Lawyers, academics question whether independent counsel's job has strayed.(Originated from Knight Ridder Newspapers)

From: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service | Date: August 13, 1998| Author: Arnett, Elsa C. | Copyright information

WASHINGTON _ The job of independent counsel was created 20 years ago in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and these powerful investigators have probed every administration since.

They've gone after a campaign manager, a labor secretary, a commerce secretary, an assistant attorney general, a chief of staff, and even the president, exploring claims that high-level officials snorted cocaine, bribed union leaders, lied about the payments to a mistress, diverted prof...

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