Investigating the President

Investigating the President
Author: Douglas L. Kriner
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2016-09-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0691171866

Although congressional investigations have provided some of the most dramatic moments in American political history, they have often been dismissed as mere political theater. But these investigations are far more than grandstanding. Investigating the President shows that congressional investigations are a powerful tool for members of Congress to counter presidential aggrandizement. By shining a light on alleged executive wrongdoing, investigations can exert significant pressure on the president and materially affect policy outcomes. Douglas Kriner and Eric Schickler construct the most comprehensive overview of congressional investigative oversight to date, analyzing nearly thirteen thousand days of hearings, spanning more than a century, from 1898 through 2014. The authors examine the forces driving investigative power over time and across chambers, identify how hearings might influence the president's strategic calculations through the erosion of the president’s public approval rating, and uncover the pathways through which investigations have shaped public policy. Put simply, by bringing significant political pressure to bear on the president, investigations often afford Congress a blunt, but effective check on presidential power—without the need to worry about veto threats or other hurdles such as Senate filibusters. In an era of intense partisan polarization and institutional dysfunction, Investigating the President delves into the dynamics of congressional investigations and how Congress leverages this tool to counterbalance presidential power.

An Affair of State

An Affair of State
Author: Richard A. Posner
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0674042328

President Bill Clinton’s year of crisis, which began when his affair with Monica Lewinsky hit the front pages in January 1998, engendered a host of important questions of criminal and constitutional law, public and private morality, and political and cultural conflict. In a book written while the events of the year were unfolding, Richard Posner presents a balanced and scholarly understanding of the crisis that also has the freshness and immediacy of journalism. Posner clarifies the issues and eliminates misunderstandings concerning facts and the law that were relevant to the investigation by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and to the impeachment proceeding itself. He explains the legal definitions of obstruction of justice and perjury, which even many lawyers are unfamiliar with. He carefully assesses the conduct of Starr and his prosecutors, including their contacts with the lawyers for Paula Jones and their hardball tactics with Monica Lewinsky and her mother. He compares and contrasts the Clinton affair with Watergate, Iran–Contra, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, exploring the subtle relationship between public and private morality. And he examines the place of impeachment in the American constitutional scheme, the pros and cons of impeaching President Clinton, and the major procedural issues raised by both the impeachment in the House and the trial in the Senate. This book, reflecting the breadth of Posner’s experience and expertise, will be the essential foundation for anyone who wants to understand President Clinton’s impeachment ordeal.

Investigating American Presidents

Investigating American Presidents
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release:
Genre: History, Modern
ISBN:

Even if formally cleared of wrongdoing, a president or a presidential aide may live with the stigma of investigation forever thanks to an independent counsel's report. First, explore why many investigations typically happen behind closed doors. Then, turn to how the rules are different for presidents and their senior staff (and whether or not that's a good idea).

Investigating the President

Investigating the President
Author: Douglas L. Kriner
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2016
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0691171858

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Tables and Figures -- Acknowledgments -- CHAPTER 1: Introduction -- CHAPTER 2: When Congress Investigates -- CHAPTER 3: Investigations and Public Opinion -- CHAPTER 4: The Direct Influence of Congressional Investigations on Policy Outcomes -- CHAPTER 5: The Indirect Influence of Congressional Investigations on Policy Outcomes -- CHAPTER 6: Investigations in the Age of Obama -- CHAPTER 7: Conclusion -- References -- Index

The Impeachment Report

The Impeachment Report
Author: The House Intelligence Committee
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2019-12-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0593237552

The official report from the House Intelligence Committee on Donald Trump’s secret pressure campaign against Ukraine, featuring an exclusive introduction by Pulitzer Prize–winning author and biographer Jon Meacham For only the fourth time in American history, the House of Representatives has conducted an impeachment inquiry into a sitting United States president. This landmark document details the findings of the House Intelligence Committee’s historic investigation of whether President Donald J. Trump committed impeachable offenses when he sought to have Ukraine announce investigations of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Penetrating a dense web of connected activity by the president, his ambassador Gordon Sondland, his personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani, and many others, these pages offer a damning, blow-by-blow account of the president’s attempts to “use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election” and his subsequent attempts to obstruct the House investigation into his actions. Published here with an introduction offering critical context from bestselling presidential historian Jon Meacham, The Impeachment Report is necessary reading for every American concerned about the fate of our democracy.

Starr Report

Starr Report
Author: Kenneth Starr
Publisher:
Total Pages: 36
Release: 1998
Genre: Governmental investigations
ISBN:

The Starr Report

The Starr Report
Author: Kenneth Starr
Publisher: Prima Lifestyles
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1998
Genre: Governmental investigations
ISBN: 9780761519607

The #1 national bestseller -- New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly. This historic, invaluable record of one of the most brutal, political, legal, and ethical battles of our time is presented in its official, unedited entirety.

Trump's Trials

Trump's Trials
Author: Kevin Sullivan
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2020-08-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1982153016

“Sets a standard for political storytelling with impeccable research and lively writing.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Page-turning…riveting…colorful and detailed…a barometer of the health of our democracy.” —Barbara McQuade, The Washington Post Two investigations. Two impeachments. Two acquittals. One president. The full story. Unprecedented. Unimaginable. Until Donald Trump’s presidency. A year apart, two ferocious political dramas challenged American democracy. As Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post reporters Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan show in this gripping account, the two Trump impeachments and acquittals shared common threads: An American president, relentless in his drive to win re-election, willing to disregard the laws that limit his powers, no matter the cost. A divided Congress, split along party lines, unable to agree on whether Trump’s actions met the Constitutional standard for removal from office. The Constitution itself, tested in ways that its framers had not anticipated. Trump’s Trials is an expanded version of Trump on Trial, Sullivan and Jordan’s compelling and masterful 2020 account of the first impeachment. That narrative, a crisp page-turner with exquisite detail and vivid scenes, deftly conveyed the calculations of the central figures, in particular Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. The authors have added three new chapters, and revised others, to carry the narrative through the 2020 presidential election of Joe Biden; Trump’s feverish attempts to overturn Biden’s victory; his supporters’ deadly attack on the Capitol as Congress was certifying the electoral votes; Trump’s second impeachment and acquittal—but this time, with seven Republican senators voting against him. Sullivan and Jordan, aided by editor Steve Luxenberg, have written a fast-paced, authoritative account of the historic events that rocked America—an invaluable examination of what happened and why.

The January 6th Report

The January 6th Report
Author: Elizabeth Holtzman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 659
Release: 2022-12-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1510776761

The most important political investigation since Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe into Russian influence on the 2016 election of Donald J. Trump. The full report by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol will feature facts, circumstances, and causes related to the assault on the Capitol Complex. Formed on July 1, 2021, the Select Committee has issued over one hundred subpoenas and held over a thousand witness interviews. The report will provide the results of investigations into interference with the peaceful transfer of power; the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol police and other federal, state, and local law enforcement; and the influencing factors that fomented the insurrection and attack on American representative democracy engaged in a constitutional process. The Select Committee investigation and the January 6th report will join the Mueller Report, the 9/11 Commission Report, the Warren Report, the Starr Report, and Watergate as one of the most important in history. The January 6th Report will be required reading for everyone with interest in American politics, for every 2020 voter, and every American. Featuring a foreword by Elizabeth Holtzman, a lawyer and political leader who was a Democratic Congresswoman from New York. Holtzman has a unique perspective on the situation, as she served on the House Judiciary Committee charged with investigating the Watergate scandal and prepared articles of impeachment that precipitated the resignation of President Nixon.