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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Investigating the Investigators
 Another chapter in the Lurita Doan investigation* opens. In this latest installment of the Doan saga, Scott Bloch, the head of the Office of Special Council, which appointed the special prosecutor to investigate Doan, is being scrutinized for shredding documents related to an investigation into his own misconduct. (Got all that?)
Wall Street Journal ($):
Bypassing his agency's computer technicians, Mr. Bloch phoned 1-800-905-GEEKS for Geeks on Call, the mobile PC-help service. It dispatched a technician in one of its signature PT Cruiser wagons. In an interview, the 49-year-old former labor-law litigator from Lawrence, Kan., confirmed that he contacted Geeks on Call but said he was trying to eradicate a virus that had seized control of his computer.
[...]
Mr. Bloch had his computer's hard disk completely cleansed using a "seven-level" wipe: a thorough scrubbing that conforms to Defense Department data-security standards. The process makes it nearly impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later. He also directed Geeks on Call.
Geeks on Call visited Mr. Bloch's government office in a nondescript office building on M Street in Washington twice, on Dec. 18 and Dec. 21, 2006, according to a receipt reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The total charge was $1,149, paid with an agency credit card, the receipt shows. The receipt says a seven-level wipe was performed but doesn't mention any computer virus.
Jeff Phelps, who runs Washington's Geeks on Call franchise, declined to talk about specific clients, but said calls placed directly by government officials are unusual. He also said erasing a drive is an unusual virus treatment. "We don't do a seven-level wipe for a virus," he said.
So the investigators are being investigated. It is, after all, par for the course for this scandal-plagued administration, so the administration should just go ahead now and appoint an investigator to investigate the investigator who's investigating Bloch (who's investigating Rove and friends)?
If you have a sub, the whole story is well worth reading for government oversight aficionados.
*See our coverage:
March 7, GSA's Long War on Accountability
March 23, Continued Shenanigans at GSA Catches Waxman's Eye
March 26, GSA on Front Page, Again
March 28, GSA Administrator Can't Explain Politicization
May 23, More Bad News for Head of GSA
June 13, Doan Headlines at Three Ring Circus on Capitol Hill
August 9, The Forgotten GSA Scandal
Posted by Craig Jennings
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