sentences:  The current regulations were drafted by former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal.The Independent Counsel was an independent prosecutor—distinct from the Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice—who provided reports to the United States Congress under .In 1978, a Democratic Party-majority Congress was determined to curb the powers of the President and other senior executive branch officials due in part to the Watergate scandal and related events such as the Saturday Night Massacre.