CASE 10.5
The Secretary of Agriculture, Chicken Processor, and Football Skybox Seats.

Mike Espy was a secretary of agriculture of Bill Clinton’s Cabinet in 1993. He accepted many gifts from some companies, such as Tyson Foods, Inc., and Quaker Oats. Tyson Foods, Inc. gave him a ride in Tyson corporate jet, free lodging at a lakeside cabin, seats in Tyson’s skybox at a Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants playoff game, and gave a $ 1,200 college scholarship from Tyson Foods for Pat Dempsey, Mike’s girlfriend. At that time, Tyson Foods and the other regulator were fighting proposed Department of Agriculture guidelines. However, public reaction Mr. Espy’s relationship with Tyson, despite the paybacks, was so intense that he was so intense that he was urged by the Clinton white house to resign, then he did it on December 31, 1994.
Donald Smaltz was appointed as a special prosecutor to investigate the legality of Mr. Espy’s acceptance of the things Tyson had offered and whether he had granted any favors to Tyson in exchange. Mr. Smaltz also found benefits from other companies. For example, the chief executive of Quaker oats, William D. Smithbirg, gave Mr. Espy a ticket to a June 18, 1993, Chicago Bulls playoff game. The company indicated that it have received a request for the ticket from the secretary of agriculture’s office. All those who had given or offered Mr. Espy flights, tickets, and other benefits were also investigated.
Mr. Smaltz obtained indictments against twenty individuals as part of his investigation and obtained more than fifteen convictions $ 11 million in penalties. However, as a result of this cases and others, many called for the eliminations of the independent counsel statute authorized these investigations of officials in the executive branch.