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For Immediate Release
October, 24 2008, 09:55am EDT
Friday October, 24 2008, 09:55am EDT
Contact:
Adam Miles, Legislative Representative
Phone: 202.408.0034 ext 132, cell 202.276.2007
Email: adamm@whistleblower.org
Contact: Tom Devine, Legal Director
Phone: 202.408.0034 ext 124, cell 240.888.4080
Email: whistle47@aol.com
Special Counsel Bloch Forced Out
White House Removes Long-Controversial Head of OSC
WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON - The Government Accountability Project (GAP)
applauded the White House decision to remove Special Counsel Scott Bloch
yesterday.
"It's about time," stated GAP
Legislative Representative Adam Miles. "The number of federal
employees helped by OSC has plummeted during Mr. Bloch's tenure, along
with the office's credibility. It's time to move on from this
unfortunate chapter in OSC's history. We look forward to the appointment
of a Special Counsel who will prioritize protecting whistleblowers from
retaliation over pursuing personal political agendas."
Added GAP Legal Director Tom Devine: "Mr. Bloch
had the same impact as Special Counsel that President Bush has had as President
- utter disaster."
GAP has been a persistent critic of Bloch during his
tenure at the Office of Special Counsel. To read GAP's detailed testimony
on this issue from a July 12, 2007 oversight hearing on the office, click here:
https://www.whistleblower.org/doc/GAPTESTIMONY71207.pdf
The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a 30-year-old nonprofit public interest group that promotes government and corporate accountability by advancing occupational free speech, defending whistleblowers, and empowering citizen activists. We pursue this mission through our Nuclear Safety, International Reform, Corporate Accountability, Food & Drug Safety, and Federal Employee/National Security programs. GAP is the nation's leading whistleblower protection organization.
LATEST NEWS
'Shame! Traitor! Go Home!': Stefanik Mercilessly Booed Off Stage During Local Event in NY District
"She won't hold a town hall, she won't take questions," said one protester. "She's never in her office."
Aug 19, 2025
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) got a hostile reception on Monday when she attended an event in the city of Plattsburgh, New York.
As reported by local news station NBC 5, Stefanik was in the city to pay tribute to the late Clinton County Clerk John Zurlo, who died this past December at the age of 86.
During the event, protesters mostly sat in silence until it was Stefanik's turn to speak. At that point, they erupted in angry boos as audience members shouted, "Shame on her!", "You sold us out!", and "Go home!" Demonstrators could also be heard calling Stefanik a "traitor."
Yikes – @EliseStefanik literally got booed off the stage TWICE at an event in her district today.
She hasn't hosted a #NY21 town hall in years. Now we know why. pic.twitter.com/4hsIZmbJyC
— Addison Dick (@addisondick0) August 18, 2025
All told, NBC 5 estimated that at least half of the crowd at the event were there to protest against Stefanik.
After the event, Stefanik lashed out at the protesters who jeered her and forced her off the stage.
"Today's event was about honoring John Zurlo," she said. "It is a disgusting disgrace that this is what the far left does. Rather than understanding that his family has been through a tremendous amount. It was about honoring his legacy."
However, some demonstrators who spoke with NBC 5 countered that they had no other way to reach the congresswoman given that she hasn't held a town hall in several months.
"She has not shown up in our district for months and months," protester Mavis Agnew explained. "She won't hold a town hall, she won't take questions. She's never in her office. People show up at her office constantly, door's closed. Her representatives, her employees won't talk to [us]... So this was her first appearance, the first opportunity we had to let her know we're unhappy."
Other protesters singled out Stefanik's support for the GOP's massive budget package that cut $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade and is already endangering the finances of hospitals around the country, including in New York state.
"With the recent cuts that have just been passed, we're all going to be affected by rural hospitals," said protester Jesse Murnane. "Hudson Headwaters [Health Network] potentially being affected, our only clinics available to patients. That's important to me."
The New York Democratic Party was quick to ridicule Stefanik for the angry reaction she displayed at the event.
"Stefanik couldn't handle the heat as she realized in real time that she can't escape her Fox News echo chamber forever while she raises prices, guts healthcare, and hurts New York families," the party said.
Despite the negative reaction to Stefanik at this week's event, she is in little danger of losing her congressional seat, as her district has repeatedly reelected her to office by double-digit margins and is labeled as a "safe Republican" district by Cook Political Report.
Stefanik has represented New York's 21st District since 2015. She is reportedly considering a run for governor in 2026 and said last month that she would reveal her plans after the November elections.
'The Oligarchy Is the Enemy': Maine Oyster Farmer Launches Senate Bid to Oust Susan Collins
"I will be a senator," said Graham Platner, "for all those who can't buy senators."
Aug 19, 2025
Launching a US Senate run to unseat five-term Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, oyster farmer Graham Platner on Tuesday made clear in his inaugural ad that beating the "fake" moderate also means taking on the power-hungry billionaire class that has helped keep her in power all these years.
The enemy that the vast majority of Americans and Mainers have in common, said Platner, "is the oligarchy."
"It's the billionaires who pay for it," he added. "The politicians who sell us out. And yeah, that means politicians like Susan Collins."
Platner, who told The New York Times political organizers recruited him to enter the race, spoke in the ad about how Maine has "become unlivable for working people."
"Nobody I know around here can afford a house," said Platner. "Healthcare is a disaster, hospitals are closing. We have watched all of that get ripped away from us, and everyone's just trying to keep it all together."
My name is Graham Platner and I’m running for US Senate to defeat Susan Collins and topple the oligarchy that’s destroying our country.
I’m a veteran, oysterman, and working class Mainer who’s seen this state become unlivable for working people. And that makes me deeply angry. pic.twitter.com/QZfAm528N1
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) August 19, 2025
Maine has the 11th-highest cost of living in the country, and according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator, the state's minimum wage of $14.65 doesn't qualify as a living wage for single adults, married couples, or parents—even if both parents work full time.
The fact that many Mainers have to "work two or three different jobs" to survive—as nearly 8% of workers do in the state—"makes me deeply angry," said Platner.
The oyster farmer and local planning board chair is a veteran of both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, and his campaign platform includes calls for ending homelessness among veterans and fully funding job training and healthcare for those who have served in the armed forces.
But Platner's tone in his opening campaign video contrasted with that other veterans who have been recruited by Democrats to run for public office, like former Kentucky Senate candidate Amy McGrath and a number of former service members who the party is currently pushing to run in 2026 in the hopes that they'll be seen as "politically moderate."
"There is a very tired playbook that the Democrats have run for a while where DC chooses establishment candidates that they base upon their fundraising capacity, and in 2020... they just got battered, and Susan Collins held the seat," Platner told Zeteo, referring to Democrats' decision to run state House Speaker Sara Gideon, who lost by nearly nine points despite vastly outraising Collins. "So in my opinion, we need to be doing something else. I mean, clearly that is a failed strategy."
Platner explicitly called for far-reaching, progressive policies that would serve all Americans—those that are frequently lambasted as dangerous "socialist" ideas by conservatives and dismissed as "unrealistic" by centrist Democrats.
"Why can't we have universal healthcare like every other first-world country?" asked Platner. "Why are we funding endless wars and bombing children? Why are CEOs more powerful than unions? We've fought three different wars since the last time we raised the minimum wage."
On his campaign website, Platner added that he would "be a strong supporter of a Medicare for All system, moving away from the for-profit insurance system that has brought us nothing but grief," protect Social Security, push for a "billionaire minimum tax," "fight for urgent action on climate change," and strengthen legislation to ensure that "enforcement against massive polluters and repeat offenders does not depend upon the whims of whoever happens to be president."
In an interview with Politico, Platner said that if elected, he would not support Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as the party's leader in the Senate, saying that "the next leader needs to be one of vision and also somebody who is willing to fight."
Along with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Schumer has angered progressives and self-described moderate Democrats alike by voting with Republicans to advance the GOP's spending bill—claiming doing so was necessary to stop a government shutdown—and refusing to endorse New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who like Platner has centered affordability in his campaign.
Platner has hired Morris Katz, a top strategist for Mamdani, and his campaign so far carries echoes of the mayoral candidate. In addition to unapologetically calling for policies to further economic justice, Platner told Zeteo that Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza, which was a flashpoint in New York City's Democratic primary, is "the ultimate moral test of our time."
Since Mamdani's primary victory in June, Democrats including Jeffries and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have claimed the mayoral candidate has not yet proven that his progressive platform has broad appeal.
"I think a lot of people are focused on the leftism, the ideological leftism, that I think we shouldn't be so surprised that prevailed in a New York Democratic Party primary," Buttigieg told NPR last month. "But I think if my party wants to learn lessons from Mamdani's success that are portable to a place like Michigan, where I live, it's less about the ideology and more about the message discipline of focusing on what people care about and the tactical wisdom of getting out there and talking to everybody."
Platner, who is one of six declared Democratic primary candidates in a race that could also soon include Gov. Janet Mills, appears intent on proving that defeating the oligarchy and the billionaires who have outsized influence on US politics and fighting for policies aimed at improving all Americans' lives are winning ideas even in the largely rural state of Maine.
"While my platform spans many issues, I view most of my job as a US senator as to do two things," reads Platner's website. "One, to ban billionaires buying elections; two, to dismantle the 'billionaire economy' in favor of an economy that works for the American worker, for small business, for the vast majority of Americans."
"I will be a senator," the platform reads, "for all those who can't buy senators."
'Boston Will Never Back Down': Mayor Michelle Wu Comes Out Swinging Against Pam Bondi Threat
"The Trump administration seeks to divide, isolate, and intimidate our cities, and make Americans fearful of one another," wrote Wu.
Aug 19, 2025
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Tuesday came out swinging against US Attorney General Pam Bondi amid the Justice Department's threats to prosecute local officials for not helping the administration carry out its mass deportation program.
In a letter sent to Bondi, Wu defended Boston's right to not participate in federal deportation operations, and she cited court rulings in favor of the city's Boston Trust Act, which she noted has been upheld by courts as "valid exercises of local authority and fully consistent with federal law."
Wu took a hammer to the administration's attacks on American cities and its actions that she said have hurt Boston's economy.
"This federal administration's false and continuous attacks on American cities and millions of our residents are unprecedented," she wrote. "You have eliminated healthcare and food assistance for our families; unlawfully cancelled grants for our schools and roads; slashed funding for our universities, hospitals, and research institutions; and deployed military personnel to occupy our streets. These attacks all come back to a common aim: The Trump administration seeks to divide, isolate, and intimidate our cities, and make Americans fearful of one another."
Wu then linked the Trump administration's current actions to those of the British crown before the American Revolution, which she described as "the attempted coercion of Boston by an unaccountable and distant monarch."
However, Wu also emphasized that the Boston Police Department has cooperated with federal law enforcement officials where appropriate, and she cited the department last week arresting "thirteen people as the result of a joint human trafficking investigation with the FBI and Massachusetts State Police" as an example.
Wu closed her letter with a note of defiance against attempts by the Trump administration to take control of cities across the United States.
"On behalf of the people of Boston, and in solidarity with the cities and communities targeted by this federal administration for our refusal to bow down to unconstitutional threats and unlawful coercion, we affirm our support for each other and for our democracy," she wrote. "Boston will never back down from being a beacon of freedom, and a home for everyone."
Wu's letter comes at a time when Trump and several Republican governors have deployed National Guard forces to Washington, DC for the purported goal of reducing crime in the nation's capital. Trump has also threatened to deploy the National Guard to other cities, including Boston, New York, Chicago, Oakland, and Baltimore.
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