Scott Bloch's announcement that he'll be investigating the White House political operation has generated enormous attention. Much of the attention has been on Scott Bloch himself -- given the controversy he's engendered in his role as Special Counsel:

When Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch put his obscure federal agency at the center of one of the furthest-reaching political investigations in the nation last week, it surprised many, but for different reasons than one might expect.

Bloch and the Office of Special Counsel aim to learn whether officials from Karl Rove on down used federal time and resources for Republican politicking, or pressured federal employees into doing the same. The team will also pursue allegations that David C. Iglesias was fired as U.S. attorney of New Mexico for his reluctance to undertake politically motivated cases and for absences related to his service as a Navy reservist.

Bloch has spent most of his tenure under investigation himself due to allegations of illegal personnel practices -- and he would be investigating the executive branch at the same time that it is investigating him. What's more, as a Bush appointee who once wrote that he "sold all my mutual funds when Clinton was elected," Bloch is not quite apolitical.

"There's no conflict of interest and no law to support a theory that I have a conflict of interest," he said in an interview. "It would be inappropriate for the White House to interfere with my independence, or suggest I cannot undertake investigations that pertain to matters inside the White House. . . . I have had those throughout my tenure."

We're not swayed by Mr. Bloch's defense of himself.  CREW thinks that the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), headed up by highly controversial Scott Bloch, is the wrong entity for the investigation of the White House staff.