Criminal Justice
Government Watchdog Under Investigation for Deleting Files
Posted Nov 28, 2007, 07:37 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The head of the federal agency leading the investigation of political influence in government decision-making is under fire for erasing computer files.
Scott Bloch, head of the Office of Special Counsel, has been under investigation since 2005 for allegedly retaliating against employees who disputed his policies and abandoning legitimate cases to eliminate a backlog.
Now investigators have learned that Bloch erased files late last year on a personal computer in his office with the help of Geeks on Call, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req). Investigators want to know if the “seven-level wipe,” which makes it nearly impossible to restore data, was part of a cover-up, the newspaper says. Bloch also had two laptop computers erased that had been used by his top deputies.
Bloch maintains he made the call to eliminate a virus and that none of the erased documents were relevant to any investigations. The man who runs Geeks on Call’s Washington, D.C., franchise refused to comment on the work for Bloch, but told the newspaper that his firm does not do a seven-level wipe for a virus.
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