Dogged A Watchdog team blog SHARE

By of the

ATF director B. Todd Jones will testify this week before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the agency's botched storefront operations, in Milwaukee and across the country, committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) announced Monday.

It will be first time Jones, who was confirmed as permanent director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in July, speaks publicly about a series of problems in the undercover storefront gun and drug stings.

Jones was invited to attend a hearing in February before a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. Instead, Jones sent his number two, Deputy Director Thomas Brandon.

On March 19, the Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to ATF for documents related to storefronts across the country. The deadline was Monday without response, according to Issa's office. Issa announced the hearing last week, which will be before the full Oversight Committee Wednesday morning.

The Department of Justice Inspector General has launched an investigation into the storefronts. The Oversight Committee is doing its own investigation. Both come following a series of investigative reports in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, revealing problems in the Milwaukee storefront and stings in cities nationwide.

The news organization found that the agency used mentally disabled people to promote operations and then arrested them on drug and gun charges; opened storefronts close to schools and churches, boosting their arrest numbers and penalties; bought guns that had just been purchased from stores; and attracted juveniles with free video games and alcohol.