Daniel Levin (attorney)
Daniel Levin | |
---|---|
Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel Acting | |
In office July 2004 – February 2005 | |
President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Jack Goldsmith |
Succeeded by | Steven G. Bradbury (acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | March 4, 1956 aged 66 |
Alma mater | Harvard University (B.A.), University of Chicago Law School (J.D.)[1] |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Daniel Bernard Levin (born March 4, 1956) served as Acting
Activities during Bush administration
Daniel Levin was appointed to the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) under President George W. Bush. In July 2004, he was appointed Acting Assistant Attorney General and head of the office. On August 6, 2004, he sent a letter to the Central Intelligence Agency advising the CIA that it was lawful to use waterboarding as an interrogation technique.[2] He prepared early drafts of OLC opinions, later signed by Steven G. Bradbury, finding all 13 of the CIA's "enhanced interrogation techniques," including waterboarding, to be lawful under the federal torture statute, 28 U.S.C. 2340-2340A.[2]
These opinions were issued in the spring of 2005 under the signature of
On December 30, 2004, Levin signed an opinion updating OLC's interpretation of the torture statute and replacing an unclassified August 2002 opinion by then Assistant Attorney General
ABC News reported in November 2007 that Levin himself had voluntarily undergone waterboarding in 2004 before declaring torture "abhorrent" and concluding that "waterboarding could be illegal torture unless performed in a highly limited way and with close supervision."[4][5]
In September 2004, Levin wrote a letter to the general counsel of the
Post-OLC Career
Levin is a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm White & Case.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Daniel Levin". whitecase.com. White & Case. n.d. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- ^ a b c Shane, Scott; David Johnston (2009-06-07). "Lawyers Agreed on the Legality of Brutal Tactic". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ Levin, Daniel (2004-12-30). "LEGAL STANDARDS APPLICABLE UNDER 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A". usdoj.gov. United States Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 2005-02-16. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
- ^ Greenburg, Jan Crawford; de Vogue, Ariane (2009-02-10). "White House Blocked Waterboarding Critic". ABCNews.go.com. ABC News. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
- ^ Shane, Scott (November 7, 2007). "A Firsthand Experience Before Decision on Torture". The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
- ^ "BRENNAN CTR. FOR JUSTICE AT N.Y. UNIV. SCH. OF LAW V. U.S. DEP'T OF JUSTICE". casetext.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2016-09-03.