Remember former U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch? Appointed under the Bush administration to head the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which investigates federal whistleblower disclosures, Bloch quickly gained notoriety as a threat to the merit system and his own employees. Bloch was put under investigation in 2007, following a litany of allegations that he was pursuing personal political agendas over his mandate to protect whistleblowers. A quick and dirty attempt to wipe his own hands clean has landed him a month's worth of jail time, unless his own prosecutors give him a 'get out of jail free' card.
Last April, Bloch pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for withholding information from Congressional investigators. In 2006, he hired Geeks on Call to scrub his government-issued computer of evidence that he violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity. After Bloch withheld details from the House Oversight Committee of this evidential purging, a federal judge sentenced Bloch to a mandatory one-month minimum jail term.
Red flags went off in the whistleblower community earlier this month when Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Leon filed a motion for reconsideration to reduce Bloch’s jail term to probation. Bloch’s lawyers eagerly joined the motion. Apparently, Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson’s ruling threatened the plea deal that Bloch and his prosecutors arranged.
Last I checked, prosecutors don’t traditionally go out of their way, expending additional time and [taxpayer] resources, to soften a defendant’s sentencing. Its looks particularly bad when the defendant is responsible for having improperly closed countless whistleblower disclosures related to government corruption. It’s even harder to swallow when Justice is, on a parallel track, employing arcane secrecy laws such as the Espionage Act to criminally prosecute whistleblowers, including NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake. This DOJ seems to be sending the message that it’s a greater crime to report violations of civil liberties than to lie to Congress.
In light of DOJ’s recent motion – submitted just hours before Bloch was scheduled to be sentenced – an open-letter by the community of whistleblowers is calling for Attorney General Holder to recuse Mr. Leon and appoint a Special Prosecutor to this politically charged case. The letter asserts:
“Attorney General Holder, we have long waited for Mr. Bloch to be held accountable in a court of law. For too many of us, the erosion of the rule of law and ethical conduct in government came with a heavy price. With our whistleblowing activities, we sought, and continue to seek, a government of laws, not of men. Please help us restore this noble and long-standing principle by appointing a special prosecutor to lead .”
The sentencing has been rescheduled for March 10th at 2:30pm, DC Federal District Court. Instructions on filing a victim impact statement against former U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch can be found here.
Shanna Devine is Legislative Coordinator for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower advocacy organization.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
If anybody has any questions, the entire set of facts is laid out in this post, including links to ALL pertinent documents supporting the issue.(including the plea proceeding transcript from the court reporter).
What "are the odds" Diane will come back by and admit her lie?
Wednesday, 02 March 2011
Thank you for commenting on my blog. To respond to some of your points:
1) I never asserted that Bloch's attorney's violated the law. We simply stated why we were critical of their position.
2) I never asserted that we "hate Scott Bloch." How we feel about him on a personal level is unrelated. We do, however, have a responsibility to whistleblowers and the public to discuss that gross disparity between DOJ's treatment of a convicted criminal (Mr. Bloch) and innocent whistleblowers.
3) I never asserted that OPM or DOJ investigated Mr. Bloch for violation of the Hatch Act. The FBI led that investigation.
In regard to the facts of this case, I suggest that you thoroughly review documentation and coverage from the LegalTimes, Washington Post, and court records directly.
Thank you for your participation in GAP's blog.
Shanna Devine
Wednesday, 02 March 2011
Just because you would like to see the DOJ dedicate millions to prosecuting all of your political enemies, does not mean that is justice. Just because you hate Scott Bloch and think he is the antichrist does not make it so. Just because a group of people appoint themselves as the conscience of the whistleblower community does not make them such, nor does it give them the power to replace an AUSA because he does not do your bidding. Did the AUSA settle with Bloch because there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any of the other crimes investigated? You cannot possibly know, unless you have been reading all of the grand jury transcripts.
You make demonstrably false statements with no care in the world. For example you state: "In 2006, he hired Geeks on Call to scrub his government-issued computer of evidence that he violated the Hatch Act." Scott Bloch was never investigated for violation of the Hatch Act, nor did either the OPM investigation nor the DOJ address that--as they had and have no jurisdiction to investigate the Special Counsel for such. No finding was ever made that Bloch destroyed anything on the "scrubbed computers" and in fact all of the documents on his laptop had been saved and backed up onto a flashdrive given to the DOJ, as Bloch testified to. A little humility by Scott Bloch's enemies is more than in order. Bloch has been out of government for over one year. Can't you find someone else to tar and feather based on falsehoods and misstatements.
What are the odds you will print a comment that shows your biases and points out the fallacies in your arguments?