Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO audited the expenditures of eight independent counsels for the 6 months ended March 31, 1999.

GAO noted that: (1) the statements of expenditures for the offices of independent counsel Arlin M. Adams, Larry D. Thompson, David M. Barrett, Carol Elder Bruce, Ralph I. Lancaster, Daniel S. Pearson, Donald C. Smaltz, Kenneth W. Starr, and Curtis E. von Kann present fairly, in all material respects, the expenditures of these counsels for the 6 months ended March 31, 1999, on the basis of accounting described in each office's statement; (2) for the controls that GAO tested, it found no material weaknesses in the internal control structure and its operations for the 6-month period ended March 31, 1999; and (3) GAO's audit tests for compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations disclosed no instances of noncompliance that would be reportable under generally accepted government auditing standards.