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APBush Renominates Author of Interrogation Memos as Assistant Attorney General
The Associated Press
January 24, 2008
President Bush renominated Steven G. Bradbury as assistant attorney general Wednesday, refusing to yield to Democrats who oppose a permanent job for the official who signed legal memos authorizing harsh interrogations for suspected terrorists.
Bradbury has been serving as acting chief of the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Counsel. Bush wants the Senate to confirm Bradbury as permanent head of the office.
Senate Democrats complain that two secret memos from Bradbury in 2005 authorized the CIA to use head slaps, freezing temperatures and waterboarding -- a practice that invokes drowning fears -- when questioning terrorism detainees.
The memo controversy left Bradbury, a founding member of the conservative Federalist Society, with no confirmation hearing before senators began a four-week break in December.
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Bush Pushes Justice Dept. Nominee
By DAVID STOUT
Published: January 23, 2008
WASHINGTON — President Bush on Wednesday renominated Steven G. Bradbury to be an assistant attorney general in a move certain to be controversial because of Mr. Bradbury’s link to Justice Department memorandums authorizing the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects.
Mr. Bradbury, who is from Maryland, has been serving as acting head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department, in effect the department’s lawyer. If confirmed, he would become the office’s permanent head.
In his capacity as acting head, Mr. Bradbury came under intense scrutiny last fall when it was disclosed that he was the author of a pair of secret legal opinions that endorsed rough techniques for suspects in the custody of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, is among those Democrats who have said that the methods endorsed by Mr. Bradbury amount to torture. Last December, Mr. Bradbury’s nomination was one of several that were sent back to the White House by Mr. Reid rather than carried over into the New Year.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/washington/24bradburycnd.html