What We Can Learn About the Mueller Investigation From American's First Special Prosecutor

For many Americans today, the term special prosecutor is likely to call to mind Watergate, Kenneth Starr’s investigation of Bill Clinton, perhaps the Iran-Contra Scandal and, of course, Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. But those investigations grew out of a rich, complicated and not always edifying history that even most legal scholars and historians have largely forgotten.

For many Americans today, the term special prosecutor is likely to call to mind Watergate, Kenneth Starr’s investigation of Bill Clinton, perhaps the Iran-Contra Scandal and, of course, Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. But those investigations grew out of a rich, complicated and not always edifying history that even most legal scholars and historians have largely forgotten.