The Morning After

Yesterday, federal agents raided the Office of the Special Counsel (OSC) and the home of Special Counsel Scott Bloch, confiscating numerous computers and file data. OSC is the agency in charge of protecting federal whistleblowers from improper retaliation. GAP and other whistleblower organizations have long been critical of Bloch, accusing him of abusing his powers and not truly advocating for whistleblower rights.

While FBI spokesman would not publicly state what the nature of the raid was, Bloch has been under severe scrutiny since last November when he hired an outside service, Geeks On Call, to erase an unknown amount of information from OSC computers. Bloch has been investigated by the Office of Personnel Management’s IG over allegations that Bloch “retaliated against career employees and obstructed an investigation.”

Employees at OSC have been asked to appear next week before a grand jury about “possible obstruction of justice and destruction of federal records during an investigation.” From the LA Times:

“The Bush administration has been unable to make up its mind whether to ignore him or to act against him,” said Tom Devine, legal director for the Government Accountability Project, a whistle-blower advocacy group. “Mr. Bloch is finally being held accountable for the same cover-ups that he is supposed to be policing. It is a very positive step.”

-- Dylan Blaylock