Special Prosecutor Act

Summary

Special Prosecutor Act - Establishes within the Department of Justice the Division of Government Crimes to be headed by an Assistant Attorney General for Government Crimes appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term coterminous with that of the appointing President. Requires the Attorney General of the United States to report annually to Congress on the activities of the Division of Government Crimes. Grants the Assistant Attorney General jurisdiction of: (1) criminal violations of Federal law committed by specified elected, appointed, or special Federal Government officers or employees; (2) criminal violations of Federal laws relating to lobbying, campaigns, and elections; and (3) any other matter which the Attorney General refers to the Assistant Attorney General. Directs the Attorney General, upon receipt of information or evidence of any Federal criminal wrongdoing where participation in any resultant investigation or prosecution would involve a conflict of interest or the appearance thereof, to file a memorandum with the division of three judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia containing information about the case and the conflict of interest. Authorizes any individual to make a written request to the court to decide whether the Attorney General should be disqualified with respect to a particular investigation. Assumes the existence of a conflict of interest if the subject of a criminal investigation or prosecution is one of enumerated high-ranking Federal officials and employees. Directs the court, if it finds a conflict of interest, to appoint a temporary special prosecutor. Permits the Attorney General, upon voluntary disqualification, to appoint the temporary prosecutor subject to review by the court. Prohibits the removal from office of such prosecutor by the Attorney General except in the case of extraordinary improprieties. Grants the temporary special prosecutor the same power to act on behalf of the United States as the Assistant Attorney General for Government Crimes, except that the prosecutor shall have authority to appeal the decision of a court without the approval of the Solicitor General or the Attorney General. Requires the Attorney General to promulgate rules and regulations directing officers and employees of the Department of Justice to disqualify themselves from participation in a particular investigation or prosecution if participation would result in a conflict of interest, or the appearance thereof. Requires the court of appeals and the Supreme Court to expedite to the greatest extent possible the disposition of a motion to dismiss the indictment or information on the basis of constitutional objections to the authority of a temporary special prosecutor. Requires the assignment of judges to a division of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to appoint temporary special prosecutors. Authorizes the appropriation of such sums as are necessary, through fiscal year 1981, to carry out the purposes of this Act. (Adds 28 U.S.C. 49, 591-597)

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

1 official file

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 21 June 1976

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.