Special Counsel Bloch Resigns Under Pressure

Special Counsel Bloch Resigns Under Pressure

www.washingtonpost.com

Office of Special Counsel chief Scott J. Bloch resigned under pressure after meeting with White House officials yesterday, five months after the FBI raided his home and his government office as part of an ongoing obstruction of justice probe.

Bloch had refused persistent demands from lawmakers and his own employees to leave before the end of the Bush administration, writing to the president on Monday that he would fulfill his five-year term and exit in January.

Citing the Greek playwright Sophocles and defending his tenure at the office designed to protect whistleblowers, Bloch wrote that "doing the right thing can result in much criticism and controversy from every side."

Employees learned of Bloch's removal at a hastily called 4 p.m. meeting when they were instructed not to accept his phone calls and told that he no longer had access to the office. The interim chief will be William E. Reukauf, a career employee, according to a White House news release.

In recent weeks several of Bloch's top deputies have left the office, blaming untenable workplace conditions and distractions that stemmed from the criminal investigation.
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The OSC is supposed to be a haven for federal whistleblowers and disgruntled employees. But the tables turned under Bloch, who previously worked at the Justice Department's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

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While it has been reported regularly online one of the biggest stories and scandals of the bush minor administration has been, not just the politizing the departments of government but the turning them on their heads. A prime example of this has been the OSC.

It is the principal official responsible for protecting federal employees from reprisals for complaints about waste and fraud. He also polices violations of Hatch Act prohibitions on political activities in federal offices.

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The department that is supposed to protect whistleblowers. Under Bloch's "leadership" it has done more to supress whistleblowers and promote the political agenda of the bush administration than it has to uphold the law... so much so that in May, federal agents actually raided his office.

Now like so many of the bush administration cronies he has slithered off into the sunset and good ridence.

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