Rove investigation in jeopardy due to funding

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/17/rove-investigation-in-jeopardy-due-to-funding/

Rove investigation in jeopardy due to funding.

In April, the Office of Special Counsel launched a six-member task force examining “the firing of at least one U.S. attorney, missing White House e-mails, and White House efforts to keep presidential appointees attuned to Republican political priorities.” The task force is now in jeopardy. “Without a last-minute infusion of nearly $3 million, the special task force may be unable to pay its staff and buy the kind of technical equipment it needs” for the investigation, according to Jim Mitchell, the office’s spokesman. But the funds may be hard to come by:

The cost of the task force for 2008 would be $2.89 million, according to OSC estimates. But Bloch started the probe long after he submitted his 2008 budget request. And now he’s having a hard time convincing those holding the nation’s purse strings to loosen up and give him some last-minute extra funding.

[BOSSHOG]

1. Is a fundraiser in order?

And consider 2.9 million for one year and yet thanks to the likes of rove we are spending billions A WEEK in Iraq, all for the lie of a member of the party of integrity.

[acmavm]

2. That is absolute friggin' bullshit. How many investigations would the police,

FBI, or whoever drop for LACK OF FUNDS.

THIS IS THE BIGGEST BULLSHIT EXCUSE OUT OF THESE ASSHOLES YET.

[ThomWV]

3. My guess is the current Congress would be willing to kick in a couple of extra million

The problem is not with getting the funding, its in getting the funding to where it belongs - and the White House can go a long way in delaying that process.

[Rex]

4. So...ALL those 'investigations' started by the Pentagon and the WH

over these years of gross criminal activity by same institutions - all those got rubber stamp funding and no one asks about their costs or objectivity. Sure, works good that way just ask the victims of 911 and our invasion of Iraq.

[babylonsister]

5. And don't forget who Bloch is (working for):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Bloch

Reorganization or Internal Purge

In January of 2005, the controversy escalated when Bloch ordered twelve OSC staffers, including the only two known gay employees, to transfer to distant cities or lose their jobs. <14> Bloch was accused of conducting a political purge of OSC employees by three government watchdog groups (the Government Accountability Project, the Project on Government Oversight, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility), two federal trade unions (the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union), an LGBT rights organization (the Human Rights Campaign), and the OSC employees themselves. <15>

The Washington Blade reported that, according to unnamed sources "familiar with the agency", the employees had been targeted partly because of their disagreement with diminishing the jurisdiction of the OSC in prosecuting antigay workplace discrimination. <16> Both of the gay staffers had been critical of reducing OSC's role. Another of the twelve employees had reached a favorable settlement on behalf of a gay federal employee who filed a discrimination complaint against his supervisor. <14> In the end, ten of the twelve employees resigned. <17> Meanwhile, according to complaints, at least one staffer who had been supportive of Bloch's interpretation was promoted. <4>

In October of 2005, the US Office of Personnel Management ordered an investigation of claims that Special Counsel Bloch retaliated against employees who disagreed with his policies. Ironically, the OSC would ordinarily oversee such whistleblower disputes. The probe is also investigating whether Bloch showed an antigay bias in refusing certian whistleblower and discrimination claims. <4>

In February of 2007, Bloch was again accused of unfair supervisor practices when several of his staffers complained they felt coerced into not cooperating with the OPM probe. Bloch's deputy issued a memo urging OSC employees to only meet with probe investigaters in a certain conference room and to report their interactions to their supervisors. Employees reported other attempts to obstruct the investigation including "suggestions that all witnesses interviewed... provide Bloch with affidavits describing what they had been asked and how they responded." <18>

[cali]

6. Unbelievable and totally

unacceptable. Fuckers.

[Toots]

7. Attach it as a rider on Bush*'s 50 billion Iraq supplemental (for the troops)

They are going to give him the money anyway so at least get something for it.