Independent Counsel Law: Derivation of Major Changes to Provisions
This document also available in PDF Image . This report traces the changes and derivation of the major amendments to the provisions of federal law authorizing the appointment of what is now called an "independent counsel." The original 1978 language of the law, enacted as part of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 ( P.L. 95-521 ), is provided in full in the left-hand column of the chart. The entire text of the current provisions of law (from the 1994 reauthorization, P.L. 103-270 ) is set out in the far right-hand column of the chart. The statutory text of significant changes in the act is placed in the other columns corresponding to the major amendments and reauthorizations in which such language was first adopted. Brief descriptions of some of the major changes are placed in the charts for explanation purposes in italics and brackets. All of the actual statutory language appears in regular print.
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