General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA Special Prosecutor Isn't the Answer
May 14, 2017 By Taegan Goddard
David Frum: Of all the types of independent investigation that have been suggested, a special prosecutor is the most likely to disappear down rabbit holesthe least likely answer the questions that needed to be answered. A select committee of Congress or an independent commission of nonpartisan experts established by Congress can ask the broad question: What happened? A select committee or an independent commission can organize its inquiry according to priority, leaving the secondary and tertiary issues to the historians. A select committee or an independent commission is not barred from looking at events in earlier years statutes of limitations. A select committee or an independent commission seeks truth.
A special prosecutor, by contrast, seeks crimes. The criminal law is a heavy tool, and for that reason it is thickly encased in protections for accused persons. The most important protection from the point of view of the Trump-Russia matter is the rule of silence. A prosecutor investigating a crime can often discover non-criminal bad actions by the people he is investigating. If those bad actions do not amount to crimes, the prosecutor is supposed to look away.
###
https://politicalwire.com/2017/05/14/special-prosecutor-isnt-answer/
Foamfollower
(1,097 posts)Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)It's like the common observation about the 2008 financial crisis -- one very troubling thing is how many of the banksters' nefarious actions that caused the crisis were perfectly legal.
A special prosecutor can't retroactively prohibit bad acts. If things were done that we think shouldn't be repeated, though, that's a legitimate subject for inquiry, to change the laws for future election cycles.