From Washington Blade staff reports
May 6 2008, 3:44 PM |
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FBI agents on Tuesday raided the offices of Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch, who oversees protection for federal whistleblowers, according to NPR.
Agents also searched Bloch's home as part of an investigation into obstruction of justice allegations.
Bloch, who has also been under investigation for allegedly retaliating against career employees and obstructing an investigation, was being questioned at his Washington, D.C. office on Tuesday morning, according to the NPR report.
The Blade has reported for several years on Bloch's anti-gay record and his close association with anti-gay groups.
A high-level gay employee at the U.S. Office of Special Council was among seven OSC employees that received termination notices in 2005 after refusing to be transferred to distant cities in a staff shakeup that critics called a purge of employees considered disloyal to Bloch.
A second gay employee resigned to take a job outside OSC rather than accept the transfer ordered by Bloch, according to sources familiar with OSC.
Sources familiar with the agency said Bloch targeted a total of 12 employees — including the only two known gay staffers — for involuntary transfers, in part, because they disagreed with his decision to curtail OSC’s role in investigating and adjudicating complaints of employment discrimination against gay federal workers.
Almost immediately after starting work at OSC, Bloch removed all references to OSC’s role in addressing sexual orientation discrimination cases from the OSC Web site and from OSC discrimination complaint forms. Bloch initially said he did not believe OSC had legal authority to adjudicate gay cases, despite assertions by legal experts that existing federal law barred sexual orientation discrimination in the federal workforce.
In response to complaints by members of Congress, the White House issued a statement saying President Bush stands behind the Clinton administration policy of prohibiting workplace discrimination against gay federal employees. Bloch responded by saying he would abide by this policy, but the gay federal workers group GLOBE has said Bloch has failed to take adequate steps to do so.
It's unclear whether the FBI investigation is related to the cases of gay federal employees. Check the Blade's web site and Friday's print edition for more details.
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