American Civil Liberties Union

Since 2003, the ACLU and other organizations have been seeking the release of government memos that supplied the basis for the Bush administration's unlawful national security policies. Under the Bush administration, the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) - a component of the Justice Department - became a facilitator for illegal government conduct, issuing dozens of legal opinions meant to permit gross violations of domestic and international law. While the Obama administration has released some of these memos, other memos - including memos relating to the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program - remain secret. To turn the page on the abuses of the Bush administration, the Obama administration should release these memos and hold accountable those senior government officials who broke the law.