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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 596. Removal of an independent counsel; termination of office
(a) Removal; Report on Removal. -
(1) Grounds for removal. - An independent counsel appointed
under this chapter may be removed from office, other than by
impeachment and conviction, only by the personal action of the
Attorney General and only for good cause, physical or mental
disability (if not prohibited by law protecting persons from
discrimination on the basis of such a disability),,(!1) or any
other condition that substantially impairs the performance of
such independent counsel's duties.
(2) Report to division of the court and congress. - If an
independent counsel is removed from office, the Attorney General
shall promptly submit to the division of the court and the
Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of
Representatives a report specifying the facts found and the
ultimate grounds for such removal. The committees shall make
available to the public such report, except that each committee
may, if necessary to protect the rights of any individual named
in the report or to prevent undue interference with any pending
prosecution, postpone or refrain from publishing any or all of
the report. The division of the court may release any or all of
such report in accordance with section 594(h)(2).
(3) Judicial review of removal. - An independent counsel
removed from office may obtain judicial review of the removal in
a civil action commenced in the United States District Court for
the District of Columbia. A member of the division of the court
may not hear or determine any such civil action or any appeal of
a decision in any such civil action. The independent counsel may
be reinstated or granted other appropriate relief by order of the
court.
(b) Termination of Office. -
(1) Termination by action of independent counsel. - An office
of independent counsel shall terminate when -
(A) the independent counsel notifies the Attorney General
that the investigation of all matters within the prosecutorial
jurisdiction of such independent counsel or accepted by such
independent counsel under section 594(e), and any resulting
prosecutions, have been completed or so substantially completed
that it would be appropriate for the Department of Justice to
complete such investigations and prosecutions; and
(B) the independent counsel files a final report in
compliance with section 594(h)(1)(B).
(2) Termination by division of the court. - The division of the
court, either on its own motion or upon the request of the
Attorney General, may terminate an office of independent counsel
at any time, on the ground that the investigation of all matters
within the prosecutorial jurisdiction of such independent counsel
or accepted by such independent counsel under section 594(e), and
any resulting prosecutions, have been completed or so
substantially completed that it would be appropriate for the
Department of Justice to complete such investigations and
prosecutions. At the time of such termination, the independent
counsel shall file the final report required by section
594(h)(1)(B). If the Attorney General has not made a request
under this paragraph, the division of the court shall determine
on its own motion whether termination is appropriate under this
paragraph no later than 2 years after the appointment of an
independent counsel, at the end of the succeeding 2-year period,
and thereafter at the end of each succeeding 1-year period.
(c) Audits. - (1) On or before June 30 of each year, an
independent counsel shall prepare a statement of expenditures for
the 6 months that ended on the immediately preceding March 31. On
or before December 31 of each year, an independent counsel shall
prepare a statement of expenditures for the fiscal year that ended
on the immediately preceding September 30. An independent counsel
whose office is terminated prior to the end of the fiscal year
shall prepare a statement of expenditures on or before the date
that is 90 days after the date on which the office is terminated.
(2) The Comptroller General shall -
(A) conduct a financial review of a mid-year statement and a
financial audit of a year-end statement and statement on
termination; and
(B) report the results to the Committee on the Judiciary,
Committee on Governmental Affairs, and Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary,
Committee on Government Operations, and Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives not later than 90
days following the submission of each such statement.
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