Washington D.C. April 27, 2010. Today, former U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for withholding "pertinent" evidence from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee concerning his misconduct in office. Bloch was forced to resign in October 2008 amid allegations that he retaliated against employees and dismissed whistleblower cases without fully investigating them.
Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, issued the following statement:
The person responsible for upholding and enforcing the whistleblower
protection laws, the person in charge of the Office of Special Counsel
(OSC) during the Bush administration, has now pleaded guilty to a
serious crime.
This is not a case of the fox guarding the chicken coop. This is a case
of the fox pleading guilty to murdering the chickens. Scott Bloch's
actions have cost taxpayers billions of dollars in the misuse of monies,
and have cost countless whistleblowers their reputations and careers.
Now, President Obama has a unique opportunity to fix the problem. He has
still not appointed a Special Counsel, and the NWC repeats
our call for the immediate appointment of an aggressive, competent,
independent whistleblower advocate who will have the courage to take on
the bureaucracy and demand accountability. Now is the time for the
appointment of someone who will change the culture of the OSC and stand
behind the whistleblower.
Watching the Special Counsel plead guilty to a serious crime is the
lowest point in the history of the rights of federal employee
whistleblowers. President Obama has the ability to restore the faith in
this office by appointing a true whistleblower advocate.
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