Report of Investigation Concerning the Improper Disclosure of U.S. Department of Justice Information to a Member of the Media

On July 8, 2011, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) received information from an attorney representing John Dodson, a Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), concerning the alleged unauthorized disclosure of sensitive ATF information. According to Dodson's attorney, Dodson had received an e-mail from a Fox News producer asking for comment about excerpts from an internal ATF investigative memorandum that Dodson had drafted and which described a proposed undercover operation for an ATF firearms investigation (the Dodson memorandum or memorandum). Dodson's attorney alleged that officials within the Department of Justice (Department or DOJ) had disclosed the memorandum to retaliate against Dodson for his criticism of the conduct of the firearms trafficking investigation referred to as Operation Fast and Furious. On June 15, 2011, shortly before the alleged unauthorized disclosure, Dodson and other ATF agents had expressed their concerns about Operation Fast and Furious during testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The OIG initiated an investigation of the alleged unauthorized disclosure of the Dodson memorandum shortly after receiving this complaint. We determined early in the investigation that the memorandum was among documents the Department had produced to or made available for review by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in connection with their investigation of Operation Fast and Furious. We requested the Department components that had a role in the document production to Congress to identify all personnel whose official responsibilities required or permitted their access to these documents. In response to this request, we received the names of 152 employees in 8 Department components, including Dennis Burke, who was then the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona.