The Special Prosecutor shall have full authority for investigating and prosecuting offenses against the United States arising out of the unauthorized entry into DNC Headquarters at the Watergate, all offenses rising out of 1972 Presidential Election for which the Special Prosecutor deems it necessary to assume and appropriate responsibility, allegations involving the President, members of the White House staff, or Presidential appointees, and any other matter which he consents to have assigned to him by the Attorney General (Watergate Final Report, 15)
The goal of assigning a Special Prosecutor in Watergate was for the purpose of making him truly independent of the executives influence of Nixon (Shestack, 2013). .
In the case of Iran-Contra, both the Senate and the House decided to have a joint hearing. Because the members did not decide on a joint hearing until after both delegations were chosen, and no member of the committee wanted to step down, the committee had 26 members: 11 Senators and 15 Representatives (Timberg, 435). Largely as a result of the horrors that resulted from Watergate, the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 was created (Smaltz, 320). The act also called the "Independent Counsel Act", gives the Special Prosecutor "full power and independent authority to exercise all investigative and prosecutorial functions and powers of the Department of Justice." (USCS, 233) Its purpose is to promote and foster independence in the office from the executive power. .
Part II: The Results of the Watergate Investigation.
A. Senate Watergate Committee Findings.
The Senate Watergate Committee began with much public support and an eagerness to determine the details of the Watergate break in and the cover-up. The hearings began on May 17, 1973 with four Democrats and three Republicans assigned to it. The committee was about to interrogate 63 witnesses in 53 days (Ervin, 124,128).