Don't Whistle-blow until the Bush Administration is gone

[Tock]

This is just pathetic . . .

Looks like the Bush Administration is working hard to sabotage any
attempts at whistleblowing . . .

But since when has the Republican Bush Administration been interested in justice?



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080506/....rX25.hkFh24cA


By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 6, 4:15 PM ET



WASHINGTON - Federal agents raided the office and home of U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch on Tuesday while investigating whether the nation's top protector of whistle-blowers destroyed evidence potentially showing he retaliated against his own staff.

Computers and documents were seized during the raid on the special counsel's office in downtown Washington, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing inquiry. At least 20 agents were still on the scene as of mid-afternoon Tuesday.

Bloch's home, in suburban Virginia, also was raided, the officials said.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed that agents with the FBI and U.S. Office of Personnel Management executed "a number of court authorized federal search warrants today" but declined further comment.

Jim Mitchell, communications director with the Office of the Special Counsel, confirmed the search of Bloch's work area and computers. He did not immediately return calls and an e-mail message seeking additional comment.

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.

"It's like finding out that your town fire chief is an arsonist," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Protection, a whistle-blower group.

"It's just sort of jaw-dropping how bizarre this entire episode has been."
A group of current and former Office of Special Counsel workers filed a complaint against Bloch in 2005, accusing him of retaliating against those who opposed with his policies through intimidation and involuntary transfers. The employees also accused Bloch of refusing to protect federal workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Those charges are being investigated by the inspector general at the Office of Personnel Management.

A year later, in December 2006, Bloch paid $1,000 in taxpayer money to have an outside tech company, Geeks on Call, scrub his government computer. In March, a congressional aide said, Bloch told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigators that the data wipe was done to protect government and personal information on the computer, not to destroy it.

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.
Whistle-blower groups demanded that Bloch follow suit, and called on the White House to secure his resignation immediately. White House spokesman Tony Fratto declined comment.

"The fact is, this office is not functioning, this office does not protect whistle-blowers and this office is not meeting its mission," said Debra Katz, an employment lawyer representing the Special Counsel employees who filed the 2005 complaint. "President Bush needs to just tell this man that he needs to resign. There has been misconduct and he should not be allowed to continue his mission."

[shootdeep]

Cmon tock...trusting the AP is like trusting the NY Times. They're communists right?

[Tock]

Cmon tock...trusting the AP is like trusting the NY Times. They're communists right?

Would you call the Wall Street Journal a bunch of communists?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1196..._whats_news_us


Head of Rove Inquiry in Hot Seat Himself

Bloch Used Private Company,
Geeks on Call, to Delete Files
On His Office Computer
By JOHN R. WILKE
November 28, 2007

WASHINGTON -- 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.
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 that Mr. Bloch improperly retaliated against employees and dismissed whistleblower cases without adequate examination.

Recently, investigators learned that Mr. Bloch erased all the files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said.
Bypassing his agency's computer technicians, Mr. Bloch phoned 1-800-905-GEEKS for Geeks on Call, the mobile PC-help service. It dispatched a technician in one of its signature PT Cruiser wagons. In an interview, the 49-year-old former labor-law litigator from Lawrence, Kan., confirmed that he contacted Geeks on Call but said he was trying to eradicate a virus that had seized control of his computer.
Mr. Bloch said no documents relevant to any investigation were affected. He also says the employee claims against him are unwarranted. Mr. Bloch believes the White House may have a conflict of interest in pressing the inquiry into his conduct while his office investigates the White House political operation. Concerned about possible damage to his reputation, he cites a Washington saying, "You're innocent until investigated."
Clay Johnson, the White House official overseeing the Office of Personnel Management's inquiry into Mr. Bloch, declined to comment. Depending on circumstances, erasing files or destroying evidence in a federal investigation can be considered obstruction of justice.
Mr. Bloch had his computer's hard disk completely cleansed using a "seven-level" wipe: a thorough scrubbing that conforms to Defense Department data-security standards. The process makes it nearly impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later. He also directed Geeks on Call to erase laptop computers that had been used by his two top political deputies, who had recently left the agency.

Geeks on Call visited Mr. Bloch's government office in a nondescript office building on M Street in Washington twice, on Dec. 18 and Dec. 21, 2006, according to a receipt reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The total charge was $1,149, paid with an agency credit card, the receipt shows. The receipt says a seven-level wipe was performed but doesn't mention any computer virus.
Jeff Phelps, who runs Washington's Geeks on Call franchise, declined to talk about specific clients, but said calls placed directly by government officials are unusual. He also said erasing a drive is an unusual virus treatment. "We don't do a seven-level wipe for a virus," he said.
Mr. Bloch was a loyal member of the Bush administration, serving in the Justice Department's office of faith-based programs, when the president named him to head the Office of Special Counsel in 2003. Unlike many administration appointees, Mr. Bloch doesn't serve at the pleasure of the president. He has a fixed five-year term and may be removed only for malfeasance. That is supposed to ensure his agency has the independence to pursue any probe.
Mr. Bloch's investigation of the White House political operation began after a Rove deputy gave a series of political presentations to government agencies on Republican prospects in specific congressional races. Mr. Bloch's office wants to know whether such presentations violated the Hatch Act, a law forbidding the use of federal resources to back candidates for office.
The Office of Special Counsel has set up a task force of lawyers and investigators, led by Mr. Bloch's deputy, James Byrne, to determine which agencies got political briefings from the White House. The agency plans to interview officials at more than 20 agencies and is examining White House emails and documents.
In one email, sent by the U.S. drug-control office and disclosed this summer, an official quotes Mr. Rove as being pleased that officials at the Commerce, Transportation and Agriculture departments went "above and beyond" the call of duty in arranging appearances by cabinet members at Republican campaign events.
Mr. Rove has resigned from the White House and is no longer under jurisdiction of the Office of Special Counsel. His attorney, Robert Luskin, declined to comment.
The special counsel's probe has already found one alleged violation, at the General Services Administration, where Rove deputies gave a presentation on Jan. 26. At the end of the presentation, according to a report by Mr. Bloch's office on the incident, GSA Administrator Lurita Doan asked, "How can we help our candidates?" Twenty participants in the meeting recalled substantially the same words, the report said.
In a letter to President Bush, Mr. Bloch urged that Ms. Doan "be disciplined to the fullest extent for her serious violation of the Hatch Act" and for failing to cooperate "fully and honestly" with the probe. The White House hasn't acted on Mr. Bloch's request. In a response, Ms. Doan said the investigation was "far off the mark." Her lawyer urged the White House to ignore Mr. Bloch's findings, citing a "clear lack of objectivity and impartiality."
Now, Mr. Bloch is facing claims that he too isn't cooperating with investigators. Agents working for the inspector general of the Office of Personnel Management are seeking his emails and a copy of an encrypted flash drive he bought from the Geek service.
"I have nothing to hide and I've cooperated with all legitimate requests," Mr. Bloch said.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1210...&mod=sphere_wd

FBI Raids Special Counsel, Seizes Data


By John R. Wilke
Word Count: 573
WASHINGTON -- Federal agents raided the Office of Special Counsel, a government agency involved in several high-profile and politically sensitive investigations. The agents seized computer files and documents from its chief, Scott Bloch, and his staff.
Mr. Bloch, who was appointed by President Bush, has been under investigation since 2005 by the Office of Personnel Management for employee claims that he abused his agency's authority, retaliated against its staff and dismissed whistleblower cases without adequate examination. Mr. Bloch couldn't be reached to comment.
The Justice Department joined the case as the inquiry was widened last year to include possible obstruction ...

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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...elated_content

Special Counsel Case May Extend Far Beyond Bloch

by Ari Shapiro

May 7, 2008 · The federal inquiry into Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch, who oversees protection for federal whistle-blowers, appears to be broader than originally believed.
Sources close to the investigation tell NPR that subpoenas issued Tuesday sought documents and information on a wide range of subjects, including a 2004 investigation into Condoleezza Rice, who was then President Bush's national security adviser and is now secretary of state.
FBI agents raided Bloch's home and office on Tuesday morning. The agents seized computers and shut down e-mail service as part of an obstruction of justice probe, as first reported by NPR News.
Multiple sources say a grand jury in Washington issued 17 subpoenas, including several for Office of Special Counsel employees. The sources described the investigation on condition that their names not be used.
The first OSC employees to appear before the grand jury are scheduled to testify next Tuesday.
One subpoena demanded information about Bloch's 2004 investigation into whether Rice violated the Hatch Act by using federal money to campaign for President Bush's re-election. Bloch found no wrongdoing by Rice.
Another subpoena focused on Lurita Doan, who resigned last week as head of the General Services Administration. Bloch's office had been investigating Doan. The White House asked her to resign amid accusations that she gave contracts to friends and abused her office for political purposes.
The man handling the OSC inquiry has an unusual background for a federal prosecutor: NPR has learned that James Mitzelfeld is the man who signed off on the subpoenas.
In 1994, Mitzelfeld won a Pulitzer Prize as a reporter for The Detroit News, where he uncovered spending abuses at Michigan's House Fiscal agency. Mitzelfeld went on to work in Detroit's U.S. attorney's office; he is now at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C.
Mitzelfeld also subpoenaed information about a woman at OSC named Rebecca McGinley. According to sources, the subpoena refers to a problem with compensatory time that McGinley logged during a special assignment a year and a half ago.
Despite the stream of subpoenas, no one has been charged with a crime in the case.
Bloch has been a controversial figure ever since taking over the Office of Special Counsel in 2004. One of his first official actions was to refuse to investigate any claims of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
When the news of his refusal was leaked to the press, career employees in his office say, Bloch blamed them for the leak. He retaliated, the employees said, by creating a new field office in Detroit and forcing them either to accept assignments there or resign.
The Office of Personnel Management's inspector general has been looking into allegations that Bloch retaliated against career employees and obstructed an investigation.
Bloch has admitted to hiring Geeks on Call — a computer servicing company — to purge his computer and two of his deputies' computers. But he said the computers contained a virus, which necessitated a purge. Investigators are looking into whether the purge was meant to destroy evidence related to the current investigation.
OSC employees for months have called on President Bush to ask for Bloch's resignation. The White House has declined to comment on the developments, as did Bloch's lawyers.