FBI raids agency protecting whistleblowers

[2pac Shakur]

Nearly two dozen federal agents yesterday raided the Washington headquarters of the agency that protects government whistle-blowers, as part of an intensifying criminal investigation of its leader, who is fighting allegations of improper political bias and obstruction of justice.

Agents fanned out yesterday morning in the agency's building on M Street, where they sequestered Office of Special Counsel chief Scott J. Bloch for questioning, served grand-jury subpoenas on 17 employees and shut down access to computer networks in a search lasting more than five hours.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...601539_pf.html

Bush doesn't take kindly to whistleblowers in these parts.

[2pac Shakur]

WASHINGTON — FBI agents investigating government watchdog Scott Bloch have subpoenaed any records that would reveal whether concerns about the 2004 elections prompted him to clear Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of ethics violations.

Bloch, the U.S. special counsel who investigates federal employee whistleblower complaints, found no merit to allegations that Rice, then President Bush's national security adviser, timed some of her trips to boost Bush's 2004 reelection campaign.

The FBI is investigating whether Bloch obstructed justice by destroying computer files to hinder an outside inquiry into allegations that he retaliated against employees who opposed his policies. He's also suspected of making false statements to investigators.

FBI agents, who searched Bloch's office and home Tuesday, subpoenaed 17 of his current and former employees to appear before a federal grand jury and asked them to bring any documents related to possible tampering of records in the office's electronic investigative tracking system, McClatchy has learned.

Officials with knowledge of the investigation also told McClatchy that the FBI has subpoenaed records about the decision to assign Rice's case to an investigator. The officials asked to remain anonymous because they weren't authorized to discuss the investigation.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/36329.html