The Yoo-Bybee and Bradbury memos also became the subject of a four-year-long internal investigation conducted by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility. The probe centered on whether the three lawyers provided the White House with poor legal advice and violated "professional standards" in interpreting the Constitution.
The OPR investigation was completed last December and reportedly was sharply critical of the trio's legal opinions. However, then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey, his deputy and the OLC--which was still under Bradbury's command--succeeded in getting the report revised, according to a Justice Department letter sent to two U.S. senators last week.
The OPR's report may undergo further changes based on responses from the subjects of the inquiry, the letter indicated.
Two weeks ago, the ACLU called on Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to launch a probe into the Bush administration's torture practices.
Jason Leopold has launched his own Web site, The Public Record, at www.pubrecord.org.
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