FBI Raids Office of Special Council Headquarters
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — Agents from the FBI and the Office of Personnel Management yesterday raided the headquarters of Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch as part of a probe into whether he obstructed justice by having his computer files erased.
Mr. Bloch was served with a subpoena to appear before a federal grand jury in Washington, and about 17 other mid- and high-level employees were served as well, according to a source who has seen the subpoenas. About 20 federal agents were seeking a broad range of records at the Office of Special Counsel headquarters, and the office’s e-mail system was shut down during the search, the source added.
Agents also raided Mr. Bloch’s home in Fairfax County, Va., hauling away boxes of files in unmarked cars that pulled up to the residence. Agents declined to speak with a reporter, and no one answered the door of the home after the agents left.
A spokesman for the Office of Special Counsel, James P. Mitchell, said the agency is cooperating with the investigation. He said the raid began about 10:30 a.m. and continued into the afternoon.
“We really don’t know what this is about,” Mr. Mitchell said. “They went to Mr. Bloch’s office and presented him with a subpoena and began their search. … The subpoena is very broad, and it covers a lot of territory. We’re all just standing back and watching the agents do their work.”
Agents closed off parts of the headquarters while they conducted the search, and Mr. Bloch remained at the scene, Mr. Mitchell said.
“We are cooperating with law enforcement,” he said. “We are continuing to perform our independent mission.”
Mr. Bloch was nominated by President Bush in June 2003 to head the Office of Special Counsel, an agency responsible for protecting the rights of federal workers, ensuring that whistle-blowers are not subjected to retaliation and investigating improper political activities on government property.
There he became the target of an investigation into allegations that he had retaliated against whistle-blowers on his staff and improperly dismissed whistle-blower cases brought to the agency by others. The White House asked the Office of Personnel Management to look into those allegations in 2005.
