An anonymous Treasury Department employee has asked a federal judge in Northern California to block a government request for information from Google that could reveal his or her identity.

The Treasury Department's Inspector General's Office earlier this year subpoenaed Google for records related to two YouTube videos consisting primarily of text, which the anonymous employee claims to have posted. The videos assert that officials at the Office of Financial Research, or OFR, the Treasury unit created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to help forecast and anticipate financial storms, discriminated against minorities in hiring, pay and promotion, particularly African-Americans.

San Francisco's Kronenberger Rosenfeld filed a motion to quash the subpoena on Tuesday. The firm argues that their client, a current Treasury employee referred to simply as “Doe” or “Movant” in court documents, is a whistleblower whose rights are protected by the First Amendment and various statutes protecting government employees who report misconduct. The motion claims Doe raised issues such as age and race discrimination anonymously through internal Treasury Department channels, as well as to the EEOC, the Office of Special Counsel, and 15 members of Congress.

In lieu of an order fully blocking the subpoena, Doe's lawyers asked alternatively for a protective order shielding their client's identity from anyone besides “specified, responsible individuals” within the Inspector General's Office.

“While Movant may possess relevant information that Movant is willing to share to assist OIG in any legitimate investigation, Movant has genuine concerns that the disclosure of Movant's identity will result in retaliation, including the loss of Movant's employment,” Doe's lawyers wrote. Doe's lawyers also claim that while the Inspector General's Office is authorized to issue subpoenas as part of its role in investigating fraud and abuse at Treasury, the investigation here appears “to be pretext to identify Movant and retaliate.”

The Treasury Department deferred a request for comment to the Office of Inspector General. A spokesman for the office said in an email Wednesday afternoon it had been made aware of “potentially threatening situations at OFR.”

“We are responsible for investigating threats to the integrity of Treasury programs. Accordingly we are looking into potential threats. We cannot discuss further at this time,” the spokesman said.

Jeffrey Rosenfeld, one of Doe's lawyers, said that his client suspects that efforts to ferret out the YouTube poster's identity are likely tied to efforts from OFR officials to identify and punish anonymous sources in a recent Wall Street Journal article critical of the office's work. But, Rosenfeld pointed out, the partially redacted copy of the subpoena his client received from Google offers little insight to what the inspector general is investigating.

“We're a little surprised at the secretive nature of this subpoena. Our client has been complaining for a while and is willing to cooperate with any legitimate investigation,” Rosenfeld said. “We just don't think this effort is bona fide.”