This amounts to Trump’s opinion, and is a matter of debate among constitutional scholars. The Supreme Court ruled in 1988 that the appointment of an independent counsel was constitutional, but the rules and circumstances were a little different then. And the Supreme Court has not spoken directly on the constitutionality of current regulations for special counsels.
But here, we lay out some of the facts and arguments that underpin the cases for and against the president’s claim. Independent or special counsels are appointed to investigate executive branch officials, and the existing federal code empowers the attorney general to make the determination when a special counsel is necessary.
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