As you may have read, earlier today the FBI executed search warrants at the Office of the Special Counsel (OSC). The OSC is "an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency. Our basic authorities come from three federal statutes, the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, and the Hatch Act." You can see why the OSC could be a problem for this Administration.

Fortunately, the Bush Administration came up with a solution, putting Scott Bloch in charge of the office. Putting a Bush appointee in charge of the office that's designed to protect the career civil service against being politicized is like putting a lion in charge of protecting baby gazelles.

For starters, Bloch has a long history of fighting against gay rights, perhaps not the best sign for someone whose responsibilities can include anti-discrimination laws. One of the first things Bloch did at the OSC was reverse the OSC position that gay federal employees could not be discriminated against (his predecessor was a lesbian appointed by Bill Clinton, OSC chiefs serve appointed terms). The discrimination protection for federal employees had been in place since at least 1978.

Bloch backtracked some under White House pressure, but his position on protections for gay employees remained unclear. In 2005, OPM launched an investigation after receiving complaints about the OSC's handling of, among others, a gay whistleblower. But that was hardly the only allegation of wrongdoing about Bloch's OSC:

More than 1,000 whistleblower complaints were dismissed without investigation, said Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER. Employees were barred from speaking with a whistleblower if the complaint appeared unclear, he said.

“He has yet to go forward and directly litigate on a single whistleblower case,” Ruch said. “By contrast, Bloch has gone out of his way to intervene where he has no jurisdiction.”

OSC staff members were also prohibited from talking to members of Congress or any agency officials who contacted the office with questions about the federal policy on sexual orientation discrimination, Ruch said.

“If an agency is looking for guidance, it’s absurd that OSC lawyers can’t elaborate,” Ruch said.

While Bloch was supposed to enforce merit-based hiring across federal agencies, he converted several OSC positions to at-will appointments, Ruch said. This included hiring recent graduates from the conservative, Catholic law school Ave Maria, as well as hiring his child’s former headmaster from boarding school, the complaint details.

In 2005, several democratic members of Congress became concerned about Bloch's failure to protect whistleblowers and the management of his own office (which appeared to be an effort to purge career civil service members, ironic, huh?):

Three watchdog groups had complained that Bloch's reorganization was an attempt to purge career employees and replace them with political allies. The complaint was made by Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight, Jeff Ruch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Project.

Two federal unions -- the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union -- also have called on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to probe Bloch's reorganization. The committee's staff is looking into the matter, a spokeswoman said.

The letter from the House Democrats asks GAO to investigate why Bloch told 12 employees in Washington to transfer to field offices or face dismissal; why he wants to open a Detroit office "even though the OSC does not appear to have a significant caseload in that region," and why Bloch has approved the use of no-bid management consultant contracts.

In addition, the House members asked GAO to determine why Bloch signed a contract with a former boarding school headmaster "for unspecified services."

Boy, do I feel safe. BTW, if you want to know why I try never to divulge what agency I work for or exactly what I do, this is why. The corruption extends to the agencies designed to protect me.

In light of the problems in Bloch's office, the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management began an investigation. It quickly hit snags as OSC personnel claimed Bloch was trying to intimidate them to prevent them from cooperating:

The 16-month investigation has been beset by delays, accusations and counter-accusations. The latest problem began two weeks ago, when Bloch's deputy sent staffers a memo asking them to inform OSC higher-ups when investigators contact them. Further, the memo read, employees should meet with investigators in the office, in a special conference room. Some employees cried foul, saying the recommendations made them afraid to be interviewed in the probe.

This week, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the Project on Government Oversight, the Government Accountability Project and Human Rights Campaign and a lawyer for the OSC employees protested in a letter to legislators and to Clay Johnson III, the Office of Management and Budget deputy who ordered the OSC probe.

The OSC's memo, the group said, "was only the latest in a series of actions by Bloch to obstruct" the investigation. "Other actions have included suggestions that all witnesses interviewed . . . provide Bloch with affidavits describing what they had been asked and how they responded."

Today's search warrants and grand jury subpoenas served on Bloch and the OSC by the FBI relate to an investigation about whether Bloch obstructed justice by destroying documents and other evidence related to the investigation into his office's activities:

Agents from the FBI and the Office of Personnel Management today 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 was served with a grand jury subpoena by 20 federal agents, and about 17 other employees were served as well, according to a source who has seen the subpoenas. Agents were seeking a broad range of records, and the office's e-mail system was shut down during the search, the source added.

Agents also raided Bloch's home in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, hauling away boxes of files in unmarked cars that pulled up to the residence on Stockade Drive. Agents declined to speak with a reporter, and no one answered the door of the home after the agents left.

In theory, the OSC is supposed to be investigating Rove and DOJ for its apparent Hatch Act violations. Of course, asking Bloch to police the DOJ for things he appears to also have done is ridiculous.

The Bush Administration has waged a war against the civil service for seven years. Now that the Administration is near the end, there is a lot less to fear. It's ability to retaliate and punish career personnel diminishes every day. Hopefully, today is a sign that the career civil service is starting to fight back and make the political hacks accountable for what they've done.

Thanks to wikipedia for many of the cited links.