Congressional Investigations and Oversight

Congressional Investigations and Oversight

Author: Lance Cole (Law teacher)

Publisher: Carolina Academic Press LLC

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781531023454

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This book examines the legal and policy issues surrounding congressional investigations through a series of case studies, with an emphasis on the second half of the twentieth century to date. The new and updated second edition covers significant developments from the Obama and Trump administrations, including the two Trump impeachments, the January 6 Committee investigation of the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and recent Supreme Court decisions on congressional investigative powers. The book is organized by case study topic, with each chapter using two or three case studies to introduce and analyze a discrete area of legal authorities and policy issues. The central thesis and organizing principle of the book is the importance of effective congressional oversight and investigative activities in our American democratic system of government, especially in the aftermath of the disputed 2020 presidential election. In addition to collecting legal authorities, the book includes relevant historical information and structural analysis of government functions, with an emphasis on separation of powers issues. The use of a case study format, rather than a traditional law school casebook format, is intended to present the subject matter in a way that can be used to teach undergraduate and graduate school courses as well as law school courses. The authors combine original congressional and judicial source materials with book excerpts and explanatory text, as well as notes and questions for each case study, to make the subject matter accessible to graduate and upper-level undergraduate students in government and political science courses, as well as to law students.


The Testimony of Michael Cohen, Former Attorney to President Donald Trump

The Testimony of Michael Cohen, Former Attorney to President Donald Trump

Author: Elijah Cummings

Publisher:

Published: 2019-03-20

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9781091006324

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Did Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States, commit bank fraud and tax fraud on a massive and continuing scale while in office? Did he write hush-money checks before the 2016 election to silence women with whom he had hidden extramarital relationships, thus breaking campaign finance laws? Did he use non-profit charitable foundation funds to line his own pockets and furnish art for his golf clubhouses? Did he put himself in league with Russian oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin? Was he a racist, a conman and a cheat? Did he lie to the nation and the world over 8700 times in the first three years of his Presidency? Bolstered by documentary exhibits and on the strength of his decade of service as Donald Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen made such allegations during his testimony and hearings of February 29, 2019 before the House Committee on Oversight & Reform. A series of 24 Democratic representatives of the House questioned him for proof and details of these claims.Alternatively, was Michael Cohen, convicted of lying before Congress, the very body before which he had once again been called, discredited as a witness and incapable of telling the truth? Was the hearing an exercise in futility and only designed to smear the President? That thesis was the counter-strategy employed by 18 Republican representatives of the House as they questioned Mr. Cohen.The partisan disputes during the public proceedings reflected sharp divisions in the American body politic. Still, the speakers labeled each other "gentleman" and "gentlelady" throughout.The transcript is complete, verbatim and carefully reconstructed from audio recordings. The transcribers played and replayed the words and phrases of each participant time and again until the correct text could be reproduced, right down to "um" and "ah." No annotations, omissions or additions interfere with the message.Thoroughly researched allusions and mentions of names, locations, institutions, publications, and so forth, reflect the accurate spellings and background information.Evenhanded, non-biased illustrations for each of the 43 participants - from I.T. Meladeca - provide a rich, visual feel for the event."This would be perfect for civics class... if we had civics classes anymore.""Every American - for that matter every citizen of the world - should determine if the claims of Michel Cohen are legitimate. The visual documentary evidence can help with that.""Whatever your political persuasion, this transcription will let you draw your own conclusions."


Watchdogs on the Hill

Watchdogs on the Hill

Author: Linda L. Fowler

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2015-03-22

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1400866464

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An essential responsibility of the U.S. Congress is holding the president accountable for the conduct of foreign policy. In this in-depth look at formal oversight hearings by the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, Linda Fowler evaluates how the legislature's most visible and important watchdogs performed from the mid-twentieth century to the present. She finds a noticeable reduction in public and secret hearings since the mid-1990s and establishes that American foreign policy frequently violated basic conditions for democratic accountability. Committee scrutiny of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, she notes, fell below levels of oversight in prior major conflicts. Fowler attributes the drop in watchdog activity to growing disinterest among senators in committee work, biases among members who join the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, and motives that shield presidents, particularly Republicans, from public inquiry. Her detailed case studies of the Truman Doctrine, Vietnam War, Panama Canal Treaty, humanitarian mission in Somalia, and Iraq War illustrate the importance of oversight in generating the information citizens need to judge the president’s national security policies. She argues for a reassessment of congressional war powers and proposes reforms to encourage Senate watchdogs to improve public deliberation about decisions of war and peace. Watchdogs on the Hill investigates America’s national security oversight and its critical place in the review of congressional and presidential powers in foreign policy.


The Titanic Disaster Hearings

The Titanic Disaster Hearings

Author: William Alden Smith

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 1998-03

Total Pages: 612

ISBN-13: 0671025538

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Merely a day afterTitanicsurvivors arrived in port in New York City, a United States Senate committee began an investigation into the wreck of the great "unsinkable" ship. For the first time in book form, here is the dramatic testimony of crew and passengers from all walks of life, as they recall the sights and sounds of the night of April 14, 1912.From the manners of the day to the conduct fo those boarding the lifeboats, from acts of kindness to palpable greed, here is an unforgettable portrait of human nature in the face of theTitanictragedy, in the words of the men and women who survived....J. Bruce Ismay,British officer of the White Star Line, who hopped into a lifeboat to save himself and never looked back to see her go down....Second officerCharles Lightoller'sharrowing plunge as the sinking ship's force of suction pulled him under water....On-duty lookoutFrederick Fleet'sadmission that the iceberg might have been avoided if the crew had been equipped with binoculars....PassengerDaisy Minahan,who recalled the refusal of an officer in her lifeboat to aid those adrift in the frigid waters...and many more witnesses to one of the most shattering events of our century. Illustrated with historical photographs, TheTitanic Disaster Hearingsis a vital piece of the puzzle that has sparked worldwide fascination.


Improving the Quality of Long-Term Care

Improving the Quality of Long-Term Care

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2001-02-27

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 0309132746

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Among the issues confronting America is long-term care for frail, older persons and others with chronic conditions and functional limitations that limit their ability to care for themselves. Improving the Quality of Long-Term Care takes a comprehensive look at the quality of care and quality of life in long-term care, including nursing homes, home health agencies, residential care facilities, family members and a variety of others. This book describes the current state of long-term care, identifying problem areas and offering recommendations for federal and state policymakers. Who uses long-term care? How have the characteristics of this population changed over time? What paths do people follow in long term care? The committee provides the latest information on these and other key questions. This book explores strengths and limitations of available data and research literature especially for settings other than nursing homes, on methods to measure, oversee, and improve the quality of long-term care. The committee makes recommendations on setting and enforcing standards of care, strengthening the caregiving workforce, reimbursement issues, and expanding the knowledge base to guide organizational and individual caregivers in improving the quality of care.