when can the attorney general appoint a special counsel

Does the Attorney General have authority to appoint special counsel?

The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and -. (a) That investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a United States Attorney's Office or litigating Division of the Department of Justice …

When is a special counsel appointed for an investigation?

May 17, 2017 · The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and —(a) That investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a United States Attorney’s Office or litigating Division of the …

What is a special counsel?

Sep 15, 1999 · The need to appoint special counsel will be greatest when serious allegations are made concerning the President or Attorney General, although allegations against others personally or politically...

Can the Attorney General fire a special counsel?

May 17, 2017 · “In my capacity as acting Attorney General, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a Special Counsel to assume responsibility for this matter,” said Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein. “My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted.

Who appoints special prosecutor?

What is a special counsel in Australia?

Who is the special prosecutor in Ghana?

What is the work of special prosecutor in Ghana?

What does special counsel mean?

Is a special counsel a barrister?

Who is the current prosecutor?

Who is the current chief of staff in Ghana?

Who can appoint a special counsel?

The Attorney General’s regulations provide for appointment of special counsel by the Attorney General . Our project’s report was in accord, recommending that “Responsibility and authority to appoint special counsel should be restored to the Attorney General.” In their testimony here, Senators Dole and Mitchell stated that “Our study of this matter has convinced us that a fair reading of history warrants entrusting to the Attorney General the responsibility for deciding when a sensitive investigation should be conducted by a special counsel, and also responsibility for selecting that person.” They noted that “any of us might disagree from time to time with a decision of an Attorney General about whether a special counsel is needed.” In that event “the appropriate remedy is the political process.”

What is the new regulation for the appointment of a special counsel?

The new regulation, as the Senate had proposed in 1993, authorizes the appointment of special counsel for a “matter” without requiring the naming of a person. A central feature of the Independent Counsel Act was a list of mandatorily covered persons. The Attorney General’s regulations eschew that approach.

What is the purpose of the regulations set forth by the Attorney General?

The regulations set forth (28 C.F.R. 600.1) a three-part analysis for determining whether to appoint a special counsel. First, the Attorney General must determine that “criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted.”.

What is the Independent Counsel Act?

The appointment provisions of the Independent Counsel Act applied to the investigation of “persons.” In 1993, the Senate proposed that the Act permit the Attorney General “to use the independent counsel process in matters raising conflict of interest concerns, without having to name specific individuals as investigatory targets,” S. Rep. No. 101, 103d Cong., 1st Sess. 37 (1993), but that amendment was deleted in conference. The new regulation, as the Senate had proposed in 1993, authorizes the appointment of special counsel for a “matter” without requiring the naming of a person.

How long does it take to fix a law?

Other lengths of time might be equally acceptable. We had recommended that two years (rather than one, as in the Attorney General’s regulations) be allowed before the Attorney General’s first periodic review. It may take some months before a special counsel begins to actively present a matter to a grand jury, and a special gand jury would have a life of 18 months. In formulating the project’s recommendation, it seemed that a first periodic review after only a year would be early.

What is the purpose of a grand jury?

Each may use grand juries “to investigate alleged or suspected violations of federal law (9-2.010).

Does the Attorney General's order require immediate appointment of a special counsel?

Nevertheless, the Attorney General’s order prudently states that immediate appointment of a special counsel at times may be warranted.

Why is the Attorney General removing the Special Counsel?

The Attorney General may remove a Special Counsel for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause, including violation of Departmental policies. The Attorney General shall inform the Special Counsel in writing of the specific reason for their removal.

How many special counsels were appointed under the Ethics in Government Act?

Roughly twenty special prosecutors (called independent counsels after 1983) were appointed under the Ethics in Government Act and its reauthorizations during the Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton administrations. These include significant investigations into the Iran–Contra affair and the Whitewater controversy, the latter of which ultimately led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal. Numerous smaller investigations into cabinet secretaries for relatively minor offenses, such as drug use, were also carried out by independent counsels during this period.

Why are special prosecutors appointed?

While the most prominent special prosecutors have been those appointed since the 1870s to investigate presidents and those connected to them, the term can also be used to refer to any prosecutor appointed to avoid a conflict of interest or appearance thereof. The concept originates in state law: "state courts have traditionally appointed special prosecutors when the regular government attorney was disqualified from a case, whether for incapacitation or interest." Because district attorneys' offices work closely with police, some activists argue that cases of police misconduct at the state and local level should be handled by special prosecutors.

What is the Ethics in Government Act?

Ethics in Government Act. Inspired in part by Watergate, in 1978 Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act. Title VI of this act was known as the Special Prosecutor Act and later renamed the Independent Counsel Act, which established formal rules for the appointment of a special prosecutor. The appointment of special prosecutors varied in ...

What is the purpose of a special counsel?

In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict ...

When was the term "special prosecutor" first used?

While the term 'special prosecutor' is sometimes used in historical discussions of such figures before 1983, the term 'special counsel' appears to have been frequently used as well, including, for example, in contemporary newspaper accounts describing the first presidentially-appointed special counsel in 1875 .

When did the term "special counsel" expire?

Since the independent counsel law expired in 1999, the term 'special counsel' has been used. This is the term used in the current U.S. government regulations concerning the appointment of special counsels, such as Title 28 CFR. While the term 'special prosecutor' is sometimes used in historical discussions of such figures before 1983, ...

Who can appoint a special counsel?

Either the attorney general or Congress could appoint a special counsel, said William Banks, a professor and the founding director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University. A special counsel is a modern term for a special prosecutor, according to Banks, and any investigation would likely use "special ...

How to establish a special counsel?

The other way to establish a special counsel is through Congress. Congress could initiate the creation of an independent special counsel for investigations by passing a law, as it did in 1978 with the Ethics in Government Act.

How many times was the appointment of counsel reauthorized?

The law dictated that a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, appoint the counsel. The law, which was reauthorized several times until 1999, was used more than a dozen times to initiate investigations, according to PBS Frontline.

What would a special counsel look into in the case of the Trump-Russia investigation?

In the case of the Trump-Russia investigation, a special counsel would look into classified and declassified documents that the FBI, CIA, and various departments and investigation groups might have about any ties.

What is a special counsel investigation?

A special-counsel investigation would involve arranging access to classified documents by either declassifying them or clearing them for the investigation only, which would mean the public likely wouldn't see the documents.

When did the independent counsel law become law?

There is a precedent, however, for a president to sign an independent-counsel law amid scrutiny. Clinton signed a reauthorization of the 1978 law in 1994 amid several allegations of misconduct.

Who decides whether the special counsel has enough evidence to prosecute any officials?

The attorney general would decide whether the special counsel had enough evidence to prosecute any officials. If Congress created an office for an independent or special counsel, the counsel would likely pass the results of the investigation to Congress, though that could change depending on the legislation passed.

When was the first special counsel appointed?

According to the Lawfare blog, this is only the second time a “special counsel” has been appointed under this specific regulation. The first was in 1999 when Attorney General Janet Reno appointed former Sen. John Danforth to lead an investigation into the federal law enforcement raid of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. But as Lawfare explained, past attorneys general have used “different authorities to appoint other special counsels — like Nora Dannehy, appointed in 2008 to investigate the firing of U.S. Attorneys, Patrick Fitzgerald, tasked with leading the investigation into the Valerie Plame affair, and John Durham, who investigated the alleged abuse of suspected terrorists by CIA interrogators.” Those are wholly different from “ independent counsels ” such as Kenneth Starr, who investigated the Whitewater scandal during Bill Clinton’s presidency. Starr’s investigations were carried out under the Ethics in Government Act, which was enacted in 1978 after the Watergate scandal. But that law expired in 1999.

How large is the Special Counsel?

The federal code does not specify how large a staff the special counsel is afforded. It says only that a special counsel “shall be provided all appropriate resources by the Department of Justice.” The code notes that special counsels may request the assignment of Justice Department staff to assist them, and that such employees will be supervised by the special counsel. Special counsels also may request additional staff from outside the Justice Department, and “ [a]ll personnel in the [Justice] Department shall cooperate to the fullest extent possible with the Special Counsel.” The special counsel’s proposed budget is subject to approval by the acting attorney general. The length of the investigation is not mandated, but federal code requires the special counsel to make a budget request each fiscal year, at which point the acting attorney general “shall determine whether the investigation should continue and, if so, establish the budget for the next year.”

When was the appointment of an independent counsel constitutional?

The Supreme Court ruled in 1988 that the appointment of an independent counsel was constitutional, but the rules and circumstances were a little different at that time.

Which Supreme Court case concluded that independent counsel qualified as an inferior officer?

Other constitutional law experts call that argument flawed, and argue that the 1988 Supreme Court decision in Morrison v. Olson concluded that independent counsel qualified as an “inferior officer” for reasons that similarly apply to Mueller.

Who does Mueller report to?

As the federal code explains, a special counsel must consult the acting attorney general (Rosenstein) if he wishes to expand the inquiry beyond what was spelled out in Rosenstein ’s order “or to investigate new matters that come to light in the course of his or her investigation.” In addition, Rosenstein can ask the special counsel to “provide an explanation for any investigative or prosecutorial step,” and if such step is deemed “inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices” the acting attorney general reserves the right to intervene, provided Congress is notified.

Does the Special Counsel's investigation preclude Congress' investigations?

The special counsel’s investigation does not preclude Congress’ investigations, and every indication is that those will continue. Buell told us Congress’ mandate is broader, “looking at questions of governance generally not just violations of criminal laws, which is the question to which Mueller is restricted.”

Who has the same authority as a federal prosecutor?

A special counsel has the same authority as any federal prosecutor, William Banks, a professor and the founding director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University, told us in a phone interview. That includes access to classified documents. It also includes the authority — if deemed appropriate — to subpoena, say, the president’s tax records.

Overview

Legal authority

In 1999, the Department of Justiceunder Attorney General Janet Reno promulgated regulations for the future appointment of special counsels. As of 2018, these regulations remain in effect in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 28, part 600 (28 CFR §600). The regulations restrict the power to fire the special counsel into the hands of the attorney general alone, and they forbid the firing of the special counsel without good cause. They are internal Department of Justice regulations der…

Terminology

United States appointment at the federal level

At the state level

Further reading

External links