ATF VS. FBI: The Rivalry Inside the DOJ

By: Ignacio Esteban

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) have been rivals even before ATF entered the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2003. The FBI mindset has always been they are the tip of the spear and should be running all major investigations while perceiving ATF and other agencies as smaller and not at their caliber. The FBI has over 35,000 employees according to their website while ATF has slightly over 5,000 employees. ATF is a very specialized federal agency mainly dealing with federal firearms violations, explosives, and to a lesser degree with alcohol trafficking and tobacco diversion while the FBI deals with an array of violations from counter-terrorism, espionage, white collar investigations, public corruption and other federal violations.
ATF was in formed in 1972 in the Department of Treasury while the FBI was formed in 1908 in the Department of Justice with both agencies having their fair share of scandals and turf battles over major cases in the United States. Both have been portrayed in movies, TV shows, documentaries and all over the internet. This is the rivalry of David vs. Goliath within the DOJ, the history and battles of both agencies in American law enforcement.