Rep. Nadler Applauds Transparency of Obama Justice Department Share on Facebook Share on X Print this Page Share by Email Washington, DC, March 2, 2009 Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, applauded U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s transparency in releasing Department of Justice Legal Memos and Opinions previously withheld by the Bush administration. The Office of Legal Counsel documents specifically refer to Bush administration policies on the surveillance of suspected terrorists, and their subsequent detention, interrogation and rendition to other governments. Rep. Nadler, a consistent critic of Bush administration anti-terrorism policies, had vigorously pursued – to no avail – the release of these and other memos which guided those policies. Through the Subcommittee, he held hearings, subpoenaed witnesses and repeatedly confronted the Department of Justice in pursuit of truth and transparency. “The new culture of openness within the Obama administration is refreshing,” said Rep. Nadler. “Under the Bush administration for the past eight years, official secrets and concealment of bad and potentially illegal policy was the rule. The legal opinions and memos made public today set the stage for years of violation of civil liberties and denial of due process to detainees, innocent or guilty. Yet, until now, we were kept in the dark about the contents of many of those legal opinions. I trust that this is the start of a new transparency within the Justice Department and I look forward to a full accounting of the last eight years of secrecy.” Among the documents released today are several that Reps. Conyers and Nadler had requested (see Conyers/Nadler letter from April 29, 2008: https://judiciary.house.gov/news/pdfs/Conyers-Nadler080429.pdf). The Department of Justice’s newly published memos and opinions can be found here: https://www.usdoj.gov/opa/documents/olc-memos.htm.