March 6, 2019
Since the House passed a resolution in 1792 to investigate the defeat of the United States Army at the hands of American Indians in Ohio (known as St. Clair’s Defeat), Congress has investigated hundreds of instances of possible misconduct by members of the executive branch. Today’s news is rife with reports of congressional investigations into potential obstruction of justice and more serious substantive crimes by President Trump and his immediate circle. Inevitably, the paths of congressional and criminal investigations into this type of misconduct overlap. History shows that this intersection can be fruitful, frustrating, and fraught with pitfalls. [...]