Archive for Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Agents raid special counsel’s office
May 7, 2008
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Washington — Agents from the FBI and the Office of Personnel Management Tuesday raided the headquarters of Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch as part of a probe into whether he obstructed justice by having his computer files erased.
Bloch, a former Lawrence attorney, was served with a subpoena to appear before a federal grand jury in Washington, and about 17 other employees were served as well, according to a source who has seen the subpoenas.
Agents also raided Bloch's home in Fairfax County, Va., hauling away boxes of files.
James P. Mitchell, a spokesman for the Office of Special Counsel, said the agency is cooperating with the investigation.
"We really don't know what this is about," Mitchell said. "The subpoena is very broad, and it covers a lot of territory."
Bloch was nominated by President Bush in June 2003 to head the Office of Special Counsel, an agency responsible for protecting the rights of federal workers, ensuring that whistle-blowers are not subjected to retaliation and investigating improper political activities on government property.
There he became the target of an investigation into allegations that he had retaliated against whistle-blowers on his staff and improperly dismissed whistle-blower cases brought to the agency by others. The White House asked the Office of Personnel Management to look into those allegations in 2005.
According to the source who has seen the subpoenas, the wide range of files that the FBI wants to see includes documents relating to the special counsel's investigation of Lurita Alexis Doan, who resigned last month as head of the General Services Administration, as well as an older investigation of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that has since been closed.
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7 May 2008
at 10 a.m.
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DoUntoOthers (Anonymous) says…
What is with the Honorable in his title? I thought that was for judges?The Honorable Scott J. BlochSpecial Counsel On June 26, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Scott J. Bloch for the position of Special Counsel at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Mr. Bloch on December 9, 2003. On January 5, 2004, he was sworn in to serve a five-year term.
7 May 2008
at 12:11 p.m.
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dorothyhr (Dorothy Hoyt-Reed) says…
Again, no uproar about coverups. If this had been Clinton people would be falling all over themselves. Of course, someone out there could blame this on Clinton if they twisted their logic enough.
7 May 2008
at 1:47 p.m.
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Godot (Anonymous) says…
Okay, now I am confused. The White House initiated the investigation into Bloch's improper activities back in 2005; the raids are an outgrowth of that investigation. Yet now it is a White House cover up? How does that work?
7 May 2008
at 2:20 p.m.
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OutlawJHawk (Anonymous) says…
Our country continues to be in a total state of wasteful, chaos; the endless probes just continue to prove how are politicans use our tax dollars to stage their domestic political civil war against each other…what a waste of OUR money for all of these domestic investigations. It is the 21st century version of cannibalism…United States officials investigating/indicting United States officials. All parties our just trying to justify their pathetic existance.We need to ALL get back on the same team and figure out who our REAL enemies are.I have a better idea, why don't we get all of these FBI agents and special attornies representing both sides of the government and ship them all off to Iraq…then send a few of our real patriots, soldiers, home. If they don't want to fight because of there excellent probing skills, tie each of them to the front of a HUMVEE so they can probe for IED's; then they will know who the real enemy is…themselves.What a waste ALL the way around.
7 May 2008
at 2:39 p.m.
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geniusmannumber1 (Anonymous) says…
And OutlawJHawk wins the award for the most ignorant comment of the day!
7 May 2008
at 3:01 p.m.
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OutlawJHawk (Anonymous) says…
Idiotmannumber1; I see you have no opinion on the article itself. Also, I don't think the world is ready for you to hand out any awards. Regarding your response to my comments, it seems you might have problems differentiating between sarcasm and reality. I suggest you take your med's today; it really might help you…or then again it might not. Or just maybe try not to take yourself so seriously; it might be contributing to your mental illness.Ignorance and apathy is a poor way to live. Try to pull yourself out of bed today and express a real opinion about the news happening outside of the world of your studio apartment.
7 May 2008
at 3:32 p.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
” the raids are an outgrowth of that investigation. Yet now it is a White House cover up? How does that work?”Well, it's really not clear that that is the case—”The White House asked the Office of Personnel Management to look into those allegations in 2005.”The FBI is doing the raiding, not the Office of Personnel Management. Are their investigations connected? Hard to say from this article.
7 May 2008
at 5:36 p.m.
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OutlawJHawk (Anonymous) says…
Bozo—As I stated earlier, this is politically motivated governmental in-fighting.The FBI is the investigative/prosecutorial arm of all federal agencies…they sometimes have agents investigating two adverse parties at the same time “looking” for a crime. The OPM would have directed the DOJ/FBI to use their subpoena/investigative powers to investigate this.Ultimately,politicians/bureacrats/agency employees are the parties that “direct” the DOJ/FBI toward an alleged crime. Politics, not crimes, often bring about an investigation. The political motivation is that the FBI/DOJ can find some kind of crime to destroy an advesary.
7 May 2008
at 9:42 p.m.
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RiverCityConservative (Anonymous) says…
I'm pretty sure that Scott Bloch and I were classmates in an English literature course titled “Tragedy” at K.U. in the late 1970s, taught by Professor Gerhardt Zuther. I am sorry to hear of Mr. Bloch's difficulties in Washington.
7 May 2008
at 9:55 p.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
Well, it's pretty obvious that Bloch was put into the job to politicize the office. So it's not surprising that there may be a political motivation in getting him removed. But superficially, anyway, it also looks like he may have committed criminal acts to cover his own trail of politically motivated malfeasance.
7 May 2008
at 10:18 p.m.
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Pearsonite (Anonymous) says…
I have known Scott Bloch since his KU days and he is an honorable man. He is innocent until otherwise proven. However, no doubt he is guilty of underestimating the relatiatory powers of queers. “Hell hath no fury…”
7 May 2008
at 10:21 p.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
So you're saying that homophobia and discrimination against gays was part of his job description?
7 May 2008
at 10:50 p.m.
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Defender (Anonymous) says…
“However, no doubt he is guilty of underestimating the relatiatory powers of queers.”hahaha!! Wow, that is the funniest, paranoid idiocy I have ever read! Sorry Pearsonite, but I have to laugh at your stupidity. Wow, just wow.
7 May 2008
at 11:02 p.m.
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Pearsonite (Anonymous) says…
“And they say you don't tug on superman's cape, you don't spit in the wind, you don't pull the mask off an ole' lone ranger …. ” and you don't mess with the queers. If you do, then there is a price to do be paid and Scott is clearly paying it.
7 May 2008
at 11:04 p.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
So did Scott take a wide stance while “messing with the queers?”
8 May 2008
at 8:16 a.m.
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DoUntoOthers (Anonymous) says…
Pearsonite-you must not know him very well if you think he is an honorable man. Look how he treats others. Look what he has done to his family. You kinda have to wonder what was on those computers that he was so concerned about hiding.
8 May 2008
at 8:47 a.m.
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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…
There are fresher reports about this online.Much more info and explanation.They say Scott's choices on what to or not to go after was non-partisan.The gripe is that he didn't go after “everything” and that ticked off some people.My involvement with Scott, resulted in him “going after” what the other lawyers in his group here didn't think could be won and wouldn't be bothered about.Scott got the job done!
8 May 2008
at 8:56 a.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
There are also some critics saying that the “political” aspect of this investigation may be coming from the White House, who don't like some of the investigations he is conducting.
8 May 2008
at 9:05 a.m.
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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…
Scott is in wiki?Far out.
8 May 2008
at 9:26 a.m.
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geniusmannumber1 (Anonymous) says…
OutlawJHawk—I only have your comment to base my opinion on, but, based on that, you are the last person who should comment on ignorance. Your comment is so devoid of anything resembling intelligent thought, it's almost hard to know where to begin. But here goes:”Our country continues to be in a total state of wasteful, chaos; the endless probes just continue to prove how are politicans use our tax dollars to stage their domestic political civil war against each other:what a waste of OUR money for all of these domestic investigations. It is the 21st century version of cannibalism:United States officials investigating/indicting United States officials. All parties our just trying to justify their pathetic existance.”It's true. We should follow your plan. We should ignore corruption, malfeasance, and a general sense of being above the law. In fact, let's stop enforcing laws altogether, and lets stop checking to see whether those people who are being paid to enforce our laws are actually doing so. In fact, to simplify things, let's just pass a law saying that all government employees don't have to follow the law. That will save time and trouble. “We need to ALL get back on the same team and figure out who our REAL enemies are.”First, I'm very excited to find out who you think our REAL enemies are. Second, your use of the word “back” implies that there was some time in history when everybody in this country was pulling in the same direction. I think that time was 192never, give or take a few years.”I have a better idea, why don't we get all of these FBI agents and special attornies representing both sides of the government and ship them all off to Iraq:then send a few of our real patriots, soldiers, home. If they don't want to fight because of there excellent probing skills, tie each of them to the front of a HUMVEE so they can probe for IED's; then they will know who the real enemy is:themselves.”This is possibly the stupidist thing I've ever heard. You're entitled you your opinion, just as I'm entitled to mock it when it's not supported by anything resembling an intelligent thought. You may be trying to pass this off as “sarcasm”. I would tell you that 1) sarcasm doesn't translate particularly well to the written word; 2) you are worse than most at attempting to translate sarcasm to the written word; 3) your underlying premise makes no sense, regardless of the “sarcasm” that you claim to drench it in. You cannot draw a line of causation (or even correlation) between the actions of government oversight officials and what's happening to our soldiers in Iraq. Just writing down words at random does not contribute to the public discourse. We are all slightly less intelligent for having read what you felt the need to take time out of your day to share with us.
8 May 2008
at 9:56 a.m.
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kugrad (Anonymous) says…
The White House did not truly initiate the investigation. For YEARS others sought to pursue and investigation and were rebuffed by the White House. However, there has been no serious allegation of a cover-up by the White House, just the usual incompetence of this administration from top to bottom.