Driven by an animus against homosexuals, Scott Bloch, a former head of the Office of Special Counsel in the George W. Bush administration, improperly reassigned a group of Washington employees to Detroit, according to a government report released Wednesday.

Bloch, who served as special counsel from 2003 to 2008, told a government contractor that he planned to "ship out" gay staffers and "had a license to do this," according to the 56-page report. The contractor, Richard Trefry, is a founder of Military Professional Resources Inc. and a former Army inspector general. Trefry spoke about Bloch as part of an Office of Personnel Management inspector general investigation into former employees' allegations about prohibited personnel practices Bloch may have carried out at the agency, which advocates for federal whistleblowers.

"Mr. Bloch and his immediate staff offered an array of ostensible explanations [for the reassignments] in press releases, Congressional testimony, and interviews with the investigative team, seeking to link the reassignments to the bona fide operational needs of the agency," says the report, which OPM Inspector General Patrick McFarland signed Dec. 5. "However, our investigation developed evidence which tended to undermine the proffered explanations."

Bloch, who is a solo practitioner in Washington, said in a written statement that the report is "nothing new" and "a rehash of old unsubstantiated stories and muddled statements," which he claimed he never made. He said its motive is political, adding that he has a pending lawsuit against OPM.