The Washington Post reports on letter sent by Debra S. Katz to Fred Fielding, White House Counsel |
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The Washington Post quoted from Ms. Katz's letter to Mr. Fielding concerning Special Counsel Scott Bloch's obstruction of the investigation of the OPM IG into allegations of prohibited personnel practices and other serious violations of federal law by Bloch, including retaliation against employees who disputed his policies. The Post reported :
"This week, a lawyer representing the employees wrote to White House counsel Fred Fielding urging him to request an interim report from OPM "regarding what its investigation has uncovered to date, and to explain the reasons for its long delay in concluding this investigation."
"Debra S. Katz, the lawyer, contended that Bloch 'has succeeded in obstructing and delaying this investigation,' most recently by directing current and former staff aides to refuse to provide answers to questions from the OPM inspector general, Patrick McFarland. In the letter, Katz said that 'Bloch's end-game here is obvious. He intends to play out the clock through the end of the president's term and avoid any responsibility or consequences for his misconduct.'"
"Bloch, in a statement, called Katz's letter 'rehashed allegations of obstruction that are false. I have fully cooperated with and never impeded the investigation, and agree that the OPM IG should explain its long delay in completing this now two-year-old investigation.'"
The Washington Post also reported that KMB clients the Government Accountability Project (GAP), the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and Public Employees for Environment Responsibility "sent a letter this week to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee asking that it not support higher funding for Bloch's office in fiscal 2008. Citing the mountain of evidence that Bloch has run this federal whistleblower protection agency into the ground and Katz's letter to Mr. Fielding, they stated in their letter that "they do not trust Bloch, adding that his office "'cannot take on any more responsibilities without further abandoning its primary constituency: government whistle-blowers.'"
