Office of Legal Counsel Memoranda Released

Nine memoranda on federal executive power, written by the Office of Legal Counsel during the Bush Administration and not previously disseminated, were released by the U.S. Justice Department on March 2. Here's the The Justice Department press release respecting the memoranda, New York Times article and Washington Post article.

Seven of the memoranda, dated between September 2001 and June 2002, concern the federal executive power and national security or military affairs in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  One memorandum dated October 6, 2008, characterizes as "either incorrect or highly questionable" arguments in an October 2001 OLC memorandum that neither civil liberties protected by the Bill of Rights nor the Posse Comitatus Act would apply in the event of domestic military action to combat terrorism.  Another memorandum dated January 15, 2009 criticizes particular arguments in several OLC memoranda on executive power issued from 2001 through 2003. [Robert Richards]