Special Counsel Urged By Lawmaker To Quit

Published: May 8, 2008

WASHINGTON - A veteran Republican lawmaker called on Office of Special Counsel chief Scott Bloch to resign Wednesday , one day after nearly two dozen FBI agents raided agency headquarters and carted off boxes of documents and equipment that officials said were related to a probe of Bloch's activities.

"In light of the various investigations in to Mr. Bloch's conduct, including the FBI probe revealed yesterday, it's hard to believe he can continue to operate effectively," Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said. "It's time the OSC put this turbulent period behind it."

The inspector general at the Office of Personnel Management has been investigating Bloch since 2005 over alleged mistreatment of employees and his handling of whistleblower cases, but the raid signaled an escalation.

Bloch and more than a dozen current and former agency employees have been served with subpoenas to appear before a grand jury, sources familiar with the investigation said.

The subpoenas mostly focused on Bloch's hiring in 2006 of the technology service Geeks on Call to erase his computer hard drive and those of two aides, according to a person familiar with the case. Bloch has said he was trying to purge a computer virus and protect against hackers. Critics suspect the move was an attempt to thwart the investigation.

FBI agents sought documents relating to Bloch's investigation of Lurita Alexis Doan, the former General Services Administration chief forced to resign by the White House last week, and a long-closed agency investigation into whether the travel of then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice before the 2004 election was for political purposes.

Critics inside Bloch's office have accused him of having the Rice case assigned to himself, then delaying action until after the election. They say Bloch falsely told Congress the complaint was never assigned to him. Bloch has denied any wrongdoing.