In a test of Barack Obama’s transparency policy, the American Civil Liberties Union is calling on the Justice Department to release Bush administration memos regarding torture, surveillance, and other national security abuses.
On January 28, the ACLU sent a letter to the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which provided legal advice to the George W. Bush White House, requesting release of the memos. The secret memos formed the legal foundation for many of the Bush administration’s questionable practices, says the ACLU.
"Releasing the memos would allow the public to better understand the legal basis for the Bush administration's national security policies; to better understand the role that the OLC played in developing, justifying, and advocating those policies; and to participate more meaningfully in the ongoing debate about national security, civil liberties, and human rights."
Said the ACLU.
The ACLU notes that, since 2003, it has filed three lawsuits to enforce FOIA requests seeking the OLC legal opinions and other government records. These lawsuits have resulted in the release of thousands of documents, but most of the key OLC memos are still being withheld.
"Releasing the memos would also signal to Americans, and to the world, that you intend to turn the page on an era in which the OLC served not as a source of objective legal advice but as a facilitator for the executive's lawless conduct."
Said the ACLU.
In this latest action, the ACLU clearly sees an opening given Barack Obama's stated goal of government transparency. Says Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project:
"President Obama should be commended for having made an unambiguous and historically unparalleled commitment to government transparency. We're eager to see this commitment put into practice."