob, and he turned it into a real federal law enforcement agency that now—as he constantly maintains—targets only “real bad guys.”
Cekada is personally overseeing the return of the firearms that were seized by Biden’s ATF from three men who were all pardoned by President Donald J. Trump.
All three of these real victims did nothing wrong, but they were still charged and convicted of violating Joe Biden’s mythical zero-tolerance policy.
Pastor Russell Fincher lost all of his guns after Biden’s ATF raided his home and pointed guns at him and his young son. Now, after he was pardoned, he is talking with Cekada about the return of his firearms and a lot more.
“Mr. Cekada is such a breath of fresh air that the Second Amendment community truly needs,” Pastor Fincher said. “I know there are a lot of doubters, but I need to rejoice in the positive. The hour-long conversation I had recently with him was unbelievable. I left saying, ‘I can’t believe he’s the ATF director.’ I really feel like he’s a true patriot battling for the Second Amendment. He’s a different kind of cat.”
The other team has made their plans very clear: They want show trials and they plan to target the Second Amendment.
It’s refreshing to hear that ATF will not be assisting them with half of their national agenda—that ATF will remain solely focused on arresting real bad guys instead of legitimate gun owners.
Said Cekada: “We will not change.”
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