Collegiate Forum: Debate on Constitutionality of the Independent Counsel

pressing issues which face the Millennial generation.
Proposition: Have the Russians colluded with President Trump to hack the election?  Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating.  Is there an investigation without a crime or a crime that needs investigation?  Does this counsel assure a fair and non-partisan criminal investigation, or does it interfere in the separation of powers to undermine the President? Discussion: Special counsels have existed since the Grant administration, and have been appointed to investigate the executive branch during the Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush and now Trump administrations. Supporters claim that these counsels assure a fair, non-partisan, and independent judicial investigation process, and uphold the principal that no one is above the law. The political control of the executive over the Justice Department—and the dominance Presidents exert over their administrations—require that investigations into executive wrongdoing have the independence and protection of special counsels. However, opponents believe all prosecutorial power is vested within the Executive Branch, and Congress has the constitutional authority to investigate and, if necessary, impeach the President for high crimes and misdemeanors. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in his dissent in Morrison v. Olson (1988), held that special counsels violate the equilibrium of separation of powers, “which is the absolutely central guarantee to a just government.” Furthermore, a government official with as broad and unceasing investigatory powers as an independent counsel may impede the energy of the executive branch, which as Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist Papers was “the leading character in the definition of good government” and “steady administration of the laws.” Are independent counsels necessary to effectively investigate the Executive Branch? Or do they threatened the separation of powers of the Constitution?Welcome to EditPad.org - your online plain text editor. Enter or paste your text here. To download and save it, click on the button below.