OSC's Scott Bloch, more problems

GovExec.com is reporting that the Office of Special Counsel situation is worse than first thought. OSC Scott J. Bloch is responsible for the agency that investigates whistelblower complaints, and is supposed to protect the whistelblowers from retaliation. Unfortunately, OSC employees are making credible claims that Bloch himself has deeply politicized the office and has ruthlessly retaliated against career employees.

Already several senators are looking into Bloch's leadership. Bloch "reorganized" the OSC and gave employees compulsory reassignments to newly created field offices outside of D.C. Move or else. Many resigned. See this and this. Several employees filed a suit alleging, "illegal gag orders, cronyism, discrimination and retaliation."

Now GovExec is reporting that this complaint has been amended, alleging "politicization":

. . . OSC took no action on a complaint regarding then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's use of government funds to travel in the weeks before the 2004 presidential election, but vigorously pursued allegations against Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry's visit to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Apparently, the FBI is investigating these charges. With the FBI and two Senate committees taking notice, Bloch's survival is open to question.

Bloch does have his defenders, of course. Catholic League head William Donohue, alleging leftist anti-Catholic bigotry:

And for good measure, consider what would happen if someone accused a Jewish public servant of taking his personnel practices straight from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Alrighty then. Donohue is referring to the comments made by PEER boss Jeff Ruch, in this NPR story (via Sleepy Kid). Ruch criticized Bloch for hiring newly minted graduates of an unaccredited, right wing law school, instead of competitively hiring experience professionals. Ruch said:

So, for example, he's hired three brand new graduates from the ultra-conservative Ave Maria Law School to act as investigators and attorneys rather than, as traditionally was done, have a competitive examination so that attorneys from around the country could compete for these positions. He's not made a single hire on a competitive basis.

Background on the school's creation here, but that is ultimately irrelevant. The point is not the source and quality of the hirees per se, but the manner in which they were hired.