[citation needed] In 1881, James Garfield appointed the next special prosecutor, William Cook, to investigate the Star route scandal.
In 1905, Roosevelt's attorney general, Philander Knox, appointed Francis Heney as a special prosecutor to investigate the Oregon land fraud scandal.
[9] In 1924, Calvin Coolidge appointed two special counsels from the two major parties of the time, Atlee Pomerene (a Democrat) and Owen Roberts (a Republican), to investigate the Teapot Dome scandal.
The Nixon administration refused to produce the tapes citing executive privilege, and the dispute was fought in court until October.
Acting under his existing appointment as Watergate special prosecutor, Ruff conducted an unrelated investigation into whether Gerald Ford had misused campaign funds while a congressman, clearing the new president of any wrongdoing.
Roughly twenty special prosecutors (called independent counsels after 1983) were appointed under the Ethics in Government Act and its reauthorizations[16] during the Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton administrations.
These include significant investigations into the Iran–Contra affair and the Whitewater controversy, the latter of which ultimately led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal.
Numerous smaller investigations into cabinet secretaries for relatively minor offenses, such as drug use, were also carried out by independent counsels during this period.
When the law was reauthorized in 1994, Reno invoked it to order an independent counsel be appointed to investigate Whitewater, and suggested Fiske continue in that role.
Upon the law's expiration in 1999, the Justice Department, under Attorney General Janet Reno, promulgated procedural regulations governing the appointment of special counsels.
[19] In December 2020, Attorney General William Barr revealed to Congress that John Durham's investigation had been granted special counsel status on October 19.
On November 18, 2022, Attorney General Garland named Jack Smith special counsel to investigate Donald Trump's actions regarding the January 6 United States Capitol attack and handling of classified documents.
[20] On January 12, 2023, Garland appointed Robert Hur special counsel to investigate Joe Biden's storage of classified materials.
[22] This development came shortly after Republicans alleged that Hunter received a "sweetheart" deal in Delaware where he was facing several criminal charges relates to tax evasion and firearm offenses.
She also ruled that it was disallowed by Article II Section 2 Clause 2, which requires principal officers to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
[25] Cannon's ruling adopted the arguments on this issue made by Supreme Court associate justice Clarence Thomas in his concurrence in the Trump v. United States case decided two weeks earlier.
[citation needed] An agency regulation promulgated within the authority granted by statute has the force and effect of law, is binding upon the body that issues it, and can not be arbitrarily revoked.
The Attorney General may remove a Special Counsel for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause, including violation of Departmental policies.
Congress also has independent authority to investigate the president and their close associates through Congressional hearings as part of its government oversight role.
[30] Unlike in courts having federal jurisdiction, where the terms "special counsel" and "independent counsel" have a uniform definition, in state court meanings of legal terms continually vary, but with "special prosecutor" referencing the appointment of an attorney (supra) in contemplation of representation and prosecution of one or more government agent(s) for unlawful conduct.