FBI raids special investigator’s office

FBI raids special investigator’s office

By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington

Published: May 6 2008 23:48 | Last updated: May 6 2008 23:48

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the office and home on Tuesday of Scott Bloch, the chief of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent Washington agency investigating the possible misuse of authority by administration officials.

Jim Mitchell, an OSC spokesman, said the office was co-operating with law enforcement but did not know the nature of the criminal investigation.

The raid and search on Tuesday follow a two-year investigation into Mr Bloch by the Office of Personnel Management, which is probing allegations that Mr Bloch improperly retaliated against employees and dismissed whistleblower allegations.

Mr Bloch has vigorously defended his record and dismissed as “irrelevant” revelations that last year he hired an outside computer service, known as Geeks on Call, to delete files from the hard drive of his laptop following questions on his use of personal e-mail.

The OSC was created following the Watergate scandal and is charged with protecting federal employees who act as whistleblowers. It also has authority to investigate violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity.

Mr Bloch’s office is conducting a wide investigation into whether White House agencies improperly helped Republican candidates in congressional elections at the behest of Karl Rove, the former adviser to President George W. Bush.

A person familiar with the raid said the FBI investigation appeared wide-ranging. The agents issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas of OSC employees, including requests for e-mail exchanges between them and Mr Bloch. According to a person familiar with the requests, the FBI was seeking information on the office’s investigation into Lurita Doan, a former administrator at the General Services Administration, the government contracting agency. Ms Doan, who resigned last week, was accused by Mr Bloch’s office of violating the Hatch Act.

Mr Bloch’s investigations have created enemies on Capitol Hill, where he has been criticised by Tom Davis, a Republican congressman. Mr Davis has accused Mr Bloch of making “unfounded” allegations against Ms Doan. In a heated hearing about the investigation into Ms Doan last year, Mr Bloch responded to questions about an e-mail he had sent in anticipation of the hearing by telling Mr Davis: “Maybe we should go outside.”

Mr Bloch’s office was due to interview a senior administration official yesterday as part of its investigation into alleged violations of the Hatch Act, but the interview was cancelled as the result of the raid. A White House official said the administration was not aware of the FBI raid and that there was “no connection” between discussions the White House had with the OSC on the interview and the raid.