Congressional Investigations

This seminar will explore the role that Congressional investigations have historically played at the intersection of politics, public policy, tension between the executive and legislative branches, law and media, focusing on certain of the seminal Congressional investigations that both reflected and re-shaped the politics of the day. These will include the Pecora investigation into the 1929 stock market crash, the Truman Committee investigation into defense contracting during World War II, the House Un-American Activities Committee, the McCarthy hearings, Watergate. the Iran-Contra hearings and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearings into the financial services industry.