The most famous Independent Counsel was Kenneth Starr, whose report lead to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. The most recently appointed and now dormant Office of the Independent Counsel was created to investigate the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals, among other prosecutions. The Office was originally created by the Independent Counsel Act (1978) and the Ethics in Government Act Amendments of 1982 (96 Stat. 2039), January 3, 1983, reauthorized for five years by the Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1987 (101 Stat. 1293), December 15, 1987. Lapsed, December 15, 1992, by failure of reauthorization. Reinstituted by the Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1994 (PL 103-270), June 30, 1994. The act once again expired at midnight on June 30, 1999.
In 1978, a Democratic Congress determined to curb the powers of the president and other senior executive branch officials due in part to the Watergate scandal. They drafted the Ethics in Government Act, creating a special prosecutor (later changed to Independent Counsel) position, which could be used by Congress or the Attorney General to investigate individuals holding or formerly holding certain high positions in the federal government and in national Presidential election campaign organizations.
The prosecutor, who was appointed by a special panel of the Federal DC appeals court could investigate allegations of any misconduct, with an unlimited budget and no deadline, and could only be dismissed by the Attorney General or a panel of three federal judges. As the president could not dismiss those investigating the executive branch it was felt that the independence of the office would insure impartiality of any reports presented to Congress. However there have been many critics of this law including Judge Scalia.
Some of the investigations carried out by Independent Counsel:
Previously under the Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1994 United States Attorney General Janet Reno had Donald C. Smaltz appointed Independent Counsel by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Division for the Purpose of Appointing Independent Counsels Ethics in Government Act of 1978, As Amended, Division 94-2) on September 9, 1994, to "investigate to the maximum extent authorized by law "whether the US Department of Agriculture Secretary Aphonso M. Espy "committed a violation of any federal criminal law . . . relating in any way to the acceptance of gifts by him from organizations or individuals with business pending before the Department of Agriculture." Smaltz was also given jurisdiction to investigate "other allegations or evidence of violations of any federal criminal law by organizations or individuals developed during the course of the investigation of Secretary Espy and connected with or arising out of that investigation."
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Not to be confused with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) which is an permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic legislative authority come from three federal statutes, the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, and the Hatch Act.