Overshadowed By Events

The Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives issued a press release on Thursday which detailed what they termed as their "mid-year significant adjudications".

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Chicago Field Division Special Agent in Charge Andrew Traver released a list of the top investigations undertaken during the first half of fiscal year 2011. The Chicago Field Division encompasses the entire State of Illinois.

"Chicago ATF has been very successful in obtaining significant judicial outcomes so far this year for a range of criminal defendants that represent the results of using the full spectrum of ATF’s arsenal of investigative techniques from the basic felon in possession of a firearm case to the very sophisticated RICO conspiracy gang prosecution," said Traver. "Of course, the majority of these outstanding criminal prosecutions were only made possible through the dedicated cooperative efforts of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, and we’re only getting started."

Another way of looking at this release is that it is Andrew Traver's way of saying "I'm still here guys!" given how he and his nomination to be head of ATF have been overshadowed by the unfolding revelations of Project Gunwalker. As to the events described in the release being significant, let's just say that a full third of the "significant adjudications" involved a felon in possession of a firearm.