FBI Agents Raid Office, Home of Special Counsel Scott Bloch -WSJ

[spanone]

WASHINGTON -- Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Office of Special Counsel here, seizing computers and documents belonging to the agency chief Scott Bloch and staff.

More than a dozen FBI agents served grand jury subpoenas shortly after 10 a.m., shutting down the agency's computer network and searching its offices, as well as Mr. Bloch's home. Employees said the searches appeared focused on alleged obstruction of justice by Mr. Bloch during the course of an 2006 inquiry into his conduct in office.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121009238217171025.html



Scott Bloch is a US attorney, former deputy director and counsel to the Department of Justice's Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives, and presently the Special Counsel at the United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC). The Special Counsel is the highest position in the OSC, which upholds anti-discrimination laws and whistleblower protections for federal employees.

[spanone]

1. .

[blm]

2. Any insight into this?

.

[spanone]

3. Special Counsel is the highest position in the OSC, which upholds anti-discrimination laws and whist

Special Counsel is the highest position in the OSC, which upholds anti-discrimination laws and whistleblower protections for federal employees.

November 28, 2007, 12:25 pm
Does Bloch Feel Rove’s Pain?
By TOBIN HARSHAW

Foxes and henhouses, etc. “The head of the federal agency investigating Karl Rove’s White House political operation is facing allegations that he improperly deleted computer files during another probe, using a private computer-help company, Geeks on Call,” reports The Wall Street Journal’s John R. Wilke.
“Scott Bloch runs the Office of Special Counsel, an agency charged with protecting government whistleblowers and enforcing a ban on federal employees engaging in partisan political activity. Mr. Bloch’s agency is looking into whether Mr. Rove and other White House officials used government agencies to help re-elect Republicans in 2006. At the same time, Mr. Bloch has himself been under investigation since 2005. At the direction of the White House, the federal Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general is looking into claims hat Mr. Bloch improperly retaliated against employees and dismissed whistleblower cases without adequate examination.”

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/does-bloch-feel-roves-pain/?scp=1-b&sq=scott+bloch&st=nyt


he had all his computers scrubbed

[blm]

4. Thank you - that was the reminder I needed.

.

[malaise]

6. Can I hope that the chickens are coming home

to roost. Will Rove be frog-marched sometime soon?
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

[spanone]

8. that picture lives in my dreams

[blm]

25. same here....the whole fascist bunch of them.....

Open books....shouldn't be too much to ask of an Dem administration.....

[L. Coyote]

28. Karl Rove's Least Likely Interrogator: Scott Bloch and the Office of Special Counsel

Karl Rove's Least Likely Interrogator: Scott Bloch and the Office of Special Counsel
By Daniel Schulman - April 25, 2007 - http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2007/04/bloch.html


News: The controversial director of the OSC is launching the most high-profile (and politically fraught) investigation of his stormy, three-year tenure. Is it a courageous effort to expose White House malfeasance, or a last ditch attempt to save his own hide?

He's been accused of rolling back protections for federal workers who face sexual-orientation discrimination; installing staffers in key posts who share his religious-conservative worldview; wielding his prosecutorial power for partisan purposes; and turning his agency into a "black hole" for whistleblower disclosures and complaints of reprisal. Welcome to Scott Bloch's stormy, three-year tenure at the helm of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the federal government's obscure whistleblower-protection agency, which is also in charge of policing whether federal employees are engaging in political activity on the job.

Though he's long been in the crosshairs of watchdog groups and watched closely by Congress, Bloch may have just picked the biggest fight of his tenure—and it's not the one anyone expected him to take on. In a move that has shocked even his own staffers, Bloch is gearing up for a large-scale investigation into the administration's political operation, zeroing in on the man who has turned that operation into a veritable satellite office of the Republican National Committee: Karl Rove.

OSC will also probe the disappearance of an untold number of emails that were sent by White House officials using nongovernmental, RNC-issued email addresses and the circumstances behind the firing of at least one U.S. Attorney, New Mexico's David Iglesias. "I've never seen this done before," an OSC investigator told me today, referring to the scale of the investigation. "I think this is a first." He told me, however, that questions remain about whether the agency has the "legal authority to look to the depth that he says we're going to look. I haven't a clue whether we do or not. But I'm sure that will be tested."

In an ironic twist, Bloch is the first OSC chief to face a whistleblower complaint of his own, one filed by a group of career OSC staffers who allege, among other things, that he engaged in the very retaliatory practices his agency is charged with investigating.

=====================
P.S. Bloch has a fixed five-year term.

MORE: Scott Bloch, WH Special Counsel Says He Won't Provide Files to WH OPM. Showdown time!
Nov-30-07 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2378221

[Richard Steele]

5. K&R

[spanone]

7. here's more

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.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90223448

[progressoid]

9. Wow.

But I can't get my hopes up based on the nearly complete failure of justice in the last seven years.

[spanone]

10. New York Times - Washingon Post.......crickets

it's only the head of a federal agency


:sarcasm:

[spooky3]

30. WaPo has done several stories on Bloch previously - author is Williamson

[L. Coyote]

11. Is this an all-out war in the Bush Junta? Bloch was investigating Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales

A couple of Bush cowboys are facing off in the not-so-O.K. Corral.
One is armed with a flash drive of secret files on his key chain.
The other is reputed to have a fishing reel in hand....
Where's the boss of this gang of crooks anyway? Who's in charge?

It's a real case of the bad guys facing off against the bad guys :rofl:

================================================
U.S. Special Counsel Says He Won't Provide Files
Official Calls Personal Records Not Relevant to OPM Probe
By Elizabeth Williamson - Staff Writer - Nov 30, 2007; Page A03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112902401.html?nav=rss_politics


A U.S. official overseeing a probe of potential White House misconduct declared through a spokesman yesterday that he will not give federal investigators copies of personal files that he deleted from his office computer.

The decision by Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch escalates the confrontation between the Bush appointee and the White House, each of which is investigating the other.

Bloch's office is tasked with upholding laws against whistle-blower retaliation and partisan politicking in federal agencies. Earlier this year, Bloch directed lawyers in his office to look into charges that former Bush adviser Karl Rove inappropriately deployed government employees in Republican political campaigns.

Bloch had previously been targeted by the White House, which in 2005 asked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to investigate allegations that Bloch had retaliated against whistle-blowers among his own staff members and improperly dismissed whistle-blower cases brought to the agency by others.

Bloch said in a written statement that the personal computer records requested by the OPM are not relevant to its investigation, which he earlier called a "fishing expedition."

...........

MORE:

From: Scott Bloch, WH Special Counsel Says He Won't Provide Files to WH OPM. Showdown time!
Nov-30-07 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2378221

[spanone]

12. mr bloch's previous position

former deputy director and counsel to the Department of Justice's Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives,

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE'S TASK FORCE FOR FAITH-BASED AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

[spanone]

13. still - New York Times - Washingon Post.......crickets

[spooky3]

33. WaPo: Fed Agents Raid OSC

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR2008050601539.html?hpid=topnews

[malaise]

19. Perfect

:rofl:

[whistle]

14. Something smells very wrong about this guy

[izquierdista]

15. NIght of the Long Knives

It appears one group of Nazis wants to get a jump on the other group. Where's the Red Army when you need them?

[PufPuf23]

16. Regents College of Law

The investigators should pay attention to appointees that are grads of this law school.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

18. Is that where he went?

Oh, Jesus.

(Pardon the pun.)

[Solly Mack]

17. K&R

Sumptin's afoot

[Disturbed]

20. Who prompted the FBI to make such a move?

This is quite mysterious.

[spanone]

21. nytimes chimes in 'F.B.I. Raids Office of Special Counsel'

WASHINGTON — The office of the official responsible for protecting federal workers from political interference was raided by F.B.I. agents on Tuesday as part of an investigation into whether he himself mixed politics with official business.

The raid took place at the office of Scott J. Bloch, the head of the Office of Special Counsel. Computers and documents were seized by agents trying to determine whether Mr. Bloch obstructed justice by hiring an outside company to “scrub” his computer files, The Associated Press reported. Investigators also searched Mr. Bloch’s home in suburban Virginia after obtaining a subpoena.

“It is not clear to us what they are searching for,” James Mitchell, a spokesman for the office, told Reuters. “We are cooperating with law enforcement.” Mr. Mitchell said about 20 agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation took part in the raid.



Jim Mitchell, communications director for the Office of the Special Counsel, in Washington on Tuesday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/washington/06cnd-inquire.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[CatWoman]

22. I just heard it on NPR

during my ride home from work.

Should have known DU was on it :)

[malaise]

23. Not a word on cable all now

This may need some early morning calls to WJ on CSpan 1

[MiniMe]

24. Randi was talking about this...

apparently the guy didn't know how to do low level disk cleaning, so he called Geeks on Call. They did it, but they were uneasy about it and they reported it. The feds have the invoices for the hard drives being wiped out.

[L. Coyote]

26. AP: Special counsel's office raided amid obstruction probe

Special counsel's office raided amid obstruction probe
By LARA JAKES JORDAN – 3 hours ago - http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g7Sv_qIZnQkba2OCUT3T0F8C-HWgD90GCTU01


WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents raided the office and home of U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch ....

The raids mark the latest twist in what critics describe as Bloch's bizarre tenure at the head of the federal agency responsible for protecting the rights of federal workers and ensuring that government whistle-blowers are not subjected to reprisals.

He has been on the hot seat since he took office in 2004, in part for closing hundreds of whistle-blower cases allegedly without investigating them ... charges are being investigated by the inspector general at the Office of Personnel Management. .....

Tuesday's raids were done in connection to a criminal investigation of whether Bloch obstructed justice and, potentially, lied to Congress, according to the law enforcement officials.

Bloch has denied any wrongdoing. In the meantime, he has opened an investigation into whether former White House deputy political director and Karl Rove protege J. Scott Jennings violated the Hatch Act by making a presentation to political employees at the General Services Administration. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities with government resources or on government time.

Last year, Bloch also recommended that then-GSA chief Lurita Doan be disciplined for engaging in illegal political activities and doling out no-bid awards. Doan abruptly resigned last week at the White House's behest. ....

[L. Coyote]

27. U.S. Special Counsel Says He Won't Provide Files to OPM

U.S. Special Counsel Says He Won't Provide Files
Official Calls Personal Records Not Relevant to OPM Probe
Elizabeth Williamson - Nov 30, 2007; Page A03 - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112902401.html


A U.S. official overseeing a probe of potential White House misconduct declared through a spokesman yesterday that he will not give federal investigators copies of personal files that he deleted from his office computer.

The decision by Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch escalates the confrontation between the Bush appointee and the White House, each of which is investigating the other.

Bloch's office is tasked with upholding laws against whistle-blower retaliation and partisan politicking in federal agencies. Earlier this year, Bloch directed lawyers in his office to look into charges that former Bush adviser Karl Rove inappropriately deployed government employees in Republican political campaigns.

Bloch had previously been targeted by the White House, which in 2005 asked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to investigate allegations that Bloch had retaliated against whistle-blowers among his own staff members and improperly dismissed whistle-blower cases brought to the agency by others.

Bloch said in a written statement that the personal computer records requested by the OPM are not relevant to its investigation, which he earlier called a "fishing expedition."

..............

[L. Coyote]

29. Bloch Hired Son’s Boarding School Headmaster; $112,000 Produces Only a Four-Page Memo

Special Counsel Hired Son’s Boarding School Headmaster; Consultant Deal Worth $112,000 Produces Only a Four-Page Memo
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0412-07.htm


WASHINGTON -- April 12 -- U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch, who is responsible for enforcing civil service rules, hired his son’s former Catholic boarding school headmaster as an expert consultant, in apparent violation of civil service rules, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In addition, Bloch gave the ex-headmaster a one-year appointment under which he would be entitled to receive as much as $111,966.40 but the only work produced was a four-page memo.

On March 16, 2004, Bloch hired Alan Hicks, a former headmaster of St. Gregory’s Academy, a Catholic boarding school, who left in the wake of allegations concerning priests sexually preying on young students, to serve as a consultant for a one-year period. Hicks was paid at an hourly rate of $53.83 for work not to exceed 2080 hours but Bloch has refused to divulge the total amount Hicks received.

In documents obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act –

* Hicks’s sole work product consisted of a single four-page memo to Bloch .........

[L. Coyote]

31. Attorney: New claims ... firing offense = can only be removed for neglect, inefficiency malfeasance

Is this an effort to get rid of Bloch? If so, then first they need to establish " neglect, inefficiency or malfeasance in office."

============
Attorney: New claims against special counsel are firing offense
By TIM KAUFFMAN - Nov 28, 2007 - http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3214329


President Bush should fire Special Counsel Scott Bloch in the wake of revelations that he had computer hard drives at the agency erased ....

....

Bloch has been under investigation by the Office of Personnel Management inspector general since 2005 based on claims that he retaliated against employees who spoke out against his policies and that he threw out whistleblower cases without evaluating their merits. Earlier this year, he announced a sweeping investigation into the legality of briefings on Republican electoral strategy given by White House officials to political appointees at most agencies.

Debra Katz, the attorney representing employees who made the charges against Bloch, said the report confirms what her clients and others inside OSC have been saying since the OPM investigation began: “that Mr. Bloch and his political henchmen have continuously obstructed the investigators’ efforts to get at the truth.”

Bloch, who was appointed by Bush to a five-year term, can only be removed for neglect, inefficiency or malfeasance in office. Katz said there’s more than enough evidence to warrant his dismissal.

[L. Coyote]

32. Scott Bloch OSC = White House Investigator Short on Funds

White House Investigator Short on Funds
By Paul Kiel - Sep 17, 2007 - http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004204.php

Back in April, Scott Bloch, the head of the Office of Special Counsel, announced that his office would "leave no stone unturned" in pursuing White House malfeasance. In fact, a special task force was assembled to handle all of Karl Rove's alleged dirty doings.

Problem is, Bloch apparently forged ahead without actually having the money to fund the task force. And as Justin reports over at The Blotter, it's not looking like he'll be able to land that extra $3 million. So some of those stones might just have to stay right where they are.

Without a last-minute infusion of nearly $3 million, the special task force may be unable to pay its staff and buy the kind of technical equipment it needs to investigate allegations that White House political operatives may have improperly injected politics into government activities, according to Jim Mitchell, spokesman for the U.S. Office of Special Counsel....

.....

The OSC is an odd creature -- it's actually a White House office, and the House of Representatives apparently told Bloch to go ask for the extra money from the White House's Office of Management and Budget. So now Bloch is in the odd position of asking for more money from the White House in order to fund this extra investigation. .....

[L. Coyote]

37. Millions $$$$ for Bloch and the White House investigating each other's alleged misbehaviors

Your tax payer dollars are needed, so Bush Administration can investigate Bush administration.
That has a lot of people :ROFL: at the request for another 3 million.

===============
Budget Shortfall May Shutter White House Probe
Justin Rood Reports - Sep 17, 2007 - http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/09/budget-shortfal.html


A task force probing allegations of illegal activity by Karl Rove and other former and current White House officials is in jeopardy due to lack of funding ...

Without a last-minute infusion of nearly $3 million, the special task force may be unable to pay its staff and buy the kind of technical assistance it needs to investigate allegations that White House political operatives may have improperly injected politics into government activities .....

In April, Special Counsel Scott Bloch announced that a new, six-member task force from his office would probe the use of private e-mail accounts by White House aides, the firing of at least one U.S. attorney by administration appointees and presentations of political data by White House aides to other officials in government.

The cost of the task force for 2008 would be $2.89 million, according to OSC estimates. But Bloch started the probe long after he submitted his 2008 budget ....

With Bloch and the White House investigating each other's alleged misbehaviors, it isn't hard to understand why relations between the two have been strained for some time.

Then in June, Bloch issued a blistering report on another White House appointee, General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan. He found she had engaged "in the most pernicious of political activity" by encouraging her subordinates to find ways to support Republican candidates. .....

............

[lonestarnot]

34. K & R and bookmarking

[L. Coyote]

35. VIDEO: Mark Crispin Miller: Theocrats to Investigate Rove

Mark Crispin Miller: Theocrats to Investigate Rove
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x24983

April 26, 2007
Mark Crispin Miller looks behind the headlines of the OSC's investigation of Karl Rove.

[annabanana]

36. Bookmarked. . . .n/t

[L. Coyote]

38. David CORN: Rove's Newest Investigator Is Under Investigation

04/24/2007 - http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=189590
Rove's Newest Investigator Is Under Investigation

....

On Tuesday, The Los Angeles Times reported that the Office of Special Counsel, an obscure federal investigative and prosecutorial agency that is supposed to protect federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, is preparing to jump into one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive issues in Washington, launching a broad investigation into key elements of the White House political operations that for more than six years have been headed by chief strategist Karl Rove.

The new investigation, which will examine the firing of at least one U.S. attorney, missing White House emails, and White House efforts to keep presidential appointees attuned to Republican political priorities, could create a substantial new problem for the Bush White House.

Rove is tied to all three elements of the OSC investigation. "We will take the evidence where it leads us," Scott Bloch, head of the Office of Special Counsel, told The Los Angeles Times. "We will not leave any stone unturned."

............. It is a dizzying situation. The investigator investigating officials who oversee the agency that is investigating the investigator. Forget firewalls. This looks more like a basement flooded with backed-up sewage--with the water rising.

[L. Coyote]

39. The Carpetbagger Report by Steve Benen: Meet Scott Bloch

Meet Scott Bloch by Steve Benen
Posted April 25th, 2007
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10610.html


Yesterday, we talked about the Office of Special Counsel launching a broad investigation into Karl Rove’s political activities, with particular attention on the prosecutor purge, RNC emails, and fairly obvious Hatch Act violations in which Rove’s office politicized various federal agencies. .....

I expressed some optimism for the investigation. After all, the OSC has a lot of tools at its disposal, including subpoena power. Paul Light, a New York University expert on the executive branch, said of Bloch’s plan, “This is a big deal. It is a significant moment for the administration and Karl Rove.”

In retrospect, I probably wrote this with a tad too much optimism. The investigation could be a big deal, and the OSC is capable of launching a thorough and revealing probe, but given the background of the OSC’s Bloch, skepticism is probably wise.

................

[L. Coyote]

40. Emptywheel = Did Scott Bloch Spike the Doan Investigation?

Did Scott Bloch Spike the Doan Investigation?
by emptywheel - May 26, 2007 - http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/05/did_scott_bloch.html


You might remember the last installment of the Lurita Doan saga, where her claims to be distracted from Scott Jennings' political presentation by her crackberry were disproved by her own crackberry files. In that post I noted that the actions of the person who liberated this report and got it to at least the WaPo and the LAT had probably increased the chances of Lurita Doan getting fired for her Hatch Act violations.

I'll bet Doan and her lawyer are pissed this report got leaked--kudos to whatever person in OPC liberated this report, which was provided to at least the WaPo and LAT. As the report notes, only President Bush can implement the recommendation of the report, which is to fire Doan. Any bets on whether, by leaking the report, the chances are greater that Doan will actually be canned for her illegal political activities?

As it turns out, I was more right than I knew. You see, according to POGO, the version that got liberated was not the final draft. And there was at least one rather significant difference between the liberated version and the version now on the WaPo website. The new version concluded that:

Due to Administrator Doan's status as a Presidential appointee confirmed by the Senate, the President, and not the Merit Systems Protection Board, must make regarding imposition of disciplinary action. Therefore, ... the Special Counsel hereby submits this report of Prohibited Political Activity, together with any response of Administrator Doan, to the President for appropriate action.

Whereas the liberated version made a strong recommendation that Bush fire Doan. After reviewing that the law dictates that "a violator must be removed from her position," the report continues:

...............

[L. Coyote]

41. TRUTHOUT: Rove Investigator Himself Under Investigation

Rove Investigator Himself Under Investigation
By Jason Leopold - 24 April 2007 - http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042407U.shtml


A federal investigation into the political activities of Karl Rove, announced late Monday, is being headed by a Bush appointee who is currently the target of an internal White House probe - calling into question the integrity of the administration's efforts to conduct an independent review of Rove's work as White House political adviser.

The news underscores how deeply the Bush administration is mired in scandal.

..........

Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Bloch's own questionable behavior as special counsel makes him the "wrong choice" to investigate Rove.

"Having transformed into a virtual black hole for legitimate complaints of retaliation, Bloch is decidedly not the right person to tackle the issues of misconduct and illegality that surround top White House officials," Sloan said, "There is a serious question as to whether Bloch will just provide cover for an administration that has been covering for him."

..........