FBI Raids Federal Watchdog Agency
The FBI has raided the watchdog agency created to investigate complaints by federal employees and battle fraud in the U.S. government.
Agents searched the Office of Special Counsel this morning and shut down its computer network, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Investigators seized computers and documents belonging to the agency’s chief, Scott Bloch, and staff members. Employees told the newspaper the search appeared to focus on alleged obstruction of justice by Bloch, whose home was also searched.
Bloch aroused suspicion when he erased files on a personal computer in his office in 2006 with the help of Geeks on Call, the Wall Street Journal reported in a previous story. At the time, Bloch was under investigation for allegedly retaliating against employees who disputed his policies and abandoning legitimate cases to eliminate a backlog.
More recently, Bloch’s office was investigating allegations of politicization at the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
