Federal Agents Raid Office of Special Counsel |
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May 07, 2008
Washington, D.C. - The FBI have raided the home and office of the head the federal agency in charge of giving protection to whistleblowers.
Federal agents swarmed the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) on Tuesday and confiscated computers and documents as part of an investigation into allegations that Special Counsel Scott Bloch retaliated against staff members and hired a private company to delete agency files related to ethics complaints.
Bloch, who was appointed by President George Bush in 2004, has said that he had paid a firm called Geeks on Call to erase files from his computer in order to prevent the records from being infected with a virus, according to the Wall Street Journal. He was brought to a room in the OSC and questioned by federal agents during the raid, NPR said. His Virginia home was also searched.
Subpoenas were issued to some of Bloch's staff and will appear in court starting next week, McClatchy reports.
Advocacy and watchdog groups have been calling for Bloch's resignation since 2005 for what they said was his refusal to investigate sexual discrimination complaints. The Office of Personnel Management also began a probe the same year to find out whether he had retaliated against staff who complained against him.
Related Links:
- Read FBI Raids Special Counsel, Seizes Data on Wall Street Journal
- Read FBI agents raid special counsel's office on LA Times website
- Also check out NY Time's article F.B.I. Raids Office of Special Counsel
- Listen to FBI Raids Office of Special Counsel story on National Public Radio (NPR)
- Read related story Federal Agents Raid Office of Special Counsel on WashingtonPost.com
