Word: prosecutor
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...special prosecutor may have to probe the Jordan affair...
...Hamilton Jordan really snort cocaine on that 1978 visit to Manhattan's far-out Studio 54? The possibility is growing stronger that a special prosecutor will have to be appointed to investigate the evening's entertainment enjoyed by the White House chief of staff. Under the stringent provisions of the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, there may be no other way to determine whether it is Jordan or his accusers who are telling the truth...
Jordan has denied all the Studio 54 charges, and the case is hardly the kind Congress had in mind when it drafted the Ethics in Government Act. The law began to take shape after President Nixon fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Congress set out to specify in detail the powers and tenure of a special prosecutor...
...only exception is for "a petty offense," punishable by less than six months in jail. Simple possession of cocaine can draw a one-year sentence. The Attorney General must -not may-ask a panel of three federal judges to appoint a special prosecutor within 90 days unless the preliminary investigation determines the charges to be so flimsy that they do not warrant a deeper probe...
...matter what doubts Civiletti might have, the 1978 Ethics in Government Act requires the Attorney General to order an inquiry into any charges of serious crime against a high Administration official. He has 90 days to decide if appointment of a special prosecutor is warranted. If a prosecution ever becomes imminent, it could lead to Jordan's resignation and a major political crisis. At the moment that seems unlikely-though the White House is bracing itself for yet another unwelcome furor. Carter prepared a statement asserting: "A public official cannot be forced from office by unsupported allegations. Mr. Jordan...