Independent Counsel ― The Law and the Investigations

Johnson and Brickman (both political science, Texas A & M U.) analyze the origins, evolution, functions and dissolution of the office of the independent counsel, created in the late-1970s to investigate and prosecute alleged executive misconduct in the federal government. They provide an overview of how executive misconduct was handled in the 18th, 19th and early-20th centuries, and then review the Watergate investigations which led to passage of the first independent counsel law in 1978. A summary of each of the 20 independent counsel investigations is followed by a chapter on the dissolution of the law in 1999, regulations which replaced the expired law, and possible ways to handle future alleged executive misconduct. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)