What Are The Mechanics For Setting Up An Independent Investigation With A Special Prosecutor?....

[global1]

What is their purpose? (I know it would be bipartisan - but what could we expect to expect from such a committee?

How does the ball get rolling?

Who appoints the committee?

What is the composition of the committee?

What are the parameters they work under?

Do they have any limitations?

I keep hearing people calling for an independent investigation with a special prosecutor - but really don't know how it comes about; where they take it and what it accomplishes (i..e., end result)?

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. I dont know the mechanics but I do know it requires bi partisan support

and since GOP is in power, they must be willing to do it.

If there ever was a time we needed a patriot in the GOP, it is now.

This is NOT about the parties, it is about the country.

[Sculpin Beauregard]

3. It's about stopping

treasonous bastards instituting fascism. If they succeed, America is dead.

[dalton99a]

2. Here:

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-special-prosecutor-trump-russia-jeff-sessions-congress-2017-2
Here's how a special prosecutor investigating Trump and Russia would get appointed
Madeleine Sheehan Perkins and Harrison Jacobs
Mar. 3, 2017, 1:22 AM

[brush]

4. The obstacle is that trump has to sign off on it. The best we can hope for is a...

bi-partisan, maybe even a bi-partisan, bicameral investigaton that trump doesn't need to ok.

Hopefully Nunes will be side-stepped because he can't be trusted not to run to trump when something potential damaging is discovered.

[grantcart]

5. Great question - there is no longer an Independent Special Prosecutor

After Watergate the Ethics in Government Act established formal procedures. It had a 5 year limit, was extended for 5 years and died in 1999.

There is no federal law to appoint a special prosecutor now. The Attorney General can appoint a special counsellor to oversee a particular case by specific appointment. The regulations (which can be altered by the Attorney General) currently are:

With the expiration of the independent counsel authority in 1999, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Janet Reno promulgated regulations for the future appointment of special counsels. As of 2017, these regulations remain in effect as 28 CFR section 600.[5] While the regulations place limits on the authority of the attorney general, for example to fire the special counsel once appointed, they are internal Department of Justice regulations without an underlying statutory basis. It is thus unclear whether the limits these regulations place on the attorney general would prove binding in practice.

[PoliticAverse]

6. Here are the current regulations concerning the appointment of a Special Counsel....

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2000-title28-vol2/xml/CFR-2000-title28-vol2-chapVI.xml

Grounds for appointing a Special Counsel.
The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and—
(a) That investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a United States Attorney's Office or litigating Division of the Department of Justice would present a conflict of interest for the Department or other extraordinary circumstances; and
(b) That under the circumstances, it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter.


§ 600.2
Alternatives available to the Attorney General.
When matters are brought to the attention of the Attorney General that might warrant consideration of appointment of a Special Counsel, the Attorney General may:
(a) Appoint a Special Counsel;
(b) Direct that an initial investigation, consisting of such factual inquiry or legal research as the Attorney General deems appropriate, be conducted in order to better inform the decision; or
(c) Conclude that under the circumstances of the matter, the public interest would not be served by removing the investigation from the normal processes of the Department, and that the appropriate component of the Department should handle the matter. If the Attorney General reaches this conclusion, he or she may direct that appropriate steps be taken to mitigate any conflicts of interest, such as recusal of particular officials.