United States Office of Special Counsel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic legislative authority come from three federal statutes, the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act and the Hatch Act. Its primary mission is to protect federal employees and others from "prohibited personnel practices", especially in reprisal for whistleblowing. It has around 100 staff.
The OSC is not to be confused with the defunct United States Office of the Independent Counsel, which was an independent prosecutorial office created under the 1978 Independent Counsel Act (which lapsed in 1999). Kenneth Starr's investigations of President Bill Clinton fell under the Independent Counsel's office. This office has been replaced by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel, now headed by Patrick J. Fitzgerald.
