Federal Agents Raid Office and Home of U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch

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.

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