Consistent with the President's and Attorney General's FOIA
Memoranda dated January 21 and March 19, 2009, respectively,
OLC is disclosing certain memoranda that have been the subject
of repeated requests and significant public interest. We are
making these memoranda available in this FOIA electronic reading
room by means of discretionary release rather than including
them among the Office's formal published opinions at http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/opinions.htm.
We are also making available in this FOIA reading room certain
other memoranda of the Office that were previously disclosed
by discretionary release. These memoranda, in whole or in part,
may not necessarily be operative, see, e.g., Executive Order
13491, § 3(c) ("From this day forward, unless the Attorney General
with appropriate consultation provides further guidance, officers,
employees, and other agents of the United States Government
. . . may not, in conducting interrogations, rely upon any interpretation
of the law governing interrogation -- including interpretations
of Federal criminal laws, the Convention Against Torture, Common
Article 3, Army Field Manual 2-22.3, and its predecessor document,
Army Field Manual 34-52 -- issued by the Department of Justice
between September 11, 2001, and January 20, 2009"), or otherwise
reflect the Office's current views.
Memorandum
Regarding Status of Certain OLC Opinions Issued in the Aftermath
of the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 (January
15, 2009)
Memorandum
Regarding October 23, 2001 OLC Opinion Addressing the Domestic
Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities (October
06, 2008)
Letter to Associate General
Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from Steven G. Bradbury,
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal
Counsel (November 7, 2007) 
Letter to Associate General
Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from Steven G. Bradbury,
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal
Counsel (November 6, 2007)
Letter to Associate General
Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from Steven G. Bradbury,
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal
Counsel (August 23, 2007)
Memorandum Regarding Application
of the War Crimes Act, the Detainee Treatment Act, and Common
Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions to Certain Techniques
that May Be Used by the CIA in the Interrogation of High
Value al Qaeda Detainees (July 20, 2007)
Memorandum Regarding Application of the Detainee Treatment Act to Conditions of Confinement at Central Intelligence Agency Detention Facilities (August 31, 2006)
Letter to John A. Rizzo, Acting General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from Steven G. Bradbury, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel (August 31, 2006)
** Memorandum Regarding Application of United States Obligations Under Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture to Certain Techniques that May Be Used in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees (May 30, 2005)
** Memorandum Regarding Application of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A to the Combined Use of Certain Techniques in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees (May 10, 2005)
** Memorandum Regarding Application of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A to Certain Techniques That May Be Used in the Interrogation of a High Value al Qaeda Detainee (May 10, 2005)
Letter to John A. Rizzo,
Esq., Acting General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency,
from Daniel B. Levin, Acting Assistant Attorney General,
Office of Legal Counsel (September 20, 2004)
Letter to John A. Rizzo,
Esq., Acting General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency,
from Daniel B. Levin, Acting Assistant Attorney General,
Office of Legal Counsel (September 6, 2004)
Letter to John A. Rizzo,
Esq., Acting General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency,
from Daniel B. Levin, Acting Assistant Attorney General,
Office of Legal Counsel (August 26, 2004)
Letter to John A. Rizzo, Esq.,
Acting General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from
Daniel B. Levin, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office
of Legal Counsel (August 6, 2004)
Letter to John E. McLaughlin,
Acting Director of Central Intelligence, from John D. Ashcroft,
Attorney General (July 22, 2004)
Letter to Scott Muller,
General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from Jack L.
Goldsmith III, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal
Counsel (July 7, 2004)
Letter to Scott Muller, General
Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from Jack L. Goldsmith
III, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel (May
27, 2004)
Memorandum for the Files Regarding Advice to the Department of Defense on Interrogations (May 11, 2004)
Memorandum Regarding Constitutionality
of Certain FBI Intelligence Bulletins (April 5, 2004)
Memorandum
Regarding Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants
Held Outside the United States (March 14, 2003)
Memorandum Regarding
Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution
of 2002 (October 21, 2002)
Memorandum Regarding
Whether Section 319(b) of the Patriot Act Includes Authority
for the Issuance of Grand Jury Subpoenas to Foreign Banks
That Maintain Correspondent Accounts in the United States (August
6, 2002)
Memorandum Regarding
Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A (August
1, 2002)
Letter to the Honorable
Alberto R. Gonzales, Counsel to the President, from John
Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel (August
1, 2002)
** Memorandum Regarding Interrogation
of al Qaeda Operative (August 1, 2002)
Letter to John Rizzo, Acting General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from John Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel (July 13, 2002)
Memorandum
Regarding Applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 4001(a) to Military
Detention of United States Citizens (June 27, 2002)
Memorandum
Regarding Determination of Enemy Belligerency and Military
Detention (June 08, 2002)
Memorandum
Regarding Swift Justice Authorization Act (April 08,
2002)
Memorandum Regarding the
President's Power as Commander in Chief to Transfer Captured
Terrorists to the Control and Custody of Foreign Nations (March
13, 2002)
Memorandum Regarding
Potential Legal Constraints Applicable to Interrogations
of Persons Captured by U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan (February
26, 2002)
Memorandum Regarding
Application of Treaties and Laws to al Qaeda and Taliban
Detainees (January 22, 2002)
Memorandum Regarding
Authority of the President to Suspend Certain Provisions
of the ABM Treaty (November 15, 2001)
Memorandum
Regarding Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist
Activities within the United States (October 23, 2001)
Memorandum
Regarding Constitutionality of Amending Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act to Change the "Purpose" Standard for Searches (September
25, 2001)
** Due to public interest in this matter, the Department of Justice is releasing these documents in the format in which they are currently available. The Department recognizes that some of these documents are not in an accessible format. If you have a disability and the format of any material on the site interferes with your ability to access the information, please email the Department of Justice webmaster at webmaster@usdoj.gov. To enable us to respond in a manner that will be of most assistance to you, please indicate the nature of the accessibility problem, your preferred format (electronic format (ASCII, etc.), standard print, large print, etc.), the web address of the requested material, and your full contact information so we can reach you if questions arise while fulfilling your request. The Department plans to post accessible versions of these documents as soon as they become available.
