II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 236 

To require a Special Counsel report, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 28, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require a Special Counsel report, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Special Counsel Trans5 parency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPORT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—A Special Counsel (as described 

8 in part 600 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

9 any successor thereto), or any other official appointed by 

10 the Attorney General who exercises duties commensurate 

11 with those of a Special Counsel and exercises a similar 

12 degree of independence from the normal chain of comVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S236.IS S236

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1 mand of the Department, shall prepare a report as de2 scribed in subsection (b) if— 

3 (1) the Special Counsel determines that he or 

4 she has completed his or her investigation; or 

5 (2) the Special Counsel is removed from his or 

6 her office, transferred to another location or position 

7 within the Department of Justice, or resigns before 

8 the completion of the investigation. 

9 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 30 days after 

10 the date on which an event described in paragraph (1) 

11 or (2) of subsection (a) occurs, the Special Counsel shall 

12 submit to the Attorney General, the Chairman and Rank13 ing Member of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen14 ate, and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Com15 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 

16 a report that— 

17 (1) details the factual findings of the investiga18 tion, including any underlying evidence; 

19 (2) explains the prosecution or declination deci20 sions, if any, reached by the Special Counsel; and 

21 (3) contains information regarding significant 

22 prosecutorial decisions and significant expenditures 

23 by the Office of the Special Counsel. 

24 (c) ADDITIONAL CONTENTS.—If, at any time during 

25 the course of an investigation conducted by a Special 


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1 Counsel, the Special Counsel consulted with the Attorney 

2 General for the purpose of including additional jurisdiction 

3 beyond that specified in the original jurisdiction of the 

4 Special Counsel, information regarding such consultation 

5 shall be included in the report required under subsection 

6 (a), including whether the Attorney General determined 

7 to include the additional matters within the jurisdiction 

8 of the Special Counsel or assign the matters to a different 

9 investigator. 

10 (d) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—The report required under 

11 subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, and 

12 may include a classified annex if necessary. 

13 (e) AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The unclassified form of the 

15 report shall be made available to the public, con16 sistent with section 552a of title 5, United States 

17 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Privacy Act of 

18 1974’’), other Federal statutes, and the Federal 

19 Rules of Procedure. 

20 (2) WRITTEN EXPLANATION.—If any informa21 tion contained in the report required under sub22 section (a) is determined to be classified or is other23 wise not made available to the public, the Attorney 

24 General shall submit a written statement to ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S236.IS S236

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1 gress that explains the reasons for such determina2 tion. 

3 (f) REMOVAL OR TRANSFER OF SPECIAL COUN4 SEL.—If the Attorney General removes or transfers the 

5 Special Counsel, the Attorney General shall communicate 

6 to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee 

7 on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Chairman and 

8 Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary of 

9 the House of Representatives the reasons for such removal 

10 or transfer in writing not later than 10 days after the date 

11 on which the Special Counsel submits the report required 

12 under subsection (a). 

13 (g) COMPENSATION; ACCESS TO MATERIALS.—For 

14 the purposes of completing the report required under sub15 section (a), the Special Counsel shall— 

16 (1) continue to receive a salary and shall be 

17 provided such resources, including staff, as is nec18 essary to complete such report; and 

19 (2) have access to all materials of the investiga20 tion, unless the access is otherwise restricted by law 

21 or court order. 

22 (h) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—In addition to any re23 port required under subsection (a) and not later than 180 

24 days after the date of enactment of this Act or after the 

25 appointment of any Special Counsel who was not apVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S236.IS S236

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1 pointed as of the date of enactment of this Act, and every 

2 180 days thereafter, the Special Counsel shall submit to 

3 the Attorney General, the Chairman and Ranking Member 

4 of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the 

5 Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on the 

6 Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report on— 

7 (1) the budgetary requirements and expendi8 tures of the Office of Special Counsel; 

9 (2) the number and types of personnel, such as 

10 trial attorneys, paralegals, and investigators, em11 ployed by or assigned to the Office of the Special 

12 Counsel; 

13 (3) aggregate statistics on the performance of 

14 the Office of the Special Counsel, such as the num15 ber of— 

16 (A) persons charged; 

17 (B) persons convicted; and 

18 (C) search warrants sought; and 

19 (4) any other information the Special Counsel 

20 determines is relevant to the nature and cir21 cumstances of the investigation or the operations of 

22 the Office of the Special Counsel. 

23 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) Congress has an important responsibility 

2 under the Constitution of the United States to con3 duct oversight of the executive branch, including the 

4 Department of Justice; 

5 (2) if a Special Counsel determines that he or 

6 she possesses information that should be disclosed to 

7 Congress, as part of the oversight role of Congress, 

8 the Special Counsel should take all steps not prohib9 ited by law in order to do so, including information 

10 relating to— 

11 (A) any decision of a Special Counsel to 

12 resign; 

13 (B) any decision to remove a Special Coun14 sel from office, or transfer a Special Counsel to 

15 another location or position within the Depart16 ment of Justice; or 

17 (C) a determination by a Special Counsel 

18 that he or she has become too circumscribed in 

19 jurisdiction or authorization to effectively con20 tinue the investigation to completion; 

21 (3) an investigation undertaken by a Special 

22 Counsel is, by its nature, one of great political and 

23 civic importance; 


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1 (4) the public has a substantial interest in re2 ceiving the conclusions of the Special Counsel at the 

3 earliest possible time; and 

4 (5) the Special Counsel should conclude the in5 vestigation as soon as practicable and to report on 

6 his or her findings to the people of the United 

7 States. 

Æ 


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