By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s failed nominee to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said he faced death threats while the U.S. Senate was considering him but that the administration declined to provide him security.

David Chipman (a veteran ATF agent, gun control advocate and former FBI agent) said that he employed a security consultant after repeatedly informing the FBI and his Justice Department handlers of the threats.

Chipman, who had been working for the ATF since 1995, was resigned by the White House in early March. He worked there for 25 years and is now an ATF director.

Chipman stated that he was the victim of numerous threats in the five months since he was nominated for the position.

Chipman stated that he was concerned by the fact that he knew no government official who could take on responsibility for his safety and my wife’s safety. I spoke to the FBI. The FBI was adamant that no one had done any wrong. We investigate crimes.’ That’s what I was saying. I was asked who owns my security.

Unable to comment immediately, a Justice Department spokesperson did not respond.

“We share David Chipman’s frustration that he wasn’t confirmed,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.

The political tumult surrounding ATF’s leadership is a long-standing problem. In the 15 years since the nomination was made, the Senate only confirmed one candidate to the position. This is due to intense lobbying by powerful gun advocacy groups like the NRA.

Chipman is still a senior policy advisor to the Giffords gun-control advocacy group. He also faced other hurdles including a social media misinformation campaign that he claimed was fueled by the National Sports Shooting Foundation. The group claimed that Chipman had been accused of committing murders in a Waco, Texas standoff in 1993.

Mark Oliva, a spokesperson for the NSSF acknowledged that his group had posted a blog citing a Daily Mail article which falsely claimed Chipman appeared in a Waco photo.

He said that Chipman was subject to “reprehensible” threats and that “when it became evident that it wasn’t him, we took down that photo.”

The threat of death has become a more common feature of American politics. These threats include phone calls to election workers, threats against election officials, and plots to kidnap the governor of Michigan by people upset about COVID-19 policies.

Chipman claimed he noticed a particular threatening note that was sent from Grand Rapids in Michigan. This is given as a result of the attack on Gretchen Whitmer last year.

Chipman claimed that he employed a security consultant to find credible threats and plan safe travel.

Chipman said that he plans to continue at Giffords. The organization was founded in 2011 by former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.

“I can’t stand by at this moment in our history,” said he.