Yet another chapter has unfolded in the ongoing controversy swirling around the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the agency created by Congress to protect whistleblowers, root out illegal political electioneering, and other government accountability missions. In recent days, we learned that the agency’s Deputy, James Byrne, took the extraordinary and rare step harshly criticizing his boss, Special Counsel Scott Bloch, on the way out the door. According to Mr. Byrne’s letter:

“Upon my departure, I am obligated to note that the mission, independence, and very existence of the Office of Special Counsel are–and shall remain–at risk unless and until this agency is afforded a presidentially appointed, senate confirmed leader who is capable of putting OSC’s mission and OSC’s people ahead of political agendas and personal vendettas.”

Scott Bloch has been the target in recent months of a Grand Jury investigation and an unprecedented raid involving two dozen FBI agents of his home, office, and person. These events are the culmination of three years of misdeeds by Mr. Bloch documented in a complaint and amendments filed by attorney Debra Katz on behalf of our organization, the Project On Government Oversight, anonymous employees at the agency, and other concerned parties. That complaint has been under investigation by the Office of Personnel Management Inspector General whose agents participated in the raid in response to what it believed were efforts by Mr. Bloch to obstruct justice.

Mr. Byrne’s letter is further evidence that the staff have lost confidence in the agency’s leadership. Unfortunately, Mr. Byrne’s departure means that staff will have less protection against the kinds of reprisals and intimidation that have been the hallmark of Mr. Bloch’s tenure. According to news reports, 17 current and former employees have been subpoenaed to provide documents and testimony concerning Mr. Bloch’s alleged criminal activities. Some of these employees face the uncomfortable position of continuing to be supervised by Mr. Bloch at the same time as they are serving as witnesses in his case.

Staff are not the only ones who have lost faith in the ability of the agency to fulfill its mission. Congress has failed to reauthorize the OSC, preventing long overdue reforms from being implemented. Other federal agencies are simply refusing to comply with investigations by the OSC.

Whistleblowers have always played a central role in helping the Congress to discover and correct the failures and corruption of the Executive Branch.  However, beyond obstructing the agency’s reauthorization, there is little that members of Congress have done, from either side of the aisle, to pressure the White House to remove Mr. Bloch from his position. It is time that Congress took aggressive action to fix the system which protects their interests by pushing for new leadership at the OSC, passing its reauthorization legislation, and finalizing whistleblower protection legislation, particularly House bill H.R. 985, which will address systemic weaknesses in the system. Without these serious reforms and sustained oversight hearings to ensure that the agency stays on track, whistleblowers will continue to be steamrolled by their agencies and made into pariahs.

So many of these courageous individuals have stepped forward in recent years, only to be demoted, harassed or fired as a reward for their honesty:

• Department of Interior auditor Bobby Maxwell, who lost his job in a one-person “reorganization” after he raised concerns about federal drilling fees that Kerr-McGee oil company had shortchanged the government. A jury later ruled that Kerr-McGee owed the government $7.5 million.
• Edgar Domenech, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Deputy Director, who was demoted after raising concerns about the director of his agency to higher-ups at the Justice Department. That director resigned “while under investigation for alleged financial mismanagement,” and Domenech’s allegations were substantiated.
• Jack Spadaro, the former head of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy, who lost his job after he blew the whistle on a government cover-up of a 300 million gallon coal mining slurry spill in Kentucky and West Virginia.
• Anthony D’Armiento, a Coast Guard whistleblower who has been on administrative leave since October 1, 2007, after he disclosed a document to the public revealing the Coast Guard’s complicity in allowing Lockheed Martin to bilk the taxpayers on the $24 billion Deepwater contract. The Coast Guard later gave POGO a full version of the document in question in response to a FOIA request. Yet, it appears D’Armiento is being subjected to a retaliatory investigation for disclosing the document.
• Federal Air Marshal Frank Terreri, who raised concerns about the ability of the Marshals to protect the public from terrorist hijacks and has, as a result, been the target of numerous retaliatory investigations

Among the concerns he raised, the Department of Homeland Security changed its dress policy so that the Marshals would no longer be easily identified.

• Federal Air Marshal Robert MacLean, who blew the whistle on plans to reduce coverage of “high-risk” flights and was fired as a result. MacLean’s exposures led to an immediate reversal of the faulty plan.
• Mike German, a successful undercover FBI agent who reported serious misconduct in a terrorism case, and ultimately chose to resign from the FBI rather than face continuing retaliation.
• Bunnatine Greenhouse, a senior Army Corps of Engineers contracting official who was demoted for questioning the award of a no-bid $7 billion contract to defense contractor KBR.
• Richard Levernier, a DOE security whistleblower who documented lax security at the nation’s nuclear labs, only to be rewarded with having his security clearance taken away, substantively ending his career. DOE eventually overhauled its security, implementing some of the reforms Levernier pointed out. Levernier later said: “Given my experience, I would not do it again, even though I truly believe it was the right thing to do.”
• Charles Smith, a senior civilian defense official, was removed from his position and reassigned after he attempted to hold defense contractor KBR accountable for failing to substantiate $1 billion in spending, according to an astonishing story in the New York Times.
• Kim Farrington, Mike Cole, Peter Nesbit, and other Federal Aviation Administration whistleblowers, who have come forward with disturbing tales of retaliation since testimony by Bobby Boutris and Douglas Peters before Congress about lax safety oversight led to hundreds of airplane groundings.

These brave Americans deserve a system which treats them fairly and ensures that honest federal employees don’t lose their careers for doing the right thing.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Politics .