Fierce Bush Critic Is Picked for a Top Job in Justice

By EVAN PEREZ and JESS BRAVIN
Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama picked an outspoken critic of President George W. Bush over terrorist interrogations for a top Justice Department job, part of a liberal lineup at the department that is likely to overhaul national-security policy.

Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen was nominated to head the Office of Legal Counsel, a once-anonymous corner of the department that was thrust into the spotlight after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. It issued legal opinions that approved of harsh interrogation methods on terror detainees and a classified surveillance program operated by the National Security Agency without court oversight.

In addition to Ms. Johnsen, Mr. Obama's picks for the senior leadership posts under Eric Holder, his nominee for attorney general, are: David Ogden, deputy attorney general; Elena Kagan, solicitor general; and Tom Perelli, associate attorney general.

Ms. Johnsen, who served in the office during the Clinton administration, has said she was "appalled" by memorandums that allowed what critics call torture of terror detainees. In comments in 2007 at a legal conference, she said: "The president of course is not above the law. Clearly what we need to do is restore OLC's tradition of independence and integrity."

During the Bush years, the Justice Department came under attack for buttressing Mr. Bush's expansive view of presidential powers. Mr. Obama and others in Congress have criticized top Justice officials for acting too much as the president's lawyers.

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