- [Reporter] The end ofthe Mueller investigation

may mark the beginning of an effort

to change the special prosecutor law.

President Trump says hewants to protect the country

and future presidents from going through

what he's endured over the past 22 months.

- This should never happento a president again.

We can't allow that to take place.

- [Reporter] Congress created

The Office of Independent Counsel in 1978

in response to the Watergate Scandal.

Today called specialcounsels, they're appointed

at the discretion of theU.S. attorney general.

Usually at the request of Congress.

Often special counselsend up indicting people

for crimes unrelated tothe original mandate.

In the case of Mueller,

Paul Manafort was convicted for bank fraud

and filing a false tax return.

Former Trump attorney,Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty

to bank and tax fraud andviolating campaign finance laws.

During the George W. Bush presidency,

Presidential Assistant Scooter Libby

was convicted of obstruction,

making false statements, and perjury,

not for leaking the identity

of former CIA agent, Valerie Plame.

And President Clintonwas impeached for perjury

and obstructing justice.

The original mandate ofSpecial Prosecutor Ken Starr

was to investigate

Clinton's Whitewaterreal estate investments.

Many Americans believepoliticians use special counsels

for partisan purposes,

only to damage and lesson theeffectiveness of a president.

President Trump, who called the

Russia investigation a witch hunt,

had this to say about Robert Mueller.

- [Reporter] Mr. Presidentdo you think Robert Mueller

acted honorably?- Yes he did, yes.

- [Reporter] And some wouldargue Mueller acted legally.

In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court declared

the independent counsellaw constitutional.

Supreme Court JusticeAntonin Scalia dissented,

warning quote,

"I fear the Court haspermanently encumbered

"the Republic with an institution

"that will do it great harm."

The Mueller investigationcost to tax payers?

At least $25 million.

And the cost to the Americanpsyche is perhaps much greater.

And Pat, given thatthere's a divided Congress,

it's unlikely that law will change.

- Well I've got Mark Martin,

he's the former chief justice

of the North Carolina Supreme Court,

he's now the dean at RegentUniversity Law School

and Mr. Chief Justice, Your Honor, D D,

(men laughing)

so glad you're here.

Tell me about yourfeeling on this problem.

What are the main problems

with this independent counsel law?

- Well, first of all, seriousconcerns of constitutionality

were raised by the late Justice Scalia.

- Mm-hmm.- And I think

his warning about the damage

that could be done to our Republic,

that we see that in the current situation.

- Sure.- We see almost half

of a term of a United Statespresident being interfered with

through this process.

And so, the predecessor

to the current procedural regulation,

- Mm-hmm.- that Janet Reno

issued in 1999, was anindependent counsel provision

in the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

- Mm-hmm.- So one of the key problems,

is we have a mirror regulation,we have a one-word standard

that determines whether a special counsel

can be authorized.- What's the one word?

- Warranted.

Now, that is the one wordthat caused $25 million

to be spent and if we consider

the parallel congressional investigations,

two Senate committees

and one House committee, $67 million.

So we need immediate review of this law,

this procedural regulationto toughen up that standard.

- Why do you think theSupreme Court validated it?

- Well, there are strong practical reasons

to have the ability,particularly when you have

this type of conflict of interest.

- Mm-hmm.- In fact,

the attorney generalserves at the pleasure

of the president.

And so we're talking about aninvestigation of a president

or a high level officialin the executive branch.

- Mm-hmm.

Well do you think that we should have

another special counsel likeLindsay Graham suggested

to investigate the Justice Department?

- Well, it's an interesting question.

Because the process did notwork well this time around.

I do agree with Ken Starr,

that ultimately the ruleof law was vindicated

and the president was exonerated.

There was absolutely noevidence of Russian collusion.

- Mm-hmm.- Despite what Adam Schiff

may say.- Yeah.

- And also, we learned thatthere was no obstruction.

- Mm-hmm.- And that was

a ruling of both the attorney general

and the Deputy AttorneyGeneral Rod Rosenstein.

- Well you know the presidentsaid I hope this never happens

to another president, that he gets misused

the way I have been.

What should we do to change this thing?

- You know just imagine, as an aside,

you decide to run forpresident and all of a sudden

your entire family,your own son, is exposed

to an unfair investigation.

- Yeah.- It shouldn't

be that way.

We have so overcriminalizedthe American political system.

- Mm-hmm.- And this should

never happen again.

And the president is absolutely correct.

And we can make sure itdoesn't happen again,

by appointing a blue ribbon commission.

- All right.- Attorney General Barr

has the authority tomorrow,to change this law.

It is a procedural regulationof the Justice Department.

- It's a procedural regulation?

It's not something thatCongress has set up?

- It is not a statute.

The independent counsel provision

of the Ethics in Government Act expired

by its own terms in 1999.

At that point, Attorney General Janet Reno

issued a regulation that hasnow been enforced for 20 years.

- So it's merely a regulation put in

by a former attorney general?

- That's exactly right.- I don't think

any of the, the Americanpeople don't know that.

- Well they need to know that.

Because Attorney GeneralBarr could rescind the rule,

he can toughen up the rule, 28 CFR 600.1,

that's where the term, warranted, appears.

We should have a much tougher basis,

a much tougher standard for this.

There should be substantial evidence

- Mm-hmm.- to, number one,

show that a crime has been committed.

- Right.- And that a person

of interest committed it.

- Well God bless you, I appreciate this.

Ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here.

'Cause I didn't realize (laughs)where that thing came from.

But the damage that canbe done is horrible.

I'm so glad you're here with us.

You enjoying your stay at Regent I hope?

- I absolutely am and ifstudents want an education

at a law school wherethe faculty really cares

about the students,

and they will have a great job

and have a great chance passing the bar

in any of the 50 states,

they need to consider Regent Law School.