Facts
The situation from which the case arose involved subpoenas from two subcommittees from the United States House of Representatives directing the Environmental Protection Agency to produce documents relating to the efforts of the EPA and the Land and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department to enforce the Superfund law. Theodore Olson was the assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. President Ronald Reagan ordered the Administrator of the EPA to withhold the documents on the ground that they contained "enforcement sensitive information." This led to an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee that later produced a report suggesting Olson had given false and misleading testimony before a House subcommittee during the investigation.
The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee forwarded a copy of the report to the Attorney General with a request that he seek the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the allegations against Olson and two others.
Olson, who was a Constitutional lawyer, attempted to argue that the independent counsel took executive powers away from the office of the President of the United States and created a hybrid "fourth branch" of government that was ultimately answerable to no one. He argued that the broad powers of the independent counsel could be easily abused, or corrupted by partisanship.
Independent Counsel Alexia Morrison in turn argued that her position was necessary in order to prevent abuses of the executive branch, which historically operated in a closed environment.
Read more about this topic: Morrison V. Olson
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