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“LEGISLATION TO EXTEND MANDATORY COVERAGE OF THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL LAW TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ATTORNEYS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E62-E63 on Jan. 9, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
LEGISLATION TO EXTEND MANDATORY COVERAGE OF THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL
LAW TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ATTORNEYS
______
HON. JAMES A. TRAFICANT, JR.
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Monday, January 9, 1995
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, today I am reintroducing legislation to add a new section to the act that would require the Attorney General to call for the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate allegations that Justice Department attorneys engaged in prosecutorial misconduct, corruption, or fraud. I introduced identical legislation in the last Congress.
The independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 require the Attorney General to conduct a preliminary investigation when presented with credible information alleging criminal wrongdoing by high ranking executive branch officials. If the Attorney General finds that further investigation is warranted or makes no finding within 90 days, the act requires the Attorney General to apply to a special division of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the appointment of an independent counsel. The act also gives the Attorney General of the United States broad discretionary authority to seek the appointment of independent counsel with regard to individuals other than high executive branch officials. However, the Attorney General is not required to do so in such cases.
My bill would amend the act to treat allegations of misconduct, corruption or fraud on the part of Justice Department attorneys in the same manner as allegations made against high ranking Cabinet officials. In effect, the amendment would require the Attorney General to follow the procedures of the independent counsel law when presented with specific and credible allegations of criminal wrongdoing on the part of Justice Department attorneys. My goal is to ensure that, when there is credible evidence of criminal wrongdoing in such cases, these cases are aggressively and objectively investigated.
I am very concerned over the growing number of cases in which Justice Department attorneys have been accused of misconduct, corruption or fraud. In several cases I have personally investigated, innocent men fell victim to overzealous or corrupt Federal prosecutors. The Justice Department has a poor record of aggressively and objectively investigating these cases. The only way to uncover all the facts and guarantee that innocent lives are not destroyed, is to have a truly independent counsel appointed to investigate. The American people expect that the Justice Department--more than any other Federal agency--conduct its business with the highest level of ethics and integrity. Unfortunately, there are instances where this is not always the case. It is imperative that the Independent Counsel Act be amended to require that allegations of criminal misconduct on the part of Justice Department attorneys be treated with the same seriousness as allegations made against high ranking cabinet officials.
I hope to work with the members of the Judiciary Committee to have the measure reviewed and approved as soon as possible. I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, the text of which is as follows:
H. R. --
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY FOR APPOINTMENT OF
INDEPENDENT COUNSEL.
Section 592(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (A), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting ``; or'', and by adding after subparagraph (B) the following:
``(C) the Attorney General, upon completion of a preliminary examination under this chapter, determines that there are reasonable grounds to believe that--
``(i) attorneys of the Department of Justice have engaged in prosecutorial misconduct, corruption, or fraud, and [[Page E63]]
``(ii) further investigation is warranted.''.
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