Special Counsel Reporting Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1357 To require a report of any Special Counsel who is removed from office, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 26, 2019 Mr. DOGGETT (for himself, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. BASS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MOORE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. TITUS, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require a report of any Special Counsel who is removed from office, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Special Counsel Re- 4 porting Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1357.IH H1357 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1357 IH SEC. 2. REPORT OF A SPECIAL COUNSEL WHO IS REMOVED 1 FROM OFFICE. 2 (a) PERIODIC REPORT OF A SPECIAL COUNSEL TO 3 CONGRESS.—A person serving as a Special Counsel ap- 4 pointed in accordance with part 600 of title 28 of the Code 5 of Federal Regulations shall submit a report on the status 6 of the investigation that person was appointed to under- 7 take, at such times and to the extent the Special Counsel 8 determines appropriate, but no later than at the conclu- 9 sion of the investigation, to— 10 (1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 11 House of Representatives; 12 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen- 13 ate; 14 (3) the Speaker of the House of Representa- 15 tives; 16 (4) the minority leader of the House of Rep- 17 resentatives; 18 (5) the majority leader of the Senate; and 19 (6) the minority leader of the Senate. 20 (b) REPORT OF A SPECIAL COUNSEL WHO IS RE- 21 MOVED FROM OFFICE.—If a person serving as a Special 22 Counsel appointed in accordance with part 600 of title 28 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations is removed from such 24 office, that person shall, not later than 2 weeks after the 25 date of such removal, submit a report detailing the status, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1357.IH H1357 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1357 IH as of the date of dismissal, of the investigation that the 1 person was appointed to undertake to— 2 (1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 3 House of Representatives; 4 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen- 5 ate; 6 (3) the Speaker of the House of Representa- 7 tives; 8 (4) the minority leader of the House of Rep- 9 resentatives; 10 (5) the majority leader of the Senate; and 11 (6) the minority leader of the Senate. 12 (c) REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.—If a per- 13 son is removed from service as a Special Counsel ap- 14 pointed in accordance with part 600 of title 28 of the Code 15 of Federal Regulations, the Attorney General or, if the 16 Attorney General is recused, the next most senior official 17 in the Department of Justice who is not also recused, 18 shall, not later than 2 weeks after the date of such re- 19 moval, submit a report detailing the status, as of the date 20 of dismissal, of the investigation that the person was ap- 21 pointed to undertake to— 22 (1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 23 House of Representatives; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1357.IH H1357 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1357 IH (2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen- 1 ate; 2 (3) the Speaker of the House of Representa- 3 tives; 4 (4) the minority leader of the House of Rep- 5 resentatives; 6 (5) the majority leader of the Senate; and 7 (6) the minority leader of the Senate. 8 (d) MATERIAL TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report 9 under this section shall include but not be limited to— 10 (1) any evidence of criminal activity that impli- 11 cates the President, any person within the Executive 12 Office of the President at the time of the report or 13 at any time prior, or any person appointed as an of- 14 ficer of the United States by the President (regard- 15 less of whether or not that person remained in office 16 as of the date of this report), including, notwith- 17 standing Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Criminal 18 Procedure, grand jury information (as such term is 19 defined in section 3322(d) of title 18, United States 20 Code); 21 (2) such other facts or matters as the Special 22 Counsel determines appropriate, that the Special 23 Counsel has become aware of in the course of the in- 24 vestigation; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1357.IH H1357 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1357 IH (3) include a summary of any conversation or 1 action regarding the jurisdiction and scope of the in- 2 vestigation— 3 (A) between the Special Counsel’s office 4 and any officer or employee of the Department 5 of Justice, the President, or any person within 6 the Executive Office of the President; and 7 (B) between any officer or employee of the 8 Department of Justice and the Attorney Gen- 9 eral, the President, or any person within the 10 Executive Office of the President. 11 (e) CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—The reports re- 12 quired under this Act shall be submitted in unclassified 13 form, and may include a classified annex if necessary. 14 (f) PUBLICATION.—The unclassified form of a report 15 under this Act shall be made available to the public on 16 the date it is submitted to Congress. 17 (g) EXEMPTION.—No information to be included in 18 the reports under subsections (a) and (b) may be withheld 19 from Congress on the grounds that such information is 20 classified or otherwise protected by a statutory, regu- 21 latory, or Congressional confidentiality provision. Disclo- 22 sure of any information to Congress made pursuant to this 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1357.IH H1357 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1357 IH bill, including classified information, does not constitute 1 a violation of Federal law. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1357.IH H1357 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS