Introduction

The arrival of the 110th Congress has prompted talk of a new era of rigorous and far-reaching congressional investigations on any number of topics. The new Chairs of some of the most powerful--and most storied--congressional committees have already launched a number of investigations, and the list is growing. Those schooled in the procedures that govern law enforcement and regulatory investigations may soon find themselves facing largely unfamiliar territory in the legislative arena. The congressional oversight and investigative powers are formidable and very different, in significant ways, from the investigative authorities of executive branch agencies. Far too often, those whom Congress investigates mistakenly assume, to their great detriment, that congressional investigations involve little more than sitting through an hour or two of political grandstanding, with few lasting consequences. To the contrary, congressional investigations are serious matters that do indeed pose formidable legal and public relations risks for entities and individuals under congressional scrutiny.

While some have suggested that legislative oversight waned in recent years, the Congress is clearly not a new player in the oversight and investigative arena. In 1792, Congress first exercised its oversight authority to investigate the Army's defeat and loss of 600 soldiers in a battle with the Miami and Shawnee Indian tribes near the headwaters of the Wabash River. Over the years, Congress has not hesitated to embark on investigations of other, high-profile issues across a wide range of activity: scandals (Teapot Dome, Watergate, campaign finance, House pages); national security issues (Iran- Contra, the Church Committee, the Joint Inquiry on the September 11th Attacks, the review of pre-Iraq War intelligence); crime (organized crime via the testimony of Joe Valachi, labor racketeering, arson, insurance fraud, and defense procurement fraud); health (pharmaceutical issues, medical errors, nursing homes, blood safety, Medicare and Medicaid fraud); education (student loan abuses, Pell grant fraud); compliance and regulatory issues (aviation safety, offshore tax shelters, nuclear and port security) and corporate America (collapse of Enron, the tobacco companies, gasoline pricing, banks and credit card lending practices, insider trading). . . .

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