"Bloch has yet to announce a single case where he has ordered an investigation into the employee's charges", PEER charges. The organization says, "in not one of these cases did Bloch's office affirmatively represent a whistleblower to obtain relief before the civil service court system", called the Merit Systems Protection Board.
And Melanie Sloan, executive director of another public interest organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said of Bloch, “Having transformed OSC into a virtual black hole for legitimate complaints of retaliation, Bloch is decidedly not the right person to tackle the issues of misconduct and illegality that surround top White House officials. There is a serious question as to whether Bloch will just provide cover for an administration that has been covering for him.” The U.S.Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency. Its basic authorities come from three federal statutes, the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, and the Hatch Act. Its mission is to safeguard the merit system by protecting federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices, especially reprisal for whistleblowing. It is intended to provide a secure channel for federal workers -- except those in the FBI and intelligence agencies -- to disclose information about various workplace improprieties, including a violation of law, rule or regulation, gross mismanagement and waste of funds, abuse of authority, or a substantial danger to public health or safety.The OPM Inspector General’s investigation is the third probe into Bloch’s operation. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) and a U.S. Senate subcommittee both conducted investigations into mass dismissal of hundreds of whistleblower cases, and Bloch’s targeting of gay employees for removal while refusing to investigate cases involving discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
What’s the take-away from this bizarre mutual investigation society? It’s clear that Bloch was just another of the President’s misguided appointments. He totally failed to fulfill the mission of his agency. If that was all, maybe we’d just be having another “Heckuva Job, Brownie” moment and Bloch would have disappeared back into the mediocracy, joining a long line of Bushies who have failed to do their jobs.
But Bloch apparently refused to go quietly. Instead, he launched his own investigation of the investigators. There is no other way to explain this move than political blackmail. Scott Bloch was threatening to expose questionable – perhaps illegal -- White House conduct to force them to back off its investigation of him.
Clearly, he needs to go – and the sooner the better.
But shouldn’t someone else be continuing the investigation of the White House he started. Who? The Attorney General? Not likely. And so far, Congressional Democrats have been stonewalled by claims of executive privilege.
Don’t look for this contretemps to become a big issue in the presidential campaign – it’s too far down in the weeds, and doesn’t lend itself to a bumper sticker.
Chances are it will end only with a Democratic victory in November. In which case, the investigations, the subpoenas, the Congressional hearings will, like the old soldier, simply fade away.
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