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Book Special Counsels Independent Counsels and Special Prosecutors

Download or read book Special Counsels Independent Counsels and Special Prosecutors written by Congressional Research Service and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-07-20 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Under the Constitution, Congress has no direct role in federal law enforcement and its ability to initiate appointments of any prosecutors to address alleged wrongdoings by executive officials is limited. While Congress retains broad oversight and investigatory powers under Article I of the Constitution, criminal investigations and prosecutions have generally been viewed as a core executive function and a responsibility of the executive branch. Historically, however, because of the potential conflicts of interest that may arise when the executive branch investigates itself there have been calls for an independently led inquiry to determine whether officials have violated criminal law. In response, Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have used both statutory and regulatory mechanisms to establish a process for such inquiries. These responses have attempted, in different ways, to balance the competing goals of independence and accountability with respect to inquiries of executive branch officials. Under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Congress authorized the appointment of "special prosecutors," who later were known as "independent counsels." Under this statutory scheme, the Attorney General could request that a specially appointed three-judge panel appoint an outside individual to investigate and prosecute alleged violations of criminal law. These individuals were vested with "full power and independent authority to exercise all investigative and prosecutorial functions and powers of the Department of Justice" with respect to matters within their jurisdiction. The independent counsel provisions included sunset provisions, but were reauthorized regularly until 1992, when Congress allowed the law to expire. Although it was again reauthorized in 1994, debate over the scope, cost, and effect of the investigations (perhaps most notably the Iran-Contra investigation and the Whitewater investigation) resulted in the law's expiration and nonrenewal in 1999. Following the lapse of the statutory independent counsel provisions, DOJ promulgated regulations authorizing the Attorney General (or, if the Attorney General is recused from a matter, the Acting Attorney General) to appoint a "special counsel" to conduct specific investigations or prosecutions that may be deemed to present a conflict of interest if pursued under the normal procedures of the agency. Under these regulations, the Attorney General may appoint an individual from outside the federal government to investigate and prosecute criminal matters within his or her assigned jurisdiction. Two instances in which the Attorney General has invoked this authority include the investigation of the Branch Davidian incident in Waco, Texas, and the current investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Special counsels appointed under this authority are vested "within the scope of his or her jurisdiction, the full power and independent authority to exercise all investigative and prosecutorial functions of any United States Attorney." Special counsels are not subject to "day-to-day supervision" by any official, but may be asked to report to the Attorney General during the course of their work. The Attorney General must "give great weight to the views of the Special Counsel" but may conclude that particular actions should not be pursued and must notify Congress accordingly if the Attorney General rejects a particular course of action. Additionally, the Attorney General maintains the authority to discipline or remove the special counsel for cause. Ultimately, the Attorney General holds the sole authority to initiate the appointment for such investigations and prosecutions. However, other alternatives of investigation and oversight of actions by federal officials-whose methods are beyond the scope of this report-are available, such as inspector general investigations and congressional oversight investigations.

Book Independent Justice

Download or read book Independent Justice written by Katy Jean Harriger and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Congress created the Office of the Special Prosecutor in 1978. Its mandate was to insure the rule of law, to check abuses of power in the executive branch, and to restore public confidence in government after the Watergate scandal. Harriger (politics, Wake Forest U.) focuses on the symbolic, constitutional, and political dimensions of her subject to provide a comprehensive, in-depth review of the Office of the Special Prosecutor and how it has operated in practice. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Book The Special Prosecutor in American Politics

Download or read book The Special Prosecutor in American Politics written by Katy Jean Harriger and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The federal special prosecutor: unprincipled abuser of power or staunch defender of the law? As Katy Harriger shows, the special prosecutor was a hotly debated and controversial subject throughout much of its existence. This was especially true, she argues, during the lengthy, expensive, and highly-politicized investigations of Lawrence Walsh and Kenneth Starr into allegations concerning Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Harriger offers the most complete assessment available of the use of special prosecutors in the post-Watergate era. She analyzes the independent counsel's role within the framework of the separation of powers, explaining how each has interacted with other key players in the political and legal system and showing how those relationships have affected the prosecutor's ability to conduct investigations. Harriger's previous edition focused on the legacy of Watergate but was published before Walsh's Iran-Contra investigations were concluded. Her new study adds substantially more information on Iran-Contra, provides a clearheaded appraisal of Starr's sensationalized Whitewater-Lewinsky investigations, examines a number of senior-level cabinet probes, and critiques and clarifies the role of Attorney General Janet Reno in these latter matters. A completely new chapter compares Iran-Contra and Whitewater-Lewinsky to explore the limits of the law in the special prosecutor's efforts. In this new edition, Harriger includes 20 new interviews with Washington insiders-including one with Kenneth Starr-and covers the debates that led to both the reauthorization of the independent counsel statute in 1994 and its demise in 1999. She then examines the pros and cons of the office and offers constructive suggestions for improvement should it be revived. For students, scholars, and concerned citizens, her book takes us well beyond frenzied media hype and partisan politics to provide a timely reminder about the crucial role of separation of powers in our system of governance.

Book Special Counsels Independent Counsels and Special Prosecutors

Download or read book Special Counsels Independent Counsels and Special Prosecutors written by Cynthia Brown (Legislative attorney) and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Implementation of the U S Department of Justice s Special Counsel Regulation

Download or read book Implementation of the U S Department of Justice s Special Counsel Regulation written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Special Counsel Act of 1999

Download or read book Special Counsel Act of 1999 written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Reauthorization of the Independent Counsel Statute

Download or read book Reauthorization of the Independent Counsel Statute written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Project on the Independent Counsel Statute

Download or read book Project on the Independent Counsel Statute written by Project on the Independent Counsel Statute and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Historical Encyclopedia of U S Independent Counsel Investigations

Download or read book Historical Encyclopedia of U S Independent Counsel Investigations written by Gerald S. Greenberg and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2000-09-30 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a compilation of the U.S. federal special prosecutor/independent counsel investigations spanning the complete twenty-one year tenure from 1978-1999 of the independent counsel statute. The entries include individuals who have served as investigators; those who have been targets of investigations; all attorney generals who have called for appointment of special prosecutors; all presidents during whose terms of office such prosecutors served; and all legal cases that served to argue for or against the constitutionality of the independent counsel statute. These historical precedents are traced from Ulysses Grant's appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the St. Louis Whiskey Scandal in 1875. More contemporary cases include Watergate, precipitated by Richard Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre dismissal of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox in 1973; Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh's Iran-Contra Investigation; and Special Prosecutor Ken Starr's Whitewater investigation of the Clintons and the ensuing permutations which brought individuals like Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky to prominence and also brought the statute calling for such investigations into constitutional debate. The book is fully cross-referenced and contains a comprehensive bibliography and index. It will be of interest to scholars and students of American History and Constitutional History.

Book Independent Counsel Statute and Independent Counsel Accountability and Reform Act

Download or read book Independent Counsel Statute and Independent Counsel Accountability and Reform Act written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Crime and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Reauthorization of the Independent Counsel Statute

Download or read book Reauthorization of the Independent Counsel Statute written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Prosecuting the President

Download or read book Prosecuting the President written by Andrew Coan and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2019 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "[This book provides a] history of special prosecutors in American politics. For more than a century, special prosecutors have struck fear into the hearts of presidents, who have the power to fire them at any time. How could this be, [the author] asks? And how could the nation entrust such a high responsibility to such subordinate officials? [The author] demonstrates that special prosecutors can do much to protect the rule of law under the right circumstances. Many have been thwarted by the formidable challenges of investigating a sitting president and his close associates; a few have abused the powers entrusted to them. But at their best, special prosecutors function as catalysts of democracy, channeling an unfocused popular will to safeguard the rule of law. By raising the visibility of high-level misconduct, they enable the American people to hold the president accountable. Yet, if a president thinks he can fire a special prosecutor without incurring serious political damage, he has the power to do so. Ultimately, [the author] concludes, only the American people can decide whether the President is above the law."--

Book The Future of the Independent Counsel Act

Download or read book The Future of the Independent Counsel Act written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: