Morrison v. Olson - The Ethics In Government Act

In the wake of Watergate and other scandals that plagued the legislative and executive branches of government in the 1970s, Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act in October of 1978. Among the act's many provisions was a requirement that federal officials provide detailed disclosure regarding their financial dealings. The act further circumscribed the activities of former federal officials lobbying with agencies for whom they had worked. In addition, that act established an Office of Government Ethics to implement provisions regarding financial disclosure and potential conflicts of interest on the part of the executive branch. The most notable of the act's provisions was its establishment of a special prosecutor, renamed an independent counsel in 1983, to investigate the activities of high officials within the executive branch. It was this force that was brought to bear against the Reagan and Bush administrations in the person of Lawrence Walsh, Iran-Contra independent counsel, and later against the Clinton administration with Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Detractors of the independent counsel provision have argued that it is being used as a political weapon.