Congressional Investigations of the Department of Justice, 1920-2007: History, Law & Practice, Indexed

The rich history of congressional investigations from the failed St. Clair expedition in 1792 through Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran-Contra, Whitewater, and the current ongoing inquiries into the removal and replacement of United States Attorneys, has established, in law and practice, the nature and contours of congressional prerogatives necessary to maintain the integrity of the legislative role in that constitutional scheme. A review of the historical experience and legal rulings pertinent to congressional access to information regarding the law enforcement activities of the Department of Justice indicates that in the last 85 years Congress has consistently sought and obtained deliberative prosecutorial memoranda, and the testimony of line attorneys, FBI field agents and other subordinate agency employees regarding the conduct of open and closed cases in the course of innumerable investigations of Department of Justice activities.

Preface; Introduction; The Legal Basis for Oversight; Burford I: The Superfund Investigation; Burford II: The Investigation of the Claim of Presidential Privilege; Rocky Flats; Corruption in the FBI's Boston Regional Office; Ruby Ridge; Assessment of DOJ's Opposition to Congressional Access to Information in Open and Closed Litigation Files and to Internal Deliberative Materials; The Department's Position; Concerns with Pre-Trial Publicity, Due Process, and Concurrent Investigations; Concerns Over Revelations of Government Strategies or Methods or Weaknesses of Investigation; The Claim That Prosecution Is a Core Presidential Power Subject to Assertions of Executive Privilege; The Claim of Deliberative Process Privilege Concluding Observations; Grand Jury Curbing; Prosecution of Routine Cases; New York City Police Brutality; Investigation of Consent Decree Program; Cointelpro and Related Investigations of FBI-DOJ Misconduct; White Collar Crime in the Oil Industry; Billy Carter/Libya Investigation; Undercover Law Enforcement Activities (ABSCAM); Investigation of Withholding of EPA Documents; E F Hutton Investigation; Iran-Contra; Rocky Flats Environmental Crimes Plea Bargain; Investigation of the Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section; Campaign Finance Investigations; Misuse of Informants in the FBI's Boston Regional Office; Removal and Replacement of United States Attorneys; Index.