{
  "id": "98-19",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "98-19",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 327290,
      "date": "2006-06-08",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:00:56.082029",
      "title": "Independent Counsels Appointed Under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Costs and Results of Investigations",
      "summary": "This report lists the independent counsels (called \"special prosecutors\" until 1983) appointed by\nthe\nSpecial Division of the United States Court of Appeals upon application from the Attorney General\nof the United States, under the provisions of the law originally enacted in the Ethics in Government\nAct of 1978. The report specifies the dates of the appointments of the independent counsels and the\ndates of their final reports; sets out in summary fashion the areas or subjects of investigation by the\nindependent counsels; highlights the results of those investigations; and provides the costs of the\ninvestigations through September 30, 2005, the date through which the Government Accountability\nOffice has completed the latest published audit of the offices of independent counsels (published\nMarch 31, 2006).\n The information provided from public documents indicates that there have been 20 reported\nindependent counsel or special prosecutor investigations initiated under the provisions of title VI of\nthe Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as amended. Because Congress did not pass a reauthorization\nof the law, the provisions of the independent counsel law expired under a five-year \"sunset\"\nprovision on June 30, 1999, and independent counsels are no longer named by the Special Division\nof the Court. Investigations by independent counsels who had already been appointed before June\n30, 1999, however, were allowed to continue under the old provisions of the law until the matters\nassigned to them had been completed (28 U.S.C. Section 599).\n Of the 20 independent counsel investigations, 12 of the investigations returned no indictments\nagainst those investigated. Of the eight investigations that did return at least one indictment, in three\nof those instances, there was no indictment brought against the principal government official\noriginally named as the target of that independent counsel's investigation; in three other instances,\nthe principal government official indicted was either acquitted or his conviction was overturned on\nappeal. Thus, of the 20 independent counsel investigations initiated, although several independent\ncounsels obtained multiple convictions of certain persons relating to the original subject matter or\nperipheral matters (including convictions of several federal officials or former federal officials), only\ntwo federal officials who were actually the named or principal subjects of the 20 investigations were\nfinally convicted of or pleaded guilty to the charges brought; in one of those two instances, that\nperson was pardoned by the President.\n According to reports from the Department of Justice concerning early \"special prosecutor\" and\nindependent counsel investigations, and later published audits from the Government Accountability\nOffice, it is estimated that the total costs of all 20 independent counsel investigations through\nSeptember 30, 2005, including unaudited expenses of other agencies assisting the independent\ncounsels and the government-reimbursed costs of attorneys' fees when provided, has been\napproximately $228,712,589.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
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  "topics": []
}