When Congress Comes Calling: a Study on the Principles, Practices, and Pragmatics of Legislative Inquiry When Congress

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

When Congress Comes Calling: a Study on the Principles, Practices, and Pragmatics of Legislative Inquiry When Congress When Congress Comes Calling: A Study on the Principles, Practices, and Pragmatics of Legislative Inquiry of Legislative on the Principles, Practices, and Pragmatics A Study When Congress 1200 18th Street, NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20036 Comes Calling 202.580.6920 Email: [email protected] A Study on the www.constitutionproject.org Principles, Practices, and Pragmatics of Legislative Inquiry Morton Rosenberg Constitution Project Fellow WHEN CONGRESS COMES CALLING: A Study on the Principles, Practices, and Pragmatics of Legislative Inquiry © 2017 The Constitution Project All Rights Reserved. Requests for permission to reproduce selections from this book should be sent to: The Constitution Project, 1200 18th Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036; or by e-mail to [email protected] The Constitution Project’s mission is to safeguard constitutional rights and values when they are threatened by our government’s criminal justice and national security practices, and to strengthen our system of checks and balances. The views expressed in this study do not necessarily reflect the views of individual members of The Constitution Project’s Board of Directors. For information about this report, or any other work of The Constitution Project, please visit our website at www.constitutionproject.org or e-mail us at [email protected]. Book design by Keane Design & Communications, Inc., keanedesign.com. Contents Preface Part I: Principles, Practices and Pragmatics of Legislative Inquiry Chapter 1 – Introduction: Updating the Study of Legislative Inquiry and Adapting it to the Changed Climate of Congressional Oversight ............................................................................. 1 Chapter 2 – The Institutional Framework of Congressional Oversight: Purposes, Powers, Limitations and Practicalities ................................................................................................... 5 A. The Purposes and Powers of Congressional Oversight ......................................................................................... 5 B. The Power of Congress over Executive Branch Agencies ...................................................................................... 6 C. Barriers to Effective Oversight ............................................................................................................................. 7 D. How to Conduct Effective Oversight ................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 3 – The Powers and Tools Available to Congress for Conducting Investigative Oversight ............................................................................................................. 13 A. Congress’s Power to Investigate ............................................................................................................................ 13 1. The Breadth of the Investigatory Power .......................................................................................................... 13 2. The Limits of the Investigatory Power ............................................................................................................ 15 B. Congress’s Ability to Obtain Documents and Witness Testimony ....................................................................... 15 1. The Subpoena Power ...................................................................................................................................... 15 a. The Power to Issue a Subpoena ............................................................................................................... 15 b. The Permissible Scope of a Subpoena ...................................................................................................... 16 c. The Necessary Legislative Purpose for a Subpoena ................................................................................. 17 d. The Pertinency of the Subpoena to the Investigation .............................................................................. 18 2. Staff Deposition Authority ............................................................................................................................ 18 a. Express Authorization of Staff Deposition Authority Is Necessary ........................................................ 18 b. The Utility of Staff Depositions............................................................................................................... 19 3. Congressional Grants of Immunity ................................................................................................................ 20 a. A Committee May Override a Witness’ Claim of Self-Incrimination Privilege ..................................... 20 b. How a Committee Grants Immunity...................................................................................................... 20 c. Scope of the Immunity Granted.............................................................................................................. 21 d. Impact of Immunity Grants on Future Prosecutions .............................................................................. 21 e. Frequency of Issuance of Immunity Grants............................................................................................. 23 4. Special Investigatory Powers Authorized in Extraordinary Inquiries ............................................................. 23 C. Enforcement of the Investigation Power .............................................................................................................. 23 1. Courts Have Recognized the Need for Effective Enforcement Mechanisms ................................................. 23 2. The Inherent Contempt Power ....................................................................................................................... 24 a. The Source, Nature, and Objectives of Inherent Contempt ..................................................................... 24 b. Rights of a Person Cited for Contempt .................................................................................................. 24 c. Fines as an Alternative to Imprisonment for Inherent Contempt ........................................................... 24 d. Inherent Contempt Does Not Require Judicial Enforcement Assistance ............................................... 25 e. The Perceived Limitations of the Inherent Contempt Mechanism ......................................................... 25 iii 3. Statutory Criminal Contempt ........................................................................................................................ 26 a. The Origin and Nature of the Criminal Contempt Statute ..................................................................... 26 b. Congressional Use of Criminal Contempt against Executive Officials ................................................... 26 c. The Uncertainty Whether Executive Officials Are Subject to Inherent or Criminal Contempt Proceedings ............................................................................................................. 26 4. Civil Contempt ............................................................................................................................................... 27 a. In the Senate ........................................................................................................................................... 27 i. The Origins, Purposes, and Procedures of the Senate Civil Contempt Statute ................................. 27 ii. The Benefits of the Senate Civil Contempt Mechanism .................................................................. 28 iii. The Senate Civil Contempt Mechanism Cannot Be Used against Executive Branch Officials ....... 28 b. In the House of Representatives.............................................................................................................. 28 i. Past House Resolutions Authorizing Special Committee Actions .................................................... 28 ii. Approval of House Resolution Authorizing Court Enforcement of a Committee Subpoena .......... 29 5. Alternatives to Contempt ............................................................................................................................... 31 6. Perjury, False Statements, and Obstruction Prosecutions ............................................................................... 32 a. Testimony under Oath............................................................................................................................. 32 b. Unsworn Statements ............................................................................................................................... 32 c. Obstruction of a Congressional Proceeding ............................................................................................ 32 Chapter 4 – The Process of Conducting Investigative Oversight Proceedings ................................ 33 A. The Nature of an Investigative Hearing ................................................................................................................ 33 B. Jurisdiction and Authority ..................................................................................................................................... 33 C. Initiation of an Investigation ...............................................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • The Evolution of Corruption: from "Honest Graft" to Conflicts of Interest
    T ONE The Evolution of Corruption: From "Honest Graft" to Conflicts of Interest Supposin' it's a new bridge they're going to build. I get tipped off and I buy as much property as I can that has to be taken for the approaches. I sell at my own price later on and drop some more money in the bank. Wouldn't you? It's just like lookin' ahead in Wall Street or in the coffee or cotton market It's honest graft and I'm lookin' for it every day of the year. George Washington Plunkitt, as quoted in William L. Riordon, Plunkitt ofTammany Hall To understand the evolution of the anticorruption project, it is necessary to begin with some observations about corruption itself. This chapter deals with four basic issues: the subjectivity of the definition of corruption, the increasing gap between expectations of official behavior and actual behav­ ior, the special politics of scandal and reform, and the difficulty of measur­ ing corruption. Defining Corruption Corruption is neither a single form of behavior nor an obvious species of conduct. 1 Corruption is the name we apply to some reciprocities by some people in some contexts at some times. The popular use of the term does not require that the conduct labeled corrupt be illegal; it is enough that the la­ beler thinks it is immoral or unethicaL Since people's views about moral and ethical conduct differ in important respects, corruption is often a contested ~. labeL Indeed, these days public servants are admonished not only to adhere to the skein of laws prohibiting a wide variety of conduct, but to avoid "the appearance of corruption." Such a warning recognizes that the term corrup­ tion refers to more than just positive law, but fails to recognize that appear­ ance of corruption is in the eyes of the beholder.
    [Show full text]
  • Checking the Checking Value in the Teapot Dome Scandal
    Communication Law Review Volume 15, Issue 2 (2015) Checking the Checking Value in the Teapot Dome Scandal David R. Dewberry, Ph.D. Rider University This article examines the history of journalism in the initial reporting of the Teapot Dome scandal to argue that the press falls short in fulfilling the checking value of the First Amendment. Similar arguments have been made about the press in other major scandals (e.g., Watergate, Iran-Contra, etc.). But this article exclusively focuses on the key journalistic agents in Teapot Dome including Frederick G. Bonfils and H. H. Tammen of the Denver Post, John C. Schaffer of the Rocky Mountain News, Carl Magee of New Mexico, and Paul Y. Anderson of the St. Louis Post- Dispatch, to demonstrate how they were more protagonists in the scandal, rather than members of the fourth estate. INTRODUCTION Political scandals reveal the worst and also the best of our democracy. The worst is that our public leaders have transgressed some norm or rule. The best is that the presence of scandals also suggests that a free press was able to enact what noted First Amendment scholar Vincent Blasi called “the checking value.” The checking value is “that free speech, a free press, and free assembly can serve in checking the abuse of power by public officials.”1 Furthermore, Blasi believes that free speech was a central and critical principle for the drafters of the First Amendment to “guard against breaches of trust by public officials.”2 As such, the American press is often dubbed the “watchdogs of democracy.”3 Given the press’s status in our democracy, its reputation sometimes reaches an undeserved mythic status.
    [Show full text]
  • 2020-03-04 Mazars Amicus 420 PM
    ! Nos. 19-715, 19-760 In the Supreme Court of the United States DONALD J. TRUMP, et al., Petitioners, v. MAZARS USA, LLP, et al., Respondents. DONALD J. TRUMP, et al., Petitioners, v. DEUTSCHE BANK AG, et al., Respondents. ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURTS OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUITS BRIEF FOR AMICI CURIAE CONGRESSIONAL SCHOLARS SUPPORTING RESPONDENTS GREGORY M. LIPPER Counsel of Record SUSAN M. SIMPSON MUSETTA C. DURKEE* CLINTON & PEED 777 6th Street NW, 11th Floor Washington, DC 20001 (202) 996-0919 [email protected] *Admitted in New York only ! TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Interests of Amici Curiae ............................................................. 1! Summary of Argument ................................................................. 2! Argument ........................................................................................ 4! I. ! Founding-era Congresses investigated impeachable officials without starting impeachment proceedings. .. 4! A.! After a bungled military expedition, Congress investigates George Washington’s Secretary of War. ............................................................................. 5! B.! Congress investigates the Washington administration’s negotiation of the Jay Treaty. ..... 7! C.! Congress investigates Founding Father-turned- Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. .............. 8! D.! Investigation of Justice Chase. .............................. 10! II. !Congress has continued to investigate impeachable officials without beginning
    [Show full text]
  • Necessary and Proper
    PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT Necessary and Proper: Best Practices for Congressional Investigations June 7, 2017 Project On Government Oversight 1100 G St. NW Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 347-1122 [ www.pogo.org Project On Government Oversight Necessary and Proper: Practices for Congressional Investigations June 7, 2017 1100 G Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 347-1122 • www.pogo.org POGO is a 501(c)(3) organization "In my opinion, the power of investigation is one of the most important powers of the Congress.... The manner in which that power is exercised willlargely determine the position and prestige of the Congress in the future. " -HarryS. Truman, 1944 Contents INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 2 OVERVIEW OF THE TYPES OF INDEPENDENT FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONS ............... 3 Special Counsels and Independent Counsels .............................................................................. 3 Investigative Commissions ......................................................................................................... 5 Independence from the Executive Branch? ................................................................................. 6 Congressional Investigative Committees .................................................................................... 6 BEST PRACTICES FOR CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEES ................... 8 True Bipartisanship....................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond 1984: Undercover in America–Serpico to Abscam Robert Blecker New York Law School, [email protected]
    digitalcommons.nyls.edu Faculty Scholarship Articles & Chapters 1984 Beyond 1984: Undercover in America–Serpico to Abscam Robert Blecker New York Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_articles_chapters Part of the Criminal Law Commons Recommended Citation 28 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 823 (1983-1984) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at DigitalCommons@NYLS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles & Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@NYLS. BEYOND 1984: UNDERCOVER IN AMERICA- SERPICO TO ABSCAM ROBERT I. BLECKER PART ONE PROLOGUE ................................................. 824 SERPICO To ARCHER ........................................ 840 The Archer Trial-United States v. Sherman: Subjective versus Objective Entrapment-Judge Friendly and Federal Jurisdiction-United States v. Russell-Archer reversed-A Second Try-The New York State Archer Case-Hampton v. United States: The Government on Both Sides-Archer's Conviction Affirmed: The Technique Vindicated. ABsc m ................................................... 872 The Undercover Background-Guccione and Williams-The Coaching Incident-Meyers' Payoff-Kelly-Schwartz and Jannotti. TRIALS AND HEARINGS ...................................... 899 United States v. Jannotti: Due Process-Congressional Hearings-The Archer Stain-United States v. Meyers-United States v. Williams-A Linguistic Probe of Abscam-Jannotti on Appeal: Entrapment and Due Process-United
    [Show full text]
  • NPRC) VIP List, 2009
    Description of document: National Archives National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) VIP list, 2009 Requested date: December 2007 Released date: March 2008 Posted date: 04-January-2010 Source of document: National Personnel Records Center Military Personnel Records 9700 Page Avenue St. Louis, MO 63132-5100 Note: NPRC staff has compiled a list of prominent persons whose military records files they hold. They call this their VIP Listing. You can ask for a copy of any of these files simply by submitting a Freedom of Information Act request to the address above. The governmentattic.org web site (“the site”) is noncommercial and free to the public. The site and materials made available on the site, such as this file, are for reference only. The governmentattic.org web site and its principals have made every effort to make this information as complete and as accurate as possible, however, there may be mistakes and omissions, both typographical and in content. The governmentattic.org web site and its principals shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information provided on the governmentattic.org web site or in this file. The public records published on the site were obtained from government agencies using proper legal channels. Each document is identified as to the source. Any concerns about the contents of the site should be directed to the agency originating the document in question. GovernmentAttic.org is not responsible for the contents of documents published on the website.
    [Show full text]
  • An Original Model of the Independent Counsel Statute
    Michigan Law Review Volume 97 Issue 3 1998 An Original Model of the Independent Counsel Statute Ken Gormley Duquesne University Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, Legal History Commons, Legislation Commons, President/ Executive Department Commons, and the Supreme Court of the United States Commons Recommended Citation Ken Gormley, An Original Model of the Independent Counsel Statute, 97 MICH. L. REV. 601 (1998). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol97/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Michigan Law Review at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN ORIGINAL MODEL OF THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL STATUTE Ken Gormley * TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 602 I. HISTORY OF THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL STATUTE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • . • • • • • • 608 A. An Urgent Push fo r Legislation . .. .. .. .. 609 B. Th e Constitutional Quandaries . .. .. .. .. 613 1. Th e App ointments Clause . .. .. .. .. 613 2. Th e Removal Controversy .. ................ 614 3. Th e Separation of Powers Bugaboo . .. 615 C. A New Start: Permanent Sp ecial Prosecutors and Other Prop osals .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 617 D. Legislation Is Born: S. 555 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 624 E. Th e Lessons of Legislative History . .. .. .. 626 II. THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS: ESTABLISHING THE LAW'S CONSTITUTIONALITY • . • • • • . • • • . • • • • . • • • • . • • • 633 III. REFORMING THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL LAW • • . • 639 A. Refo rm the Method and Frequency of App ointing In dependent <;ounsels ..... :........ 641 1. Amend the Triggering Device .
    [Show full text]
  • District of Columbia Social Studies Pre-K Through Grade 12 Standards
    SOCIAL STUDIES District of Columbia Social Studies Pre-K through Grade 12 Standards SOCIAL STUDIES Contents Introduction . 2 Grade 4 — U.S. History and Geography: Making a New Nation . 18 Prekindergarten — People and How They Live . 6 The Land and People before European Exploration . 18 Age of Exploration (15th–16th Centuries). 18 People and How They Live . 6 Settling the Colonies to the 1700s . 19 Economics . 6 The War for Independence (1760–1789) . 20 Time, Continuity, and Change . 7 Geography . 7 Grade 5 — U.S. History and Geography: Westward Expansion Civic Values and Historical Thinking. 7 to the Present . 22 Kindergarten — Living, Learning, and Working Together. 8 The New Nation’s Westward Expansion (1790–1860) . 22 The Growth of the Republic (1800–1860) . 22 Geography . 8 The Civil War and Reconstruction (1860–1877). 23 Historical Thinking . 8 Industrial America (1870–1940) . 24 Civic Values . 8 World War II (1939–1945) . 25 Personal and Family Economics . 9 Economic Growth and Reform in Contempory America Grade 1 — True Stories and Folktales from America (1945–Present) . 26 and around the World . 10 Grades 3–5 — Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills . 28 Geography . 10 Chronology and Cause and Effect . 28 Civic Values . 10 Geographic Skills . 28 Earliest People and Civilizations of the Americas . 11 Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View . 29 Grade 2 — Living, Learning, and Working Now and Long Ago . 12 Grade 6 — World Geography and Cultures . 30 Geography . 12 The World in Spatial Terms . 30 Civic Values . 12 Places and Regions . 30 Kindergarten–Grade 2 — Historical and Social Sciences Human Systems .
    [Show full text]
  • Insider Trading in the Teapot Dome Affair
    The Value of Cronyism: Insider Trading in the Teapot Dome Affair Caroline Fohlin and Andrew Teodorescu∗ Current version: December 2019 Abstract We study the stock market reaction to the Teapot Dome affair during the Harding administration of the early 1920s, in which oil industry moguls bribed a cabinet member for the illegal leasing of federal naval oil reserves. Using weekly stock price data, we find a significant response to public revelation of Sinclair Consolidated’s leases; however, we also find that insiders had incorporated most of the news into share prices prior to the surprise news break. Other key events show insignificant price responses to news. Overall, Sinclair’s top shareholders achieved considerable excess returns to their illicit activity, totalling around $242 million (inflation-adjusted) in the market value of their equity. Our results suggest a relatively strong form of market efficiency under a legal insider trading regime. Moreover, we observe extreme profiteering, via front-running private information, by insiders at the expense of outsiders—evidence that contradicts typical normative arguments for legalized insider trading. JEL classification: G14, N22, N82 Keywords: Event studies, information acquisition, insider trading, corporate history, history of financial markets ∗ Fohlin ([email protected]) and Teodorescu ([email protected]) are with the Department of Economics at Emory University. Teodorescu gratefully acknowledges financial support from Emory University Undergraduate Research Programs. 1 1 Introduction Cronyism is a central failing of many political-economic systems. Often linked to authori- tarian, oligarchical systems, the U.S. has its own checkered history of cronyism as well. One of the most renowned U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Check Six: the Duke Cunningham Story Ninette Del Rosario Sosa University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
    University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 8-2018 Check Six: The Duke Cunningham Story Ninette Del Rosario Sosa University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Journalism Studies Commons Recommended Citation Sosa, Ninette Del Rosario, "Check Six: The Duke Cunningham Story" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 2922. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2922 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Check 6: The “Duke” Cunningham Story A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Journalism by Ninette Sosa San Diego State University, 2001 Bachelor of Arts in Sociology August 2018 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council _______________________ Larry Foley, MA Thesis Director _________________________ _________________________ Dale Carpenter, MA Rob Wells, PhD Committee Member Committee Member ABSTRACT This short documentary film is about one man’s ascent, descent and redemption for making an extremely poor personal decision that has impacted his entire adult life. Randall “Duke” Cunningham, 76, is a former U.S. Republican Congressman from California who was sentenced in 2005 to more than eight years in prison for accepting bribes totaling $2.4 million and tax evasion. He was released from an Arizona prison in 2013 and moved to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas because he had a brother and sister-in-law who lived there and they could assist him in getting settled.
    [Show full text]
  • Pre-Columbian/Native American History (7 Questions)
    Multiple Choice Questions to Know by Test Time Chapter 1: Pre-Columbian/Native American History (7 Questions) 1. What was the main cause of the exposed land bridge connecting Eurasia to North America? a. Extended periods of drought during the last Ice Age lowered ocean levels. b. Plate tectonics temporarily led to a rise in the ocean floor within the Bering Sea. c. Much of the water in the oceans congealed into vast glacial packs. d. Increased snowfall on land during the last Ice Age lowered ocean levels. e. The shift of Eurasian and North American plates briefly connected the two continents. 2. Which theory best describes the spread of maize as a staple crop through the Native American populations? a. Maize was first developed upon the Siberian steppes and carried to the Americas via the land bridge. b. Maize was developed in South America and slowly spread throughout the rest of the Americas via pre-Columbian trade routes c. Maize was developed by the nomadic tribes of North America but was first grown intensively as a staple crop by Native American groups in Central and South America. d. The cultivation of maize occurred separately in isolated pockets throughout the two continents. e. Maize was first developed in the region that is now Mexico and spread through the Americas in a slow and uneven process. 3. The Native American Mississippian Valley culture differed from other Native American groups in that it a. Illustrated a higher level of hierarchical political organization b. Existed in mainly seminomadic populations with limited agriculture c.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs
    The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR DANIEL A. O‘DONOHUE Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: May 28, 1996 Copyright 2 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born and raised in Detroit Michigan University of Detroit U.S. Army %orea Entered Foreign Service in 1959 )enoa Italy - ,onsular officer 1957-1959 .efugee .elief program Environment /edding 0ale University - %orean language training 1959-1910 Seoul %orea - Political officer 1910-1913 President .hee toppled in military coup d4etat %orean political parties Park ,hung Hee Economic development Embassy officers Ambassador Sam Berger Elections - 1913 ,IA North %orea relations State Department - %orea desk 1913-1911 %orean economic gro8th ,ongressional relations AID operations State Department - E9ecutive Secretariat 1911-1918 USS Pueblo crisis "Blue House" attacked Vance Park negotiations 1 Paris-Vietnam negotiations Accra )hana - Political officer 1918-1971 Environment Issues Army /ar ,ollege 1971-1972 Seoul %orea - political counselor 1972-1973 President Park ,hung Hee %im Dae Jung (kidnaped) Phil Habib "Unshin" period %orean ",IA" U.S. ,IA U.S. military Mrs. Park4s assassination State Department - Office Director %orean Affairs 1973-1971 "%oreagate" Human rights issue F3s and F5s to Vietnam ,ongressional vie8 of %orea %orea unification issue SS MayayeA incident State Department - E9ecutive Assistant - Under Secretary for Political Affairs 1971-1977 Personalities %orea "tree-chopping" incident Japan-%orea
    [Show full text]