This book examines the legal and policy issues surrounding congressional investigations through a series of case studies, with an emphasis on the second half of the twentieth century to date. The new and updated second edition covers significant developments from the Obama and Trump administrations, including the two Trump impeachments, the January 6 Committee investigation of the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and recent Supreme Court decisions on congressional investigative powers. The book is organized by case study topic, with each chapter using two or three case studies to introduce and analyze a discrete area of legal authorities and policy issues. The central thesis and organizing principle of the book is the importance of effective congressional oversight and investigative activities in our American democratic system of government, especially in the aftermath of the disputed 2020 presidential election. In addition to collecting legal authorities, the book includes relevant historical information and structural analysis of government functions, with an emphasis on separation of powers issues. The use of a case study format, rather than a traditional law school casebook format, is intended to present the subject matter in a way that can be used to teach undergraduate and graduate school courses as well as law school courses. The authors combine original congressional and judicial source materials with book excerpts and explanatory text, as well as notes and questions for each case study, to make the subject matter accessible to graduate and upper-level undergraduate students in government and political science courses, as well as to law students.

An essential responsibility of the U.S. Congress is holding the president accountable for the conduct of foreign policy. In this in-depth look at formal oversight hearings by the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, Linda Fowler evaluates how the legislature's most visible and important watchdogs performed from the mid-twentieth century to the present. She finds a noticeable reduction in public and secret hearings since the mid-1990s and establishes that American foreign policy frequently violated basic conditions for democratic accountability. Committee scrutiny of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, she notes, fell below levels of oversight in prior major conflicts. Fowler attributes the drop in watchdog activity to growing disinterest among senators in committee work, biases among members who join the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, and motives that shield presidents, particularly Republicans, from public inquiry. Her detailed case studies of the Truman Doctrine, Vietnam War, Panama Canal Treaty, humanitarian mission in Somalia, and Iraq War illustrate the importance of oversight in generating the information citizens need to judge the president’s national security policies. She argues for a reassessment of congressional war powers and proposes reforms to encourage Senate watchdogs to improve public deliberation about decisions of war and peace. Watchdogs on the Hill investigates America’s national security oversight and its critical place in the review of congressional and presidential powers in foreign policy.

Did Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States, commit bank fraud and tax fraud on a massive and continuing scale while in office? Did he write hush-money checks before the 2016 election to silence women with whom he had hidden extramarital relationships, thus breaking campaign finance laws? Did he use non-profit charitable foundation funds to line his own pockets and furnish art for his golf clubhouses? Did he put himself in league with Russian oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin? Was he a racist, a conman and a cheat? Did he lie to the nation and the world over 8700 times in the first three years of his Presidency? Bolstered by documentary exhibits and on the strength of his decade of service as Donald Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen made such allegations during his testimony and hearings of February 29, 2019 before the House Committee on Oversight & Reform. A series of 24 Democratic representatives of the House questioned him for proof and details of these claims.Alternatively, was Michael Cohen, convicted of lying before Congress, the very body before which he had once again been called, discredited as a witness and incapable of telling the truth? Was the hearing an exercise in futility and only designed to smear the President? That thesis was the counter-strategy employed by 18 Republican representatives of the House as they questioned Mr. Cohen.The partisan disputes during the public proceedings reflected sharp divisions in the American body politic. Still, the speakers labeled each other "gentleman" and "gentlelady" throughout.The transcript is complete, verbatim and carefully reconstructed from audio recordings. The transcribers played and replayed the words and phrases of each participant time and again until the correct text could be reproduced, right down to "um" and "ah." No annotations, omissions or additions interfere with the message.Thoroughly researched allusions and mentions of names, locations, institutions, publications, and so forth, reflect the accurate spellings and background information.Evenhanded, non-biased illustrations for each of the 43 participants - from I.T. Meladeca - provide a rich, visual feel for the event."This would be perfect for civics class... if we had civics classes anymore.""Every American - for that matter every citizen of the world - should determine if the claims of Michel Cohen are legitimate. The visual documentary evidence can help with that.""Whatever your political persuasion, this transcription will let you draw your own conclusions."

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2016.

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2020.

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2020.

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2020.