Federal agents raided the office and home of U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch on Tuesday as they investigate whether he destroyed evidence that he retaliated against his own staff. It is a considerable reversal of fortunes for the man who investigates such retaliation against whistle-blowers. It is a scandal that gets more bizarre by the day — even sweeping Geeks on Call into the criminal investigation.
At least 20 agents were involved in the raids that seized computers, files and other evidence. Bloch has been a controversial choice for the office from the outset. He was criticized for closing hundreds of whistle-blower cases without investigation.
Current and former Office of Special Counsel workers accused him of retaliation in a complaint in 2005 as well as accusing him of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
In December 2006, Bloch paid $1,149 in taxpayer money to have an outside company, Geeks on Call, scrub his government laptop computer. He insists that it was done to protect government and personal information on the computer.
For the full story, click here.
What kind of man is interested in customized designer towels? Bloch sounds like he might be a bit Hooverish.
It’s official: Dunder and Nibbles are complete and utter idiots.
When someone from within the administration is accused of covering up and obstructing investigations into other administration officials accused of violating the Hatch Act to help REPUBLICAN candidates, obviously that person must be a DEMOCRAT simply because his party affiliation isn’t listed in an article.
Seriously, this is a textbook paranoid delusion. You guys need some help, because this is simply pathetic. If you were sane, I’d think you would feel ashamed. Since you clearly have no shame, get thee to a psychotherapist and try working this stuff out.
whoolie:
I think it’s Abbott’s excited utterance to Costello when his pants caught fire. Water! Lou.
Niblet,
The reference to waterlou…is this Australian for female bathroom?
wooliebacon:
I heard he won’t pass any bars, especially the topless ones.
Facts do not matter to Bush devotees like Niblet and Dunder. There sole purpose here is to shield and hide the facts. They know that Bloch was not a Democrat. They also know that he was a shill for Bush and his fanatical religous friends, like the aforementioned Monaghan and Perkins. If Bloch is a Liberal and a Crook as Niblet alleges, then Bush was only wrong about the Liberal part of his resume.
Mr. Bloch has passed several bars I’m sure…some topless.
nibbles:
I have seen nothing to say that Bloch is a Democrat. We do know that the Washington Post reported that ” [w]hat’s more, as a Bush appointee [Bloch] once wrote that he ‘sold all my mutual funds when Clinton was elected.’ Bloch is not quite apolitical.” His most salient feature is his arch-conservatism as he has launched an attack on the federal policy protecting gays in the workplace, which prompted the White House to force him to acknowledge the policy in a public statement; has systematically made hires from right-wing and unaccredited Ave Marie Law School founded by conservative icon Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza; hired the Headmaster from his son’s Catholic boarding school despite his forced leaving amid allegations of Priest sexual abuse; and has been defended by such wing-nuts as Bill Donohue, founder of the right-wing Catholic League, and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a powerful Washington, D.C. conservative lobbying group. There’s more, of course, but four strikes seem plenty. Not exactly a stellar liberal pedigree.
Whatever you call him, he is certainly no liberal, but you knew that all along. My point is that for all the ineptitude we liberal lawyers suffer from, the one thing we can do is ferret out the facts, and reveal a liar when we see one–or two.
Hmmm.. Looks to me like the “honorable Scott Bloch was a Democrat and Bush was foolish to trust him with such a position, but Bush is an honorable man and trusts that others will/are also.
Notice this scoundrel ATTORNEY was not only a DEMOCRAT he was a BIG TIME class action promoter, chair of a country BAR, adjunct (LIBERAL) professor, and on and on.
So another crooked attorney meets his waterlou. yawn. I am SOOO SICK OF CROOKED INEPT IGNORANT LIBERAL ATTORNEYS.
Ok Alberto Gonzalez was approved too. Is he any less an incompetent Republican shill? I do love the argument: Bush appoints corrupt dolts without any prior inkling of their doltishness (except maybe that Bush appointed them), but the Senate approved so then they are not Republicans. Priceless nonsequitur!
Mespo: the “honorable” Bloch was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, unanimous as in ALL OF THEM.
The Honorable Scott J. Bloch
Special Counsel
On June 26, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Scott J. Bloch for the position of Special Counsel at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Mr. Bloch on December 9, 2003. On January 5, 2004, he was sworn in to serve a five-year term.
Mr. Bloch brings over 17 years of experience to the Office of Special Counsel, including litigation of employment, lawyer ethics, and complex cases before state courts, federal courts and administrative tribunals. He briefed and argued cases before state and federal appellate courts and is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court.
From 2001-2003, Mr. Bloch worked on First Amendment cases, regulations, intergovernmental outreach, and programmatic initiatives. Before serving in the Justice Department, he was a partner with Stevens & Brand, LLP, of Lawrence, Kansas, where he practiced in the areas of civil rights law, employment law, and legal ethics. Mr. Bloch tried jury trials before state and federal courts, representing employees and employers in cases involving whistleblower and other retaliation claims, as well as civil rights claims. He worked on important cases that set precedents in the field of legal ethics, including a ground-breaking Texas case that changed the way plaintiffs’ lawyers handle mass tort cases.
Mr. Bloch served as chair of his county Bar Ethics and Grievance Committee, investigating cases of alleged breaches by attorneys of ethics rules, and making recommendations to the state Supreme Court on disciplinary action. He also served on the state board of discipline, hearing testimony and legal arguments, and making findings on appropriate discipline of attorneys. For five years, he served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Kansas School of Law.
dunder:
Nope, just another sanctimonious, homophobic Bush appointee. That should give you a clue as to his party affiliation.
No party affiliation noted: therefore he must be a Democrat.