ATF Acting Director Demoted, Replaced

The ATF is undergoing a major shakeup.

Acting Director Marvin Richardson is being demoted, and US Attorney Gary Restaino will take over his position, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the move. The reshuffling was announced by Richardson on a conference call Monday, which left many ATF officials surprised and dismayed. The ATF is expected to announce the move in the coming days.

“The news that he was being replaced came as a shock to most of us within the agency,” one ATF official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told The Reload.

Richardson is an African-American career ATF official who has spent more than 30 years with the agency. His demotion means he has not only been passed over twice for nomination to become the permanent director but is now being shuffled out of the acting director position mere months before a permanent director may be confirmed. The move follows a recent New York Times article featuring complaints from gun-control activists which labeled Richardson “an industry-friendly subordinate pumping the brakes” on President Biden’s aggressive gun-control initiatives. It risks creating a backlash that could jeopardize the President’s second attempt to install a permanent head for the agency.

Refusing to consider an accomplished Black agent like Richardson for the permanent position may lead to further controversy around Biden’s nomination of Steve Dettelbach.