Nbadan
05-06-2008, 01:28 PM
FBI Searches Office of Special Counsel Building
by Ari Shapiro
NPR.org, May 6, 2008 · FBI agents on Tuesday raided the offices of Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch, who oversees protection for federal whistleblowers. The agents seized computers and shut down email service as part of an obstruction of justice probe, NPR has exclusively learned.
FBI agents also searched Bloch's home and a Special Counsel field office in Dallas. A grand jury in Washington issued subpoenas for several OSC employees, including Bloch, according to NPR sources who spoke on condition their names not be used.
Bloch, who has also been under investigation for allegedly retaliating against career employees and obstructing an investigation, was being questioned at his Washington, D.C. office on Tuesday morning, according to the NPR sources.
In OSC offices across the country, email access was shut down late Tuesday morning. Six FBI agents arrived at the Washington field office before noon. Within an hour, the number had grown to 20. The FBI agents seized several computers, including the one belonging to Bloch. Separately, other agents searched Bloch's home and a grand jury in Washington issued subpoenas for several OSC employees.
NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90223448)
Apparently, Bloch had the audacity to investigate Karl Rove...
To refresh your memory, Bloch's agency is a little known one that is charged with investigating whistleblower complaints, Hatch Act violations, and the like -- but who is himself being investigated for retaliating against whistleblowers and politicizing his office. The Office of Personnel Management's inspector general has been conducting that investigation since 2005. The feds are apparently investigating whether Bloch tried to obstruct that investigation by deleting his hard drive, among other things.
To give you an idea how fraught this investigation is with unique issues, Bloch is not only busily investigating the White House for political briefings Karl Rove and his aides made to various agencies, but he's also conducting an investigation of the politicization at the Department of Justice and issues related to the U.S. Attorney firings -- a probe that he complained was being blocked by the DoJ. Of course, he can't do much to block the DoJ investigation of him.
by Ari Shapiro
NPR.org, May 6, 2008 · FBI agents on Tuesday raided the offices of Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch, who oversees protection for federal whistleblowers. The agents seized computers and shut down email service as part of an obstruction of justice probe, NPR has exclusively learned.
FBI agents also searched Bloch's home and a Special Counsel field office in Dallas. A grand jury in Washington issued subpoenas for several OSC employees, including Bloch, according to NPR sources who spoke on condition their names not be used.
Bloch, who has also been under investigation for allegedly retaliating against career employees and obstructing an investigation, was being questioned at his Washington, D.C. office on Tuesday morning, according to the NPR sources.
In OSC offices across the country, email access was shut down late Tuesday morning. Six FBI agents arrived at the Washington field office before noon. Within an hour, the number had grown to 20. The FBI agents seized several computers, including the one belonging to Bloch. Separately, other agents searched Bloch's home and a grand jury in Washington issued subpoenas for several OSC employees.
NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90223448)
Apparently, Bloch had the audacity to investigate Karl Rove...
To refresh your memory, Bloch's agency is a little known one that is charged with investigating whistleblower complaints, Hatch Act violations, and the like -- but who is himself being investigated for retaliating against whistleblowers and politicizing his office. The Office of Personnel Management's inspector general has been conducting that investigation since 2005. The feds are apparently investigating whether Bloch tried to obstruct that investigation by deleting his hard drive, among other things.
To give you an idea how fraught this investigation is with unique issues, Bloch is not only busily investigating the White House for political briefings Karl Rove and his aides made to various agencies, but he's also conducting an investigation of the politicization at the Department of Justice and issues related to the U.S. Attorney firings -- a probe that he complained was being blocked by the DoJ. Of course, he can't do much to block the DoJ investigation of him.