Let’s concede for the sake of argument, however, that Chipman’s nomination is based on his work as a civil servant. Why then hasn’t the Washington Post, or virtually any other establishment media outlet, reported on his record while in government?
The Reload’s Stephen Gutowski seems to be the only journalist interested in digging into Chipman’s history. And he’s uncovered multiple ATF sources that corroborated the existence of a complaint alleging that Chipman made racist remarks to his coworkers – saying that African Americans needed to cheat to pass promotion assessments. Now, a former black ATF agent tells Gutowski that Chipman baselessly accused him personally of cheating, as well. Chipman has admitted that a complaint exists, though not what is in it.
It must be stressed, as well, that we don’t know if Chipman has done anything inappropriate. It could be that some disgruntled former coworkers or ideologically motivated agents are trying to sink his nomination. We don’t know, because Democrats refuse to let anyone ask him, or ask any witnesses, or ask for access to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint.
What we do know is that if a Republican president’s nominee for a top law-enforcement position had been accused of racism, the Washington Post would be running front-page stories detailing the accusations.
As a political matter, it’s understandable why Chuck Schumer wouldn’t want Chipman back in front of a committee or a television camera. Last time, Democrats bundled his nomination to limit questioning to five minutes per senator, and Chipman still fumbled his way through the hearing; unable, for instance, to define the “assault weapons” he wanted to ban. Why a “nominee with such eminent qualifications” needs the press to shield him from any questions about his past, though, is quite the mystery.
— David Harsanyi The Media Refuse to Cover the Allegations against David Chipman