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Federal Agents Raid Office of Special Counsel
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Bloch told lawmakers that he employed the consultants to wipe out a computer virus and erect firewalls so hackers could not gain access to sensitive information.
The files the FBI asked to view yesterday include documents relating to Bloch's recent investigation of Lurita Alexis Doan, who resigned last week as General Services Administration chief at the White House's request. Agents also asked for files from a now-closed investigation into the travel of then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice before the 2004 election, according to a person who saw the search warrants and subpoenas.
Agency employees and independent groups have criticized Bloch for not fully investigating older claims that he inherited when he took office in early 2004, and for allegedly blocking or instigating probes for political reasons.
Bloch previously has defended his work. "Five earlier investigations revealed no wrongdoing by me," he wrote The Washington Post in December.
An official present during the raid yesterday said federal agents asked for access to computers and e-mail messages from Bloch and from the mid-level workers who received subpoenas. Investigators also sought credit card receipts, an agency employee said. Some staff members had complained that Bloch used agency funds to buy for his office restroom $400 hand towels decorated with a special OSC seal, according to another person familiar with the raid.
The head of the Office of Special Counsel is appointed for a five-year term and, unlike the leaders of other federal agencies, can be removed by the president only for a cause such as inefficiency or abuse of power. Those protections were designed to insulate the OSC from political pressure by officials it investigates.
Staff writers Stephen Barr and Daniela Deane and research editor Alice Crites contributed to this report.
