Report: ATF officials demoted

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Two officials at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are being given lower-ranking jobs after complaining about management decisions.

The senior officials are being reassigned effective Thursday after opposing management and spending decisions by the agency's former director, the Washington Post reported.

Deputy Director Edgar Domenech -- who served as acting director in 2006 -- is being transferred from ATF headquarters to take over the agency's Washington field office. Michael Bouchard, assistant director for field operations, is being made an assistant to Michael Sullivan, a U.S. attorney who is temporarily running ATF, the newspaper said.

The reassignments are widely regarding within the ATF as demotions, the Post said.

They come seven months after Carl Truscott left as the agency's director. Truscott clashed with Domenech and other senior executives, the newspaper said.

An inspector general's report subsequently showed that Truscott engaged in numerous questionable expenditures and forced employees to help his nephew prepare a high school video project.

ATF spokeswoman Sheree Mixell characterized the moves as routine and told the Post "both are important positions."