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Agency backing tough draft rules for special counsel removalBy Terry Frieden/CNN
June 29, 1999 WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 29) -- With the Independent Counsel Act expiring Wednesday, the Justice Department is circulating new draft regulations that promise the same high standard for removal of a Justice-appointed special counsel as was required for dismissal of a court-appointed independent counsel. The nine-page draft document, obtained Monday by CNN, appears to satisfy the demands of House Republicans who had pressed the department to keep the "good cause" requirement for ousting a special counsel who is investigating administration officials. The document says the provision "provides protection for a special counsel in his or her position by providing that the attorney general may not remove the special counsel except for good cause." A previous document indicated that the department had planned to recommend a lower standard similar to that which allows for removal of U.S. attorneys and some other Justice officials. 
"They seem to have listened to our concern. This was the flash point," said one GOP aide involved in the consultations. The act had come under criticism because of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's lengthy and political divisive investigation of President Clinton. Justice Department officials met Monday with former Senate majority leaders Bob Dole, a Republican, and George Mitchell, a Democrat, to win their backing for the proposed guidelines, which are similar to those previously recommended by the former senators. The underlying purpose of any such law remains a vital one: to make sure allegations of criminal wrongdoing by high- ranking government officials are investigated and prosecuted. Seeking bipartisan supportJustice officials scheduled briefings Tuesday with key House and Senate staff members, hoping to win bipartisan backing for the plan. "We want to get as much support as we can from across the political spectrum," a senior Justice official told CNN. The official said the department hopes the new regulations can be announced by Wednesday, when the controversial law expires. The regulations place full responsibility for decision making on the shoulders of the attorney general, but allow for significant independence under Justice Department jurisdiction. Starr and Attorney General Janet Reno had joined a chorus of voices opposed to renewing the Independent Counsel Act, which failed to protect high-level probes from charges of political partisanship. Starr was one of 21 independent counsels appointed by a three-judge federal appeals court panel during the life of the post-Watergate law. |
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MORE STORIES:Tuesday, June 29, 1999
• Transcript: Clinton announces Medicare rescue plan • Independent counsel law fades into history • Congress, White House agree on Y2K liability bill • Agency backing tough draft rules for special counsel removal • What Medicare reform means to you • Conservative group preparing to sue over Hillary Clinton travel • Pataki pays up in bet with Bush • Idaho congresswoman to marry opponent of federal land control • Kasich wants to debate Social Security - but only with Forbes • Analysis: Clinton, Congress have own agendas • 25 years later, Jerry Brown is much the same • Bush heads to California in quest for cash • First lady scopes New York real estate as president raises money | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
