The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), has issued subpoenas to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention as part of an investigation into potential collusion between the Biden administration and gun control groups. The inquiry is centered around the pending litigation City of Chicago v. Glock, with allegations that the White House coordinated with anti-Second Amendment plaintiffs.

Chairman Comer expressed serious concerns about a private meeting held on Dec. 20, 2023, between the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Glock representatives. According to Comer, the administration pressured Glock to modify its pistol designs. 

“This raises serious concerns about whether you or your staff abused the authority of your office and committed ethical violations by colluding with outside parties to initiate a lawsuit against a politically disfavored private entity,” Comer stated in a letter to White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Director Stefanie Feldman.

The subpoenas demand all communications between the White House office, ATF and gun control organizations, including Everytown for Gun Safety, related to issues like “auto sear” devices and the ongoing litigation involving Glock. The Committee also seeks records of communications between White House staff and Everytown’s president, John Feinblatt, as well as private messaging logs involving Deputy Director Rob Wilcox.

This move comes after the administration failed to respond to initial document requests made in June. The Committee is investigating whether these communications were improperly used to share information with the plaintiffs in the Chicago lawsuit, which accuses Glock of responsibility for criminal misuse of its firearms when modified with illegal “switches.”

In response, the NSSF, the trade association for the firearms industry, praised the subpoenas, echoing the concerns raised by the Committee. NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane accused the White House of engaging in “lawfare” against the gun industry, claiming the Office of Gun Violence Prevention is working to deprive Americans of their Second Amendment rights.

“It appears this office is a taxpayer-funded effort to do the bidding of radical, special interest groups to weaponize the courts through ‘lawfare’ and advance an agenda to deprive Americans of their Second Amendment rights, guaranteed by the Constitution,” Keane said. He also urged the White House to comply with the subpoenas and end its alleged collaboration with gun control groups like Everytown.

The House Oversight Committee previously noted that Everytown President John Feinblatt had insider knowledge of the Glock meeting, as evidenced by a post on X in which Feinblatt described discussions between federal officials and Glock about modifying their pistols.

White House Deputy Counsel Rachel Cotton, in a response to Comer’s earlier inquiries, accused him of acting on behalf of the gun lobby and dismissed the Committee’s investigation as an effort to protect Glock. Cotton emphasized the administration’s goal of reducing gun violence by addressing illegal firearm modifications, such as “auto sears” that convert handguns into machineguns.

However, the NSSF counters that these illegal devices are not manufactured by Glock or any other firearm company but are illegally imported or homemade. Keane criticized Cotton’s response as misleading and unhelpful, calling it an attempt to deflect from the real issue: the alleged collusion between the White House and gun control advocates.

As the investigation unfolds, both the White House and ATF are expected to provide the requested documents and communications, which could shed more light on the extent of the administration’s involvement in the Chicago litigation.

In a press release from the House Oversight Committee, the committee specifically demands:

The subpoena requires the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to produce the following documents and communications that are in its possession, custody, or control, from September 22, 2023, to the present, in unredacted form:

• All documents and communications between any individual at the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Everytown for Gun Safety; or Everytown Law, related to “auto sear(s)”, “Glock switches”, “machinegun conversion device (“MCD”), and “Chicago litigation”; and
• All documents and communications between Deputy Director of the White House Office for Gun Violence Prevention Rob Wilcox and Everytown for Gun Safety President John Feinblatt.

The subpoena requires the ATF to produce the following documents and communications that are in its possession, custody, or control, from September 22, 2023, to the present, in unredacted form:

• All text, SMS, iMessage, or any other messaging communications to include messages transmitted via encrypted communication apps including but not limited to Signal or WhatsApp between certain phone numbers and any and all cellular devices associated with White House Office for Gun Violence Prevention Deputy Director Rob Wilcox, and/or any other officials within that office, and
• A printout of the log of all telephone calls between certain phone numbers and any cellular device associated with White House Office for Gun Violence Prevention Deputy and/or any other officials within that office.

Read the subpoena cover letter to White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Director Stefanie Feldman here.

Read the subpoena cover letter to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Director Steven Dettelbach here.