The former head of a whistle-blower protection office under President George W. Bush must spend at least a month in jail, according to a ruling by a federal judge that could threaten to derail the ex-official's plea deal. Scott Bloch, who headed the Office of Special Counsel, pleaded to a misdemeanor charge of criminal contempt of Congress in April 2010. That plea, U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson said in an opinion late Wednesday, requires a sentence of "imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month."
Bloch admitted withholding information from House investigators about having private technicians "scrub" computer files used by political appointees at the Office of Special Counsel in December 2006.
Watchdog groups had criticized the plan for probation, writing to Robinson to argue that Bloch serve jail time.