Garland Illegally Appointed Weiss as Special Counsel
by Alan M. Dershowitz • August 16, 2023 at 5:00 am
"The special counsel shall be selected from outside the United States government." — Code of Federal Regulations, Title 28, Chapter VI, § 600.3(c). [Emphasis added]
This requirement is the law. The regulations were authorized by Congress under 5 U.S.C. 301, 509, 510, 515-519.
The attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. It is certainly expected that he would obey the law in its entirety.
If he feels that somehow there is an applicable exception to this requirement, he is obliged to explain why.
Special counsel is supposed to be independent of the current government, not an employee....
Democrats frequently say that no one is above the law. Yet they have been silent about Garland apparently placing himself above the law in choosing Weiss in violation of governing legal regulations.
[I]t is within the powers of Congress to summon Garland and ask him to explain why he believes he is justified in ignoring a federal regulation that seems to limit his authority to appoint special counsels.
When Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that he was appointing David Weiss as special counsel, he failed to mention § 600.3(c) of the Code of Federal Regulations entitled "Qualifications of the Special Counsel." These qualifications include the following: "The special counsel shall be selected from outside the United States government." (Emphasis added)
This requirement is the law. The regulations were authorized by Congress under 5 U.S.C. 301, 509, 510, 515-519. The attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. It is certainly expected that he would obey the law in its entirety.
