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- special prosecutor A special prosecutor is a prosecutor who is independent of an office that would normally exercise jurisdiction in a criminal investigation—to avoid potential conflicts of interest or to facilitate subject matter area expertise.
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A special prosecutor is a prosecutor who is independent of an office that would normally exercise jurisdiction in a criminal investigation—to avoid potential conflicts of interest or to facilitate subject matter area expertise.
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What does special prosecutor mean?
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What exactly is 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 of interest exists for the usual prosecuting authority.
The meaning of SPECIAL PROSECUTOR is a prosecutor appointed to prosecute particular cases that the regular prosecutor is unable or unqualified to prosecute or for other reasons does not prosecute.
- The Whiskey Ring Scandal
- Star Route Scandal
- Oregon Land Fraud Scandal
- Teapot Dome Scandal
- IRS and DOJ Corruption
- Watergate
- Ethics in Government Act
- Iran-Contra Affair
- Whitewater
- Waco
In 1875, President Grant appointed John Henderson to investigate a conspiracy involving a group of politiciansfrom around the country who were stealing millions of dollars from taxes on liquor. Grant replaced Henderson with James Broadhead after Henderson resisted Grant's efforts to shield his personal secretary from the probe. More than 110 convic...
The next special prosecutor was appointed by President Garfield in 1881 to look into allegations that postal officials were being bribed in exchange for rewarding contracts. President Arthur continued the investigation after Garfield's assassination. The scandal helped spur efforts at civil service reform.
President Theodore Roosevelt appointed special prosecutors on two occasions. First, in 1903 he named Charles Bonaparte and Holmes Conrad, to investigate another bribery scandal involving postal officials. Then, in 1905, Francis Heney was tapped to look into fraud tied to land grants in Oregon.
President Coolidge appointed Atlee Pomerene and Owen Roberts as special prosecutors to investigate bribery allegations that occurred during the Warren Harding administration involving the leasing of petroleum reserves in Wyoming and California. Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall was eventually convicted and served nine months in prison.
In 1952, President Truman appointed "special assistant attorney general" Newbold Morris to look into corruption at the IRS. Morris asked hundreds of Justice officials, including senior officers, to complete a detailed questionnaire about their personal finances. Attorney General J. Howard McGrath then fired Morris, and in response, Truman fired McG...
In 1973, Attorney General Elliott Richardson appointed Archibald Cox as a special prosecutor to investigate the Watergate scandal. When Cox subpoenaed Nixon's White House tapes, Nixon fought him in court. When an appeals court ordered Nixon to turn over the tapes, he fired Cox while Richardson, as well as Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelsh...
In the wake of Watergate, Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act, which changed the system of appointing a special prosecutor. The attorney general could still appoint a special prosecutor but the individual was selected by a three-judge panel. The law was reauthorized in 1983 — when the term special prosecutor was dropped for independent cou...
A three-judge panel named Lawrence Walsh to head the investigation into the Iran-Contra affair in 1986. The administration was found to have illegally sold arms to Iran to help secure the release of American hostages and to fund anti-communist rebels, known as the Contras, in Nicaragua. Eleven officials were convicted but after pardons and appeals,...
In 1994, Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Robert Fiske special counsel to look into a failed 1978 real estate deal involving Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Clintons formed the Whitewater Development Corporation with their partners James and Susan McDougal to buy 220 acres of land in Arkansas. When the Ethics in Government Act was renewed, a thr...
In 1999, then-Attorney General Janet Reno appointed former senator Jack Danforth as special counsel to investigate the FBI handling of the 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. More than 70 men, women and children died in a fire that swept the compound during the raid, but Danforth determined the fire was started by Branch David...
Mar 13, 2019 · Special Prosecutor The Attorney General historically has appointed special prosecutors to investigate scandals involving public officials. The term “special prosecutor” was also initially used to describe independent investigations authorized by the Ethics in Government Act, though the term was later changed under that
special prosecutor - An externally chosen attorney tasked by the Attorney General or Congress to probe and possibly charge a federal government official for misconduct, in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest in the Department of Justice.
Nov 19, 2022 · A special counsel is an attorney appointed to investigate, and possibly prosecute, a case in which the Justice Department perceives itself as having a conflict or where it’s deemed to...
