Special Prosecutor Act

(LATEST SUMMARY) Special Prosecutor Act - Directs the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, sitting en banc, to appoint a panel of three of its members to select a Special Prosecutor. Provides for the compensation and staffing of the Office of Special Prosecutor. States that the Special Prosecutor has exclusive jurisdiction to investigate and to prosecute in the name of the United States: (1) offenses arising out of the unauthorized entry into Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate; (2) all offenses arising out of the 1972 Presidential election for which the Special Prosecutor deems it necessary and appropriate to assume responsibility; (3) allegations of offenses involving the President, members of the White House staff, or Presidential appointees, except allegations of offenses the Special Prosecutor waives to the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice by letter to the Attorney General setting forth his reasons for such waiver, with a copy of that letter to the panel; (4) all matters referred by the Attorney General of the United States to the former Special Prosecutor who assumed office on May 24, 1973, or to any of his successors in office; and (5) such new matters which he consents to have assigned to him by the Attorney General of the United States. Provides that all files, records, documents, and other materials in the possession or control of the Department of Justice, any previous Special Prosecutor, or any other department or agency of Government, which relate to matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Special Prosecutor appointed under this Act, are transferred to the Special Prosecutor as of the date on which he takes office. Authorizes the Special Prosecutor to request from any department or agency of Government any additional files, records, documents, or other materials which he may deem necessary or appropriate to the conduct of his duties. Stipulates that the Office of Special Prosecutor shall terminate three years after the date the panel first appoints a Special Prosecutor. Requires the Special Prosecutor to make as full and complete a report of the activities of his office as is appropriate to the panel, to the Attorney General of the United States, and to the Congress, on the first and second anniversaries of his taking office and not later than thirty days after the termination of the Office of Special Prosecutor. Requires the Special Prosecutor to report at least monthly to the chairman and ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee such information as may be pertinent to the question of whether impeachable offenses have been committed by the President of the United States. Requires the Special Prosecutor, upon request by the House Judiciary Committee, to provide to the chairman and the ranking minority member of the committee such information, documents, and other evidence as may be necessary to enable the committee to conduct an investigation or inquiry into whether grounds exist for impeachment of the President of the United States. Grants the panel exclusive jurisdiction to remove the Special Prosecutor. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House with amendment(s)" stage on November 26, 1973. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

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