WaPo: The Investigated Investigator (Bloch)

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/29/AR2007042901256.html?nav=rss_politics

The Investigated Investigator
Leader of High-Profile Probes Is Under Scrutiny Himself

By Elizabeth Williamson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 30, 2007; Page A13

When Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch put his obscure federal agency at the center of one of the furthest-reaching political investigations in the nation last week, it surprised many, but for different reasons than one might expect.

Bloch and the Office of Special Counsel aim to learn whether officials from Karl Rove on down used federal time and resources for Republican politicking, or pressured federal employees into doing the same. The team will also pursue allegations that David C. Iglesias was fired as U.S. attorney of New Mexico for his reluctance to undertake politically motivated cases and for absences related to his service as a Navy reservist.

Bloch has spent most of his tenure under investigation himself due to allegations of illegal personnel practices -- and he would be investigating the executive branch at the same time that it is investigating him. What's more, as a Bush appointee who once wrote that he "sold all my mutual funds when Clinton was elected," Bloch is not quite apolitical.

"There's no conflict of interest and no law to support a theory that I have a conflict of interest," he said in an interview. "It would be inappropriate for the White House to interfere with my independence, or suggest I cannot undertake investigations that pertain to matters inside the White House. . . . I have had those throughout my tenure."

more...

[Botany]

1. He will do a great job .....

.... just like the White House did investigating the Plame leak.

[rodeodance]

3. I think the WH admitted they did NO investigation of the Plame issue.

[hobbit709]

2. I love this line

"sold all my mutual funds when Clinton was elected,". If he'd kept them under Clinton he would have made a bundle-once his boss took over the value probably dropped like a rock. If his legal expertise is as good as his financial, he is one more incompetent in a large group of them.

[rodeodance]

4. deputy director of the Justice Department's office of faith-based initiatives.

Like the office he heads, Bloch is little-known in Washington. He is a lawyer who spent a decade at a Lawrence, Kan., firm before riding into town in 2001 to become deputy director of the Justice Department's office of faith-based initiatives. In 2004, Justice Clarence Thomas swore him in as special counsel.

As federal agencies go, the Office of Special Counsel is tiny, about 100 lawyers and investigators headquartered at 17th and M streets. The agency protects federal employees from illegal employment practices and whistle-blower retaliation, investigates claims of fraud and mismanagement and enforces the Hatch Act, which bans federal employees from politicking on Uncle Sam's dime. It is under this law that Bloch would pursue the White House probe.

He has not yet contacted the White House, but he has announced his intentions in the media. "We protect federal employees," he told CNN last week. "We protect the public from fraud and waste of resources, and that's what we do all day long, and this is another case."

Bloch has achieved a level of notoriety during his three-plus years as special counsel. Early on, he told a Senate panel that his office cannot protect gay federal workers from discrimination because the law does not extend to sexual orientation. Soon after, Bloch was accused of retaliating against employees who disputed his policies and of tossing out legitimate complaints and whistle-blower cases to claim progress in paring the office backlog.