Michael Synar: “I rise with great disappointment because I think this is an issue that for a long time in our Nation's history has been…”

“I rise with great disappointment because I think this is an issue that for a long time in our Nation's history has been one that we have been very proud of because it has been bipartisan. Regrettably, today we now see, because of very shabby political tricks, that we can no longer work on something that is in the best interest of our country. I think it is important to review the history of the independent counsel, and so we go back to 1978, when Jimmy Carter first passed this legislation. It was then twice during the Reagan administration that this Congress overwhelmingly, along with the President, twice renewed the independent counsel. It is imperative to remember that on all these occasions it was done in a bipartisan fashion. It was only during that last session of Congress that we really began to see the falling apart of this cooperation, when Bill Barr, not once but twice, refused the use of an independent counsel, one for the Inslaw investigation, and second, for Iraqgate.”