United States Office of the Independent Counsel
Encyclopedia
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
— distinct from the Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
of the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
— that provided reports to the Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
under . The office was terminated in 1999 and replaced by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel
The Office of Special Counsel in the United States Department of Justice replaced the former Office of the Independent Counsel in 1999. It is charged with investigating alleged misconduct in the federal government's executive branch. The current Special Counsel is Patrick Fitzgerald, who was...
.
History
In 1978, a DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Congress was determined to curb the powers of the President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and other senior executive branch officials due in part to the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
and related events such as the Saturday Night Massacre
Saturday night massacre
The "Saturday Night Massacre" was the term given by political commentators to U.S. President Richard Nixon's executive dismissal of independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox, and the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus on October 20,...
. They drafted the Ethics in Government Act
Ethics in Government Act
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is a United States federal law that was passed in the wake of the Nixon Watergate scandal and the Saturday Night Massacre. It created mandatory, public disclosure of financial and employment history of public officials and their immediate family...
, creating a special prosecutor (later changed to Independent Counsel) position, which could be used by Congress or the Attorney General to investigate individuals holding or formerly holding certain high positions in the federal government and in national Presidential election campaign organizations.
The prosecutor, who was appointed by a special panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...
, could investigate allegations of any misconduct, with an unlimited budget and no deadline, and could be dismissed only by the Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
for "good cause" or by the special panel of the court when the independent counsel's task was completed. As the president could not dismiss those investigating the executive branch it was felt that the independence of the office would ensure impartiality of any reports presented to Congress. However, there have been many critics of this law including Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
Justice Antonin Scalia
Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice...
. Many argued the new Independent Counsel's office was a sort of "fourth branch" of government that had virtually unlimited powers and was answerable to no one. However, the constitutionality of the new office was ultimately upheld in the 1988 Supreme Court case Morrison v. Olson
Morrison v. Olson
Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 , was a case that went before the Supreme Court of the United States. By a 7 to 1 margin, the Court ruled that the Independent Counsel Act was constitutional...
.
Previously under the Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1994, United States Attorney General Janet Reno
Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno is a former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...
had Donald C. Smaltz appointed Independent Counsel by the United States Court of Appeals
United States court of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
for the District of Columbia (Division for the Purpose of Appointing Independent Counsels Ethics in Government Act of 1978, As Amended, Division 94-2) on September 9, 1994, to "investigate to the maximum extent authorized by law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
" whether the US Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
Secretary Mike Espy
Mike Espy
Alphonso Michael "Mike" Espy is a former United States political figure. From 1987 to 1993, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi. He served as the Secretary of Agriculture from 1993 to 1994. He was the first African American Secretary of Agriculture...
"committed a violation of any federal criminal law . . . relating in any way to the acceptance of gifts by him from organizations or individuals with business pending before the Department of Agriculture." Smaltz was also given jurisdiction to investigate "other allegations or evidence of violations of any federal criminal law by organizations or individuals developed during the course of the investigation of Secretary Espy and connected with or arising out of that investigation."
The most famous Independent Counsel was Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston "Ken" Starr is an American lawyer and educational administrator who has also been a federal judge. He is best known for his investigation of figures during the Clinton administration....
, whose report led to the impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
of President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. The most recently appointed and now dormant Office of the Independent Counsel was created to investigate the death of Vincent Foster, Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996...
scandals, among other prosecutions.
The Office of the Independent Counsel is not to be confused with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) which is a permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic legislative authority come from three federal statutes, the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
, and the Hatch Act
Hatch Act
Hatch Act may refer to:*Hatch Act of 1887, United States federal legislation that created agricultural experiment stations*Hatch Act of 1939, tightened in 1940, United States federal legislation aimed at corrupt political practices, prevented federal civil servants from campaigning...
.
It should also not be confused with the "independent counsel" who is appointed by the Attorney General pursuant to United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
regulations. 28 Code of Federal Regulations
Code of Federal Regulations
The Code of Federal Regulations is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States.The CFR is published by the Office of the Federal Register, an agency...
600.1. There have been three independent counsels of this type regarding the following: the Iran/Contra investigation in 1987 (sec. 601.1); Edwin Meese III and the Wedtech case in 1987 (sec. 602.1); and President and Ms. Clinton in the Madison Guaranty/Whitewater case in 1994 (sec. 603.1). Finally, it should also not be confused with the appointment in 2003 of Patrick Fitzgerald
Patrick Fitzgerald
Patrick J. Fitzgerald is the current United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and a member of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel...
("United States Department of Justice Office of the Special Counsel") regarding the investigation into the public naming of CIA spy Valerie Plame
Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
. This was done pursuant to the general statutory authority of the Attorney General.
Timeline
- Originally created by the Independent Counsel Act (1978) and the Ethics in Government Act Amendments of 1982 (96 Stat. 2039), January 3, 1983
- Reauthorized for five years by the Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1987 (101 Stat. 1293), December 15, 1987
- Lapsed, December 15, 1992, by failure of reauthorization
- Reinstituted by the Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1994 (PL 103-270), June 30, 1994
- Expired at midnight on June 30, 1999
Investigations carried out by Independent Counsel
- Independent Counsel Arthur Christy relating to allegations of illegal drug use of Jimmy CarterJimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's aide Hamilton JordanHamilton JordanWilliam Hamilton McWhorter Jordan was Chief of Staff to President of the United States Jimmy Carter.-Early life:...
, 1978 - Independent Counsel Leon Silverman relating to Raymond Donovan, 1981–84
- Independent Counsel Jacob A. Stein relating to Edwin Meese IIIEdwin MeeseEdwin "Ed" Meese, III is an attorney, law professor, and author who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Administration , the Reagan Presidential Transition Team , and the Reagan White House , eventually rising to hold the position of the 75th Attorney General of...
, 1984 - Independent Counsel Whitney North Seymour, Jr.Whitney North Seymour, Jr.Whitney North Seymour, Jr. was a New York State Senator in the 1960s and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1970 to 1973....
relating to Michael DeaverMichael DeaverMichael Keith Deaver was a member of President Ronald Reagan's White House staff serving as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under James Baker III and Donald Regan from January 1981 until May 1985.-Early life:...
, 1981–89 - Independent Counsel Alexia Morrison relating to Theodore OlsonTheodore OlsonTheodore Bevry Olson is a former United States Solicitor General, serving from June 2001 to July 2004 under President George W. Bush.- Early life :...
, 1986–88 - Independent Counsels Arlin Adams and Larry ThompsonLarry ThompsonLarry Dean Thompson is an American lawyer, most notable for his service as deputy Attorney General of the United States under United States President George W. Bush until August 2003...
relating to Samuel PierceSamuel PierceSamuel Riley Pierce, Jr. was Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.-Early life:Pierce was an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America. Pierce was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha social fraternity and Alpha Phi Omega service...
and others associated with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1988–98 - Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh relating to the Iran-Contra affairIran-Contra AffairThe Iran–Contra affair , also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or Iran-Contra-Gate, was a political scandal in the United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials and President Reagan secretly facilitated the sale of...
, 1986–93 - Independent Counsels Joseph DiGenova and Michael ZeldinMichael ZeldinMichael Zeldin is an attorney and a principal with the firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Washington, DC. He is the global leader of the anti-money laundering/terrorist financing and economic and trade sanctions practice. He has appeared as an expert commentator on CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC and...
relating to improper search of passport records, 1992–95 - Independent Counsel Donald SmaltzDonald SmaltzDonald C. Smaltz is California lawyer who was appointed as Independent Counsel to investigate charges that Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy had received improper gifts from companies with business before his department.- Background :...
relating to charges of corruption against Mike EspyMike EspyAlphonso Michael "Mike" Espy is a former United States political figure. From 1987 to 1993, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi. He served as the Secretary of Agriculture from 1993 to 1994. He was the first African American Secretary of Agriculture...
, 1994-2001. Espy acquittedAcquittalIn the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
at trial. http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/1998/12/07/independant.council.html - Independent Counsel David Barrett relating to Henry Cisneros payments controversyHenry Cisneros payments controversyThe Henry Cisneros payments controversy was a lengthy investigation begun in 1995 into allegations that Henry Cisneros, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, had lied to the FBI background check investigators about payments he had made to...
, 1995–2006 - Independent Counsel Curtis Emery von Kann relating to Eli J. Segal, 1996–98
- Independent Counsel Ralph LancasterRalph LancasterRalph Lancaster was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Victorian Football League .Lancaster was recruited locally, from Geelong College...
relating to charges of influencepeddling and the solicitation of illegal campaign contributions against Labor Secretary Alexis HermanAlexis HermanAlexis Margaret Herman was the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving under President Bill Clinton. Prior to her appointment, she was Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.-Background:The daughter of politician Alex Herman and schoolteacher Gloria...
, 1998–2000 - Independent Counsels Kenneth StarrKenneth StarrKenneth Winston "Ken" Starr is an American lawyer and educational administrator who has also been a federal judge. He is best known for his investigation of figures during the Clinton administration....
, and Robert Ray relating to the suicide of Vince FosterVince FosterVincent Walker Foster, Jr. was a Deputy White House Counsel during the first few months of President Bill Clinton's administration, and also a law partner and friend of Hillary Rodham Clinton...
, the Whitewater scandal, Travelgate, Filegate, and later the Lewinsky scandalLewinsky scandalThe Lewinsky scandal was a political sex scandal emerging in 1998 from a sexual relationship between United States President Bill Clinton and a 25-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of...
, 1994-2001 - Special Counsel, Nicholas J. BuaNicholas John BuaNicholas John Bua was a United States federal judge.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bua was in the United States Army in 1943. He received a J.D. from De Paul University College of Law in 1953. He was in private practice in Chicago, Illinois from 1953 to 1963. He was a Presiding Judge, Melrose Park...
(November 13, 1991) relating to allegations that high-ranking officials of the United States Department of JusticeUnited States Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
during the Reagan AdministrationRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
(1981–89) had acted improperly for personal gain to bankrupt Inslaw Inc.. Bua was appointed by Attorney General William Barr to advise Barr on whether or not an independent prosecutor ought to be appointed to investigate the allegations.
External links
- United States Office of the Independent Counsel Official
- Final Report of Independent Counsel Walsh (August 4, 1993)
- Final Report of the Independent Counsel (March 2002)
- Final Report of Independent Counsel Starr
- IC Starr's Referral Report to Congress (September 9, 1998)
- Report of Independent Counsel Smaltz (October 2001)
- NARA Archives of the Independent Counsels