SAF Exposes ProPublica's ATF Hit Piece: Bloomberg's Own Staffer

The Second Amendment Foundation just pulled the mask off — and what's underneath should infuriate every gun owner who's ever taken a ProPublica story at face value.

SAF is publicly calling out ProPublica for building its high-profile ATF enforcement takedown on quotes and data tied directly to Bloomberg-funded personnel. That includes the Trace — Everytown's in-house narrative factory — and Marianna Mitchem, a former ATF Assistant Director who now draws a paycheck from Everytown for Gun Safety. ProPublica cited her to attack enforcement changes that loosen the agency's grip on law-abiding FFLs and gun owners.

**That is not journalism. That is a press release with a dateline.**

The Trace exists for exactly one purpose: to manufacture storylines that advance Michael Bloomberg's gun-control agenda. It is not a newsroom. It is opposition research with a masthead. When ProPublica launders Trace reporting into a 'nonpartisan investigative' piece, Bloomberg's money gets a credibility upgrade it has never earned and doesn't deserve.

SAF's callout strips that credibility away — publicly, by name, with receipts.

Here's why this is bigger than a media spat: stories like this one are precision-engineered to generate congressional pressure, bad-faith oversight hearings, and political cover for any future administration that wants to re-weaponize the ATF against dealers and lawful owners. **They build the narrative infrastructure first. The regulations follow.** Every time a congressman cites a ProPublica piece in a hearing, Bloomberg wins a round he didn't have to fight himself.

ProPublica did not prominently disclose the Everytown connection. They didn't have to — most readers won't dig, and that's the entire play. Dress up an activist's grievances in neutral language, place it in a respected outlet, and watch lawmakers and bureaucrats cite it as independent fact for the next five years.

SAF is doing the work legacy media won't: following the money, naming the players, and refusing to let Bloomberg's network write the terms of debate on federal gun enforcement unchallenged.

**The closer:** The next time a ProPublica or Trace story about ATF 'chaos' or 'dangerous rollbacks' crosses your feed, stop before you share — and check who's actually talking. You are very likely reading Everytown's legislative wish list, reformatted as news. SAF caught it this time. But this playbook doesn't stop unless gun owners stay loud, stay informed, and keep supporting the organizations willing to call it out by name. Head to saf.org — and watch for what Bloomberg's network tries to slip past us next.